Smooth Sailing
Sailing
News By A Sailor For Sailors!
In
Association with:
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www.smoothsailing.co.za |
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Mauritius
to Durban Race Photo Competition -
R1000 Prize - Enter Now!!!
Western Province Points Regatta Hermanus
Orange 2 Jules Verne Trophy Attempt
It hasn’t happened for 11 years, its been talked about
in yacht club bars and boat parks for the last year or so, and now its finally
official, the Mauritius to Durban Race 2005 is on! The Notice
of Race is out and has been posted on the Smooth Sailing Notices of Race web page. The event web site
is up and running and the first official entry is in! So its all systems go for
what was possibly the most popular event on the South African ocean racing
calendar. There are several factors making this race attractive. Firstly, it starts
in Mauritius and who wouldn’t want to go there! The race distance of 1600 miles
means that most yachts should finish within 14 days and even then that would be
at a very slow average on only 114 miles a day! Finishing back in South African
is also a big plus. There are no deliveries back home from a foreign country to
worry about, at worst a coastal sail back to your homeport and even then that
can be done sometime after the event. The reality is that one could finish on
Tuesday and be back at work on Thursday! Interest has been widespread from
owners of 30 footers to some of SA’s most prominent maxis! While its always
hard to predict numbers I expect to see a quality fleet of around 20 boats on
the start line in Mauritius. We will be publishing more information about the
race in the near future. In the meantime make sure that you visit the race web
site at www.mauritiustodurban.com and start making
your plans for this fantastic event now!
In conjunction
with the launch of the Mauritius to Durban Race 2005 the event
organisers are running a Photo Competition. You have got to
move quickly for this one though. They are looking for a picture for the race
poster, its got to be a South African one, preferably that you or one of your
friends has taken. Its got to be of or from a yacht sailing offshore and its
got to be e-mailed to function@iafrica.com by 10:00 on
Monday 8 March! Now that’s not much time at all but its worth the effort since
the person who submits the best picture will be in for a cash prize of R1000!
Its not an easy one since the pic has to be high resolution, minimum 300dpi. A
maximum of two entries per individual are permitted and by entering you cede
all copyrights for that image to Sailing KZN. All worth doing when one
considers the cash incentive and possibility that it could be your picture on
the Mauritius to Durban Race 2005 Poster! The winner of the
competition will be announced in a special edition of Smooth Sailing to be
published on Tuesday 8 March. Get your entries in now! Summarised, the details
of the competition are as follows:
·
R1000 cash to the best South African
offshore photograph for use on the official Mauritius to Durban poster.
·
Must be email format, sent to function@iafrica.com.
·
To reach the above address by no
later than MONDAY 7th March (Yes very little time!) @ 10am.
·
Min 300dpi and in high resolution
·
All entries must cede copyright to
Sailing KZN by virtue of entering.
·
Max two entries per individual.
·
Winner will be announced on Smooth
Sailing Tuesday 8th March.
I had
the good fortune to take part in two excellent regattas in stunning locations
in the last two weeks. First off was the Knysna Yacht Club’s
Interclub Regatta. Knysna lagoon has to be one of the most
beautiful places in the country although not easy to sail on. Numerous sandbars
and strong currents add to the challenges but the conditions were good and the
sailing fun. Well except maybe when I kept on misjudging the current and
hitting the weather mark! Twice in one race, twice on one rounding and about
four times in one day! The fleet was made up of Optimists, including some on
the very good looking new wooden boats recently built at Knysna, a Dabchick,
several Lasers, Extras and a few other odds and ends including a Sonnet and two
Mirrors. There were sailors from Redhouse Yacht Club, George Lakes Yacht Club
and the host club. Saturday’s conditions were difficult with the wind dying to
almost nothing at one stage in the afternoon and only two races sailed.
Sunday’s were better with three races in lively conditions. At the end of it
all George Lakes came out as the winning club although I think its fair to say
that this might have been a regatta that was more about the sailing itself than
the result. I was very encouraged to see the number of relatively new sailors
taking part not just in the junior classes but especially in the Laser fleet.
