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Craig Millar To Skipper Durban Clipper
RCYC Lion of Africa Womens Day Race
The 2005 Nelson Mandela Bay Isuzu Week ended a lot more quietly than it started.
After the overly windy start to the week conditions moderated to allow for some
decent racing to take place, especially on the last day of the regatta when the
weather gods produced a nice building easterly breeze. Although it only kicked
in at the last minute conditions for the final race of the regatta were superb
with some fantastic racing taking place. It made for a fine end to the regatta.
Hopefully that means that everyone who took part will go away with only good
recollections of the regatta. Unfortunately the early part of the week didn’t
provide the best of weather or racing. Tuesday, sadly, produced no wind, and
consequently no racing. By Wednesday
the weather looked more promising but there was by now some urgency to get in
races for the J22 class. It was just a little strange to me that the majority
of the boats were kept on the moorings while the J22s were sent off to bob
around on the windless ocean early in the day. They sailed one race in some
pretty marginal conditions before the rest were called out and even then the
conditions were pretty marginal. A light easterly breeze filled in nicely and
allowed a pleasant race to be sailed. The J22s, who started ahead of the Class
1 boats, started a 3rd race while the rest headed for home. Thursday
saw another light easterly and one race for all but the J22s who got in two
races. Friday however presented the best potential of all with the easterly
predicted to build throughout the day. As it happened the wind came in much
later than predicted but when it came it came well and built all afternoon. By
the end of it the conditions were the best of the week with the wind peaking
around 20 knots and a nice short chop offering the potential for the smaller
boats to surf downwind. It really was excellent sailing! The results show
pretty convincing wins in all classes with the exception of Class 1 where there
was little to separate Bill Lee’s Farr 38 Chinook and Nicholas Mace’s Simonis
designed ILC 40 Gumption. Chinook took it on IRC by 1 point while on the club
PHRF system also in use Gumption enjoyed a 4 point win. Regardless of which set
of results one looks at, and I know which one I pay any attention to, one thing
is clear. The racing was good and both boats were sailed particularly
competitively. Not that the others weren’t and there was some particularly good
and close racing in all the classes. Those who took part would certainly have
enjoyed most of the racing that they did. Unfortunately the weather didn’t
always play ball throughout the week, which meant that there was less sailing
that some might have liked. Off the water the vibe was good with plenty of
partying in the bar and beer tent after sailing. I am sure that by the end of
it everyone who took part went away happy and, with any luck, will be back next
year. There is however plenty that the organisers can improve on and hopefully
they will learn their lessons from this regatta and make the necessary changes
for next year’s event. Unfortunately I didn’t see much of the Hobie 16
Nationals that were run in conjunction with, although almost entirely
separately from the main regatta. Sailing off Hobie Beach from the PE Beach
Yacht club and on a course closer to the shore. Ten races were sailed in the
five days of this regatta. Conditions for most of the races were light with
only the first three, and perhaps the final race sailed in the kind of breeze
that most Hobie sailors look forward to. Particularly impressive was the number
of new boats in the fleet with several sailors clearly putting together good
campaigns for the 2005 World Championships that take place at this venue in
October this year. Shaun Ferry made a blistering start to the regatta winning
all three races on the opening day but battled to stay on form in the lighter
conditions that prevailed for the rest of the week. This left the way open for
the ever-consistent Blaine Dodds to record a comfortable win in the regatta.
Two German and one Brazilian crew also took part in this event using it as a
warm-up for the worlds. They will have been looking to gain some valuable local
knowledge during the week. Top placed of them was Juliano Viana who placed 4th
overall. The winners by class were as follows:
|
IRC Class 1 |
Chinook |
Bill Lee |
|
IRC Class 2 |
ABYC Challenger |
Rob Archibald |
|
J22 Nationals |
Blue Jay |
Graham Baker |
|
Hobie 16 Nationals |
|
Blaine & Roxanne Dodds |
|
ABYC Class 1 |
Gumption |
Nicholas Mace |
|
ABYC Class 2 |
ABYC Challenger |
Rob Archibald |
|
ABYC Class 3 |
Aquabrat |
Vaughn Woods |
The Full Results have been posted on the Smooth Sailing Racing Reports web page.
