The 1883 Anniversary Regatta was only a few weeks away to resolve the issue. It seems too that Frank was so dedicated an amateur that sailing for money, almost universal in Auckland at the time, was against his principles.
With the bookies, however, Truant and Sybil were even favourites for the ‘Yachts under 4 tons’ race. In preparation for the contest Sybil was brought up on James Clare’s slip and Truant at Mechanics’ Bay.
The entries were McKenzie’s (of which nothing was heard before the regatta or since), Frank Sanderson and Fred Moore’s , Sanders’ , a four-year-old 20ft former Open Sailing Boat now decked in (to qualify as a ‘yacht’), the Seagar brother’s , an iron yacht built at their foundry in March 1882, and commonly referred to as “the tank”, , built in November 1882 by A. Neill at Ponsonby, the former , and Cramond and Fairs’ . ‘Waitemata’, in the , gave the nod to .