This has to be encouraging for the sport and it is really good to see new
people taking to the water and enjoying themselves. Knysna Yacht Club itself is
a very pleasant place to go both sailing and drinking and has an excellent web
site that can be found at www.knysnayachtclub.com.
The second regatta
that I got to was the Western Province Points Regatta at Hermanus last
weekend. This was an altogether different affair with the sailing far more
serious and the number of competitors far greater. I had never been to Hermanus
before and was amazed at just what a beautiful venue it is. Its definitely one
I will go back to! Once again it was a regatta that left me with a good feeling
about the state of our sport. I was impressed with both the variety of boats on
the water and the seriousness with which they are sailed. In particular I was
pleased to see how healthy the 29er class is looking in the Western Cape. There
were 5 of them at this regatta and all looked as though they were being sailed
very well. Certainly the racing was close and the crews all trying hard to get
the better of one another. Its no secret that I think that the 29er is one of
the best classes to be introduced in SA and while I was at one stage resigned
to the fact that it would die a painful death I appear to have been wrong! Not
that I am at all sorry about that though! At the Western Province Champs, which
are due to be sailed over Easter Weekend at Saldanah Bay, the class is
expecting 9 entries. It will be interesting there to see whether it’s the more
experienced KZN sailors or the newly interested and motivated WC sailors who
come out on top at that one. The other thing that impressed me at this event
was how comfortably the multitude of classes coexisted on the same course. It
amazes me how often one comes across clubs with perilously small classes where
the sailors insist on separate starts, courses etc. In fact I had overheard
this very argument the weekend before in the bar at Knysna. Its really just not
necessary, a large volume of boats on the water is far more important and the
conditions the same for everyone. While it may at time make the racing more
challenging in the long run this can only make us better sailors. I was also
pleased to see Gareth Blankenburg out on the water albeit in a Laser Radial.
Gareth was sailing to set a benchmark for some of the youngsters who have
recently moved from the Laser 4.7, after great success in that class, to the
Radial. And what a standard he set! South Africa’s representative in the Laser
class at the Sydney and Athens Olympics set a storming pace, beating even the
full rigs on occasion. And they weren’t bad sailors that he was beating there
either, Paul Willcox is after all the Laser National Champion and we all know
how good a sailor Pete Shaw is! It was really good to be able to see just how
well Gareth sails a Laser and a fantastic thing for that class that he is
sailing in SA again. He certainly sets a world class standard. Conditions at
Hermanus weren’t easy. Big variances in wind speed and direction made life
difficult but all told the racing was good. Two races were sailed on Saturday
and three on Sunday for a good five race series. Despite the tough conditions
the races were all well run on good courses and there was certainly very little
reason for anyone not to have enjoyed this regatta. Good conditions on Sunday
meant that the racing was over by 14:00, which gave plenty of time to get home
nice and early. I don’t have the results from this one as I left before the prize-giving
faced with a very long drive home, but will post them on the Smooth Sailing web
site as soon as I can get my hands on them!
SAIL TRAINER –
KNYSNA YACHT CLUB
Interested candidates are invited to apply for the above-mentioned full-time, salaried position in Knysna.
· The successful applicant will be required to:
· Instruct primarily Junior sailors in all aspects of Sailing (social & competitive) as well as Adult sailors
· Enjoy working with children;
· Have good communication & interpersonal skills;
· Implement our Development Plan;
· Be fairly computer literate;
· Have administrative & marketing skills;
· Possess a valid “Skippers Ticket”, minimum of Restricted Waters.
· Have experience in Sail Training;
· Be available to take up the position early in 2005.
Applications should include a covering letter, a not more than 2 page CV, remuneration requirements, contact details (including email address), and certified copies of qualifications to the Sailing Secretary at:
P.O. Box 613, Knysna, 6570
Office: Tel/Fax: 044 3825724
Galley Bookings 044 3820166
Email: kyc@kingsley.co.za
Enquiries may be addressed to Karen Vorster at 072 248
3868.