Well-known Durban Yachtsman Craig Millar has been appointed to skipper the yacht named after the City of Durban,
in the Clipper 05-06 Race. This may in no small part be due to a well orchestrated e-mail campaign
by PYC’s Commodore Gavin Smith and Manager Terry Flynn that saw the race
manager’s mail box bombarded with e-mails requesting that Craig get the job!
Craig will be skippering ‘Durban Clipper’, a 68-foot Dubois designed yacht that
was built in China with a paying crew in what is said to be the world’s longest
circumnavigation race. And this is no joke, but worth noting, the yacht was
built at Shanghai, Double Happiness Yachts in China! She is one of ten
identical yachts that will compete in the race that sets off from Liverpool in
the UK later this year. Crews for each of the yachts will only be assigned on
June 4 but all are amateurs who are paying for the privilege of racing
sailboats around the world. Craig should however be well placed to deal with
such a relatively novice crew having spent some time as a sailing instructor at
the Ocean Sailing Academy in Durban. He is also a well known name on the local
yachting circuit having won and competed in various national championship
regattas in boats ranging from radio controlled classes to Hunters and J22s not
to mention winning the odd race in the Lipton Cup regatta! We wish Craig well
in this race and trust that we will see him and the ‘Durban Clipper’ first not
just in Durban but all the way around the world! For more information visit www.clipper-venntures.com.
The Henley Midmar Yacht Club’s Youth Regatta took place recently on the expanded waters of Midmar
Dam. By the sound of things it wasn’t the warmest regatta but the racing seems
to have been good with 7 sailed during the course of the weekend. I am somewhat
disappointed to see so few Dabchicks having turned out. That class really does
seem to be being overrun by the Laser class as the moment but that’s a story for
somewhere else sometime else. Mostly though, its good to see that there are
kids sailing and racing and enjoying themselves doing it and that’s really all
I want to see, no matter what they are sailing. Rob Walker sent us the
following report on this event:
"There
was a happy turnout of 16 Youth Lasers, 11 Optimists and 2 Dabchicks at the
recent HMYC annual Youth Regatta recently. The 2005 event was the 4th since
it's inception at the insistence of HMYC Commodore Reg Beavitt. Reg constantly
reminds us that the future in sailing lies in promoting the youth sailors and
remembers events in the past like the 1974 KZN Interschools where 70
double-handed Dabchicks participated. He was race officer at the time.
Conditions
were mild and somewhat chilly with a light, variable 4 to 6 knot North
Westerly breeze. The fleet set off on Saturday morning for an Olympic
Triangular Course and separate starts for the Lasers, Dabchicks and Optimist
Classes. It was immediately apparent that in the light conditions the Laser full
rigs were going to dominate and this Sam Hancock did from the start winning
both morning races in great style. Bryan Martin and James Hogg shared the
follow up podium positions. Jessica Hogg dominated her lone opponent
Dabchick, Dylan Evans and the 'no contest' was the way it was going
to stay. In the Optimist Fleet it looked like Byron Gray was going to have
a field day. He certainly had superior boat speed. Surprise of the day was
superfast James Leigh, recently ex novices. He loaded a creditable string of
thirds onto the board. Visitor Stewart Walker from Botswana had a ding dong
battle to hold off Luke Vogelsang.
The
afternoon’s racing was a bit more lively with the breeze getting up to 8 to 10
knots. Sam Hancock was still in top form and displayed some exciting tactics
and speed but James Hogg managed put his first win on the board in the Lasers.
Sadly local HMYC boy Luke Wagner had a bad race and this enabled Laser
Radial sailor Stuart Purchase to go into an overnight lead in the smaller Radial
rigs. Byron Gray in the Optimist fleet produced his second win easily putting
him in overall lead.
