Flying squad's fun run

ROBIN BAILEY says there will be no losers when New Zealanders and Australians do battle on Sydney Harbour in January.

Organisers are calling it a fun regatta based on the Golden Oldies' formula developed on the rugby field. The cynics are saying a New Zealand v Australia contest over three days and involving flying 18-footers will be more like a gathering of the Hell's Angels of the sea.

It is all happening on Sydney Harbour next January 2, 3 and 4. Six M-Class racers from Auckland will be matched against a fleet of replica 18s. These traditional boats are growing in popularity across the Tasman as enthusiasts recapture the thrills of sailing as it was in the late 1930s.

Sydney architect-sailor Grant Taylor was in Auckland last weekend to finalise the arrangements with the Auckland contingent to contest the World Championship Re-enactment Regatta. Taylor, one of the driving forces behind the revival of interest in historical skiffs in Australia, is also heading the team to run the regatta.

It was his idea to adopt the "no-losers" philosophy developed on the Golden Oldies' Rugby circuit. "Participation, camaraderie and good fellowship are paramount," says Taylor. "We intend to award each boat a replica of the J.J. Giltinan Cup."

The gesture is appropriate because businessman-sportsman James J. Giltinan planned the first World Championship for 18-footers to coincide with the Sydney 150th anniversary in January 1938, and donated the trophy that carries his name.

A New Zealand M-Class Manu won the trophy in 1939 and it was held here until 1948. It has remained the premier 18-footer event and the last New Zealanders to win it were Terry and Kim McDell in 1974.

Giltinan was founder of the NSW 18-footer Sailing League and also introduced and set up the rules for the Australian Rugby League. His influence extended over a wide range of sports in Australia.

The 1938 championships were a huge success. The day after the first heat the Sydney Morning Herald reported: "The grip that 18-footer sailing has on the Sydney community was demonstrated when a record crowd watched Taree win the first heat.

"The crowd on Circular Quay was so large that extra steamer accommodation had to be provided at the last minute, while craft of every conceivable description were in attendance and the foreshore was thronged with spectators."

The crowd that day was estimated at more than 10,000. Taylor and his team expect a similar level of interest in January when the regatta will be sailed over the same inner harbour course.

"Even the ferries will have to give way to the race fleet," Taylor says. "The event is going to be huge, with mainstream media including Sydney's daily newspapers as well as the boating press giving us great coverage. The ABC television network will broadcast the racing each day."

He owns Top Weight, a gun 18 that now lives at the Sydney Maritime Museum. The boat was too far gone for restoration when Taylor found it, so he now races a replica that carries the same name.

The Auckland fleet for the re-enactment regatta is:

M50: Mistress. Designed and built by Owen Reid in 1992. Owned and sailed by Eric Mahoney.

M8: Moonlight. Designed by Laurie Davidson and built in 1962/63. Rebuilt by present owner Ted Miller in the late 80s.

M46: Mach One. Another Reid design and build, also late 80s vintage. Skipper is Neil Bassett.

M47: Matara. One of three Ms designed and built side-by-side by Reid in 1992. Skipper is David Spencer.

M44: Marquita. Another Davidson design from 1954. Rebuilt by present owner M-Class Association chairman Dave Bush in 1992/93. Bush will lead the Kiwi team to Sydney.

M4: Mahina: Davidson again, this one from 1959. Rebuilt 1989/90 by owner John Gillespie and tipped as being a key weapon in the Aussie campaign.

Dave Bush says the new Zealanders are grateful for the support of the shipping company ANL in getting the fleet across the ditch and back and emphasises his troops are now in serious training for the big event. As training has never figured largely in the M-Class tradition, this claim will raise some eyebrows around the Auckland waterfront.