Orange 2’s
scorching pace around the world continues despite a collision with a whale, as
she looks set to smash the Jules
Verne Trophy and Round the World Records. Orange 2 is presently approaching the
equator in a patch of light winds and after 38 days at sea has sailed 21600
miles and has only 4400 to go! That’s an incredible average speed of 23.7 knots
since she started her passage and means that there is a very real chance that
she could complete her circumnavigation within 50 days. It hasn’t all been plain sailing though.
Orange 2 had a nasty collision with what appeared to be a whale earlier in the
week. The unfortunate seas creature struck the port side of the boat, being hit
by the bow, centreboard and rudder. At the time of the collision Orange 2 was
doing 25 to 30 knots of boat speed with the impact with the sea creature
described as being very violent. At that speed the sea creature didn’t stand
much chance all the crew reported seeing after the collision was a fin and a
lot of blood in the water! Not nice for the whale that was quietly minding its
own business before the boat came along! Nonetheless Orange 2 appears to have
been lucky getting away with only minor damage to the port rudder that doesn’t
seem to have affected her pace at all. For more information on this incredible
passage visit www.maxicatamaran-orange.com/.
For those who keep and eye on the international
yachting scene this week produced one of the most interesting regattas in a
long time. The Farr 40 Worlds, sailed off
Sydney ended today and saw a fleet of 28 identical boats fighting it out for
the title. The Farr 40 is and owners driver class so there are no pros on the
helm but plenty right behind them calling the shots and no doubt chirping in
the owners ear all the way round the course. Plenty of big names were there
including Paul Cayard and Russell Coutts. What made this one really exciting to
watch though is that the final result came down to a tiebreak with the third
place boat only one place off the pace. Excellent stuff and certainly the kind
of thing that keeps this sport really interesting. The top two boats were both
Australian. Winner Richard Perini is also the current Mumm 30 World Champion
while his tacticition, Hamish Pepper, is a former Laser World Champion. Second
place went to Neville Crichton’s Shockwave. Crichton is better known as the
owner of the super-maxi Alfa Romeo Shockwave so clearly isn’t just a fat rich
guy at the back of the bog boat! For more on this regatta as well as some
excellent pictures from throughout the week go to www.regattanews.com.
Our Notices of Race page on the Smooth Sailing has all the NOR’s available to us. If you
have a regatta coming up and would like to make the NOR available online then
e-mail it to hethcot@iafrica.com and it will be posted and
listed in this newsletter. To get your copy simply click on the name of the
regatta you are interested in below:
|
Regatta |
Venue |
Dates |
|
Various KZN Clubs |
October 2004 to July 2005 |
|
|
Various Western Cape Clubs |
December 2004 to May 2005 |
|
|
Zululand Yacht Club |
25 March |
|
|
Hoedjiesbaai Beach, Saldanha Bay |
25 to 28 March |
|
|
Mossel Bay Yacht Club |
25 to 28 March |
|
|
Durban Radio Boat Club |
2 & 3 April |
|
|
Henley Midmar Yacht Club |
16 & 17 April |
|
|
Henley Midmar Yacht Club |
23 & 24 April |
|
|
Nelson Mandela Bay Isuzu Week Incorporating The J22
Nationals |
Algoa Bay Yacht Club |
23 to 29 April |
|
Grand Baie & Royal Natal
Yacht Clubs |
10 September |
|
|
Henley Midmar Yacht Club |
24 to 27 September |
|
|
Henley Midmar Yacht Club |
22 & 23 October |
|
|
Hobie Beach, Port Elizabeth |
25 October to 4 November 2005 |
|
|
Royal Cape Yacht Club |
4 January 2006 |
The Smooth Sailing Classifieds are a free service for private advertisers only. This service is not available to any commercial enterprise or service provider. To place an ad, e-mail the details to andrew@smoothsailing.co.za.
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