Sunday
dawned even colder! The fleet hung around 'till late morning when a steady
6-knot South East breeze filled in. James Hogg won all three races in the morning
snatching victory from an unfortunate Sam Hancock on the count break to break
the tie on points. Third overall was Bryan Martin followed by a persistent
David Leigh. Young Paulo Marques opted to swap his Oppie for a Laser full rig
and showed what the depth of training and experience he had gained in Optimists
by getting a personal best of a 5th in his first race on a full rig Laser.
Dylan Evans nearly caused Jessica to regret swapping for her boat but she
managed to beat him by a small margin retaining her unbroken string of firsts
in the Dabbies. Latecomer to the event was Oppie sailor Claire Walker who
discarded her DNS and put two wins on the board. Byron had an unhappy dunking
when he missed his foot straps costing him the regatta by one point. Third
overall was Emma Walker whose one bad race pushed her down to Byron also by a
mere point in the tense, tight racing.
It was a
real pleasure to see the spirit on the water and the fun these guys were having
made me yearn to join them. It was especially great to se the effort that
Westville Boys High sailor Jean-Marc George had gone to, to introduce new
sailors to the sport. These newbies were set afloat for the first time in Club
09ers and Mpumelelo Sithole persevered despite untold swims! Young Taylor Schwab
proved beyond doubt that he could sail and was 1st 09er home overall.
Many
thanks to Rescue crew Andy Gray & Mike Leigh also to Mark Layers Dave
Wagner & Graham Keir. Andrew Walker and Judy Gray assisted on the Bridge.
The day
ended with the Commodore Reg Beavitt and Vice Commodore: Youth Rob Walker
taking the closing cruise salute. This is traditionally a wet affair and indeed
the youngsters gave their flag officers a thorough dousing amid cries of three
cheers. Rob took no prisoners and gave as could as he took. Reg Beavitt did the
honours at a very congenial prize giving.”
The Full Results are
posted on the Smooth Sailing Racing Reports web page.
The Royal Cape Yacht Club is celebrating its centenary this year and as part of
their celebrations are hosting several events throughout the year. The first of
there, which took place recently, was their Seniors Race. The following was
received from Ron Keytel who has taken on the task of distributing information
from RCYC recently:
“This unique event, in that it is
one of the only sporting events where seniors citizens can compete amongst
themselves on an equal basis took place last Saturday on Table Bay.
An entry of over 50 sailing yachts
had been received, with most of the competitors in the 60 to 70 year of age
category, over 15 competitors in the 70 to 80 age group, and even 1 competitor
in the over 90 years of age group.
The format of the racing is a
Pursuit Race were the slowest competitors start 1st at about 14h30, the hotshot
boats will be starting at about 15h15.
The race itself was sailed in a
pleasant South West wind of about 10 knots, the 1st yacht away was the
Buccaneer of D Johnson at 14h30 and the last was the Reichel & Pugh
Windsong sailed by Gerhard Koper at 15h01.
The eventual winner was the Benetau
47 sailed by Dave Abromowitz, which carved her way through the fleet to win by
a couple of minutes. 2nd boat was UkuZwana sailed by C du Toit and 3rd
Windsong. The handicapping of Dave
Smith was excellent but he felt the
racing could have been even closer if the wind had not become lighter than
expected Back at the Club the competitors enjoyed a free meal whilst prizes
were handed out to every skipper. The other Trophy winners were Hein Skipper
the over 90 year age group, Molly Warr the over 80 year age group, and Geoff
Myburgh the over 70 year age group.
The Event was the 1st Race of the Club's Centennial Year Celebrations.”
More news from Royal Cape Yacht Club is that their Lion of African Insurance
Company Women’s Day Race is due to be sailed this coming Saturday, the 7th
of May. For those interested in this event the following tells you pretty much
all you need to know:
“The sounds of women’s voices and
laughter will dominate Royal Cape Yacht Club on Saturday 7th May when the
annual Lion of Africa Insurance Company Women’s Day Yacht Race is sailed. Now in its third year, the race was
previously held on Women’s Day but due to the inclement weather experienced
during the past 2 years; it was decided to move the date earlier in the year.
