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White Wings Vol I. Fifty Years Of Sail In The New Zealand Trade, 1850 TO 1900

A Race Home

A Race Home.

In 1891 the Laira had an exciting race with the Glasgow barque Oban Bay. Both boats were lying at Oamaru, loaded with wool, and ready to sail for London. A challenge was thrown out by the Laira, and quickly taken up by everyone on board the Oban, even the youngest apprentice having his "bit" on. The odds seemed in favour of the Oban, which was a big ship of 1100 tons—more than double the tonnage of her little rival. The Oban got away first, and the Laira, although ready to sail, was held up by contrary weather, andpage 233 ten days elapsed before she followed the Oban to sea. Captain Gourlay, of the Oban, had told the Laira's people that "they would not see the way he went," and the start made it look as though his prophesy would come true. Captain Hughes, of the Laira, however, was equally certain that his craft would pick up the big fellow before they got to Black and white photograph of the ship Laira, partially submerged. Cape Horn. An excellent account of the race, from the pen of Mr. A. G. Goulding, who was one of the crew of the Laira, appeared in the "Natal Advertiser" recently, and from it I take some particulars of the contest.

Although the Laira seemed to have an impossible task to pick up the ship before Cape Horn was reached, the hopes of everyone rose when they rounded the Horn 22 days after leaving Oamaru. "Our luck held," writes Mr. Goulding, "and we carried fair and strong breezes until we ran out of the S.E. trades. About lat. 15 south we ran into a belt of calms and doldrums—little puffs and cats' paws from all round the compass, Which would die away almost as soon as we had got the yards trimmed, sometimes lasting long enough to get our stun'sl set. This state of affairs had lasted some days, when about 7 bells one afternoon a sail was sighted abeam of us, and with the glasses we made out the royal and top gall'n'sls of a barque, but, of course, too far off to distinguish anything about her, and when nightpage 234 closed down she was still in the same position.