The race started on January 23rd and things got off to a bad start shortly thereafter when one of the favorites, Restless, lost its mast and had to withdraw. The other 19 yachts sailed in fair weather, but later that afternoon a yacht named Joy withdrew from the race. Its skipper, an experienced seaman named George Brasell, later said that he felt there was something wrong and he got out before it happened.
Brasell's premonition turned out to be right. That evening the wind shifted and by the following evening a severe storm with gale force winds and heavy seas had developed. Most of the yachts either returned to Wellington, found shelter along the coast or rode out the storm at sea.
Only one yacht finished the race, the Tawhiri, which arrived in Lyttelton at 6:55 a.m. on January 26th, three days after the start of the race.
Two yachts, Husky and Argo, were lost along with their 10 crew members.
An inquiry found that Argo had collided with another yacht early in the race and that may have affected its seaworthiness and it probably foundered on the evening of January 23rd or the following day. A similar time period was suggested for Husky's loss.
In other big news, the 1951 waterfront dispute was the biggest industrial confrontation in New Zealand’s history when it lasted 151 days, from February to July. At its peak 22,000 waterside workers (known as wharfies) and other unionists were involved.
The waterfront was important in New Zealand’s economy and had long been a flashpoint for conflict. The government backed the employers and sent troops onto the Auckland and Wellington wharves to load and unload ships. Against the backdrop of the Cold War, the opposing sides denounced each other as Nazis, Commies, traitors and terrorists.
The year ended with the New Zealand Chess Championship opening on Tuesday, December 26, at 10:30 a.m. by the mayor of Christchurch, R. M. McFarlane.
The winner was David I. Lynch (April 20, 1910 - September 26, 2002, 92 years old). Lynch was born and lived in Hastings, New Zealand and was New Zealand North Island Champion in 1949 and won the New Zealand Championship in 1951. He was also the country's Correspondence champion on three occasions in the 1940's and 1950's.
The following year in the 1952 championship Lynch was the player who stopped Ortvin Sarapu, who was playing in his first NZ championship, from getting a perfect 11-0 score when they drew in the last round. In the the early 1980's GMs Eduard Gufeld and Murray Chandler both played simultaneous displays in New Zealand and Lynch, then in his 70s drew with both.
In this championship the level of play apparently was not especially high. Ortvin Sarapu had just moved to New Zealand from Estonia and at the end of the tournament he played a simultaneous and scored +19 -2 =2. His opponents included six from the championship: Turner, Fletcher, Scott, Whitlock, Crawford (who managed a win) and Lang plus 10 from the Major Open! Of the championship participants only Crawford managed to score.
Sarapu would go on to win or share the New Zealand Championship 20 times between 1952, when he won his first championship with 10.5 points out of 11 games, and 1990, when he tied for first.
Another interesting side note was the fact that several entrants failed to show for the Congress because of a railway strike. Five players from Auckland got within 90 miles of Christchurch and then managed to take a taxi to the event!
Playing in the Major Open was a player named Warne Pearse who tied for places 11-12 (out of 18) with a score of 5.5-5.5. In his younger years Pearse had been a notable figure in New Zealand tennis. His tennis career was interrupted by WWI in which he was wounded while serving in the military. In 1922, he and his tennis partner, Miss McLaren, managed to defeat the national mixed doubles champions.
Pearse's brother, Richard William Pearse, was a New Zealand farmer and inventor who performed pioneering aviation experiments. Witnesses interviewed many years afterward described observing Pearse flying and landing a powered heavier-than-air machine on March 31, 1903, nine months before the Wright brothers flew.
[Event "New Zealand Champ, Christchurch"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1951.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "David I. Lynch"]
[Black "R.O. Scott"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 15"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "1951.??.??"]
{Semi-Slav: Botvinnik System} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 {Black is
threatening to capture on c4 and hold it with ...b7–b5. White can avoid this
in a number of ways. Most games continue 5.Bg5 or 5.e3.} 5. Bg5 {This involves
a sharp P-sacrifice, while 5.e3 restricts the dark-squared B from its natural
development to g5.} dxc4 6. Ne5 {This is questionable, the most popular, and
best move being the sharp 6.e4} (6. g3 {is a more modern variation.} Nbd7 7.
Bg2 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Qc2 Nd5 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. Ne5 Nxe5 12. dxe5 {with black
having a slight advantage. Hebden,M (2520)-Kaidanov,G (2500) Hastings 1989})
6... Bb4 {More effecient was the standard 6...b5} (6... b5 7. a4 Bb4 8. g3 h6
9. Bd2 Qxd4 10. Nf3 Qb6 {and black is better. Lukjanovas,V (1902)-Tommasini,E
(2171) Hammelburg 2009}) 7. e3 {This is questionable. Better was 7.Bxf6} (7.
Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Nxc4 c5 9. Qb3 {equals.}) 7... Qa5 {The threat is 8...Ne4.} (7...
b5 {also results in black obtaining a slight advantage after} 8. Be2 Qc7 9. O-O
O-O) 8. Bxf6 (8. Bxc4 {is not quite sufficient. For example...} Ne4 9. O-O Nxg5
10. Qh5 Bxc3 11. bxc3 O-O 12. Qxg5 f6 13. Qh5 fxe5 14. f4 {White does not have
enough compensation for his piece.}) 8... gxf6 {This is the wrong capture.
Better was 8...Bxc3+} (8... Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 Qxc3+ 10. Ke2 gxf6 11. Rc1 Qb4 12.
Nxc4 O-O {and black is slightly better.}) 9. Nxc4 Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 Qxc3+ 11. Nd2
Qa5 12. Bd3 {[%mdl 1024] White is a P down, but black has lost so much time
with Q moves that white can be considered to have sufficient compensation for
the P minus.} Qc3 {This move doesn't accomplish anything even though white has
to move his B again because back has also moved his Q several times. Black's
problem is that he has no good squares for his pieces and his K-side is
compromised, so it is difficult to suggest any move that is completely
satisfactory.} (12... Ke7 13. O-O b6 14. f4 Ba6 15. Bxa6 Nxa6 16. f5 Qd5 {
is the Stockfish way and white is better.}) 13. Be2 Qa5 14. O-O Nd7 15. Nc4 {
The N lands on a good square with a gain of time by attacking the Q.} Qc7 16.
e4 b5 17. Ne3 {[%mdl 32]} Nb6 18. Rc1 {Threatening Bxb5} Qd6 {Black's position
has gradually been drifting downhill with the result that by this point
white's position is considerably better.} 19. Ng4 {Regaining his P.} e5 {
The decisive mistake as it loses a couple of Ps.} (19... Nd7 20. d5 exd5 21.
exd5 Qxd5 22. Qc2 O-O 23. Rfd1 {Although white is two Ps down the exposed
position of black's Q and K give white devastating attack. Just as an example..
.} Qe6 24. Rd3 f5 25. Re3 Qg6 26. Rg3 Kh8 27. Bd3 Qd6 28. Bxf5 Ne5 29. Nxe5
Qxe5 30. Bxh7 {with a winning attack.}) 20. dxe5 Qxd1 {The exchange of Qs
avoids a direct attack, but he is still left with a very poor position.} 21.
Nxf6+ Ke7 22. Rfxd1 Nc4 (22... Bb7 {runs into} 23. Bxb5) 23. Bxc4 bxc4 24. Rxc4
Be6 25. Rxc6 {The rest is a formality.} Bxa2 26. Nd5+ Kf8 27. f4 {[%cal Bf2f4,
Bf4f5][%mdl 32]} Bb3 28. Rd3 Rb8 29. Nf6 Be6 30. f5 Rb1+ 31. Kf2 Rb2+ 32. Kf3
Bb3 {White has a forced mate after this. Avoiding it by 32...Kg7 was possible,
but it would only prolong the game.} 33. Rd8+ Ke7 34. Rxh8 {[%cal Rc6c7]} Bd1+
35. Ke3 {Black resigned.} (35. Ke3 Re2+ 36. Kd3 Bc2+ 37. Kxe2 Bd1+ 38. Ke3 a5
39. Re8#) 1-0
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