Only female skippers and crews are
allowed to enter the race, which is a fairly familiar concept internationally
but in South Africa, and even on the African continent, it’s the only race of
its kind. The skippers can enter their
yachts in either a spinnaker or non-spinnaker class and instead of traditional
silverware trophies, these ladies compete for beautiful limestone sculptures of
women.
Introducing a race of this nature
onto the sailing calendar is to encourage females to actively enter the sport
of sailing and not merely view it as just a joy ride. “While visiting Australia a few years ago I witnessed lots of
all-female teams competing in yacht races and realised that we had to do
something in South Africa to get more females involved,” advises Carol
Middleton, from the RCYC Ladies Association and founder of the Women’s Day
Race.
Royal Cape Yacht Club is fortunate
to boast a number of accomplished female sailors and would like to see more
female participation in local racing events.
The Club established an Academy to accommodate awareness of the sport
and basic training to disadvantaged communities.
Fred Robertson, Chairman of Lion of
Africa Insurance says: “Lion is proud
to support the race. We view this as a
commitment to helping women and female sailors from all walks of life empower
and assert themselves in areas generally dominated by men”.
For more information, please
contact::
Estelle Wilsnagh Mango Marketing
082 381 6555 wilsnagh@telkomsa.net
Carol Middleton RCYC Ladies Association
021 511 6742 info@vetus.co.za
Dee Siebert RCYC Sailing Manager
021 421 1354 info@rcyc.co.za”
I hope that the following notice, which I
have been asked to publish by Doug Harrowsmith, is the result of nothing more
than an innocent mistake and that the Missing
Sails will be returned shortly. If not then I
hope that the criminal in question is cursed with the fleas of a thousand
camels, or worse! If these sails have been stolen then all I can hope is that
it’s not a yachtie who stole them. I would like to think that those of us who
share this sport are of more sound moral fibre than one who would steal a suit
of sails. I would also hope that we are all blessed with a little more mental
capacity since it shouldn’t take a genius to work out that its highly
improbable that one would be able to use these sails without a fellow yachtie
of higher moral fibre and intelligence cottoning on!
REWARD
R500-00
A reward of R 500-00 is offered to the person offering
information leading to the recovery of a new suit of sails removed from the
boathouse store at Hermanus Yacht Club recently.
The suit of sails comprises a mainsail and jib cut from GP
Dacron by North for the prototype ACTIVE 15 Club rig.
The sails were in a mid blue North sail bag bearing the
words Active 15 Club below the central carrying handle.
Anyone knowing the whereabouts of the sails is asked to
please contact Doug Harrowsmith on the following numbers:
Telephone: 021-715
2531
Mobile: 082 461 2531
Anyone who
isn’t familiar with what a suit of Active 15 sails look like, and everyone else
who is at all interested for that matter, should check out the new Gallery of Images of 3 Active 15s Sailing at Hermanus recently. Three might
not be many but it’s certainly the start of something. Personally I think that
it is encouraging just to see 3 new boats of any kind on the water. That it is
a new class is even better. Our sport is, and has for some time been, in
desperate need of some revitalisation. I hope, as do those behind projects like
the Active 15 and others that are on the go in SA at the moment, that these
will prove to be the catalyst for this. We need to get new people on the water
and I think that we have more chance of doing this with new boats and projects
that catch the man in the street’s interest and imagination than we do trying
to get long lost sailors back onto the water. As well as the pictures Doug
Harrowsmith sent me the following update on the progress of the Active 15,
which I thought I would publish as it is of general interest. To see the pics
of the new boats, including the first composite hulled boat, go to www.smoothsailing/photos.asp/.
When sending me the pictures Doug had the following to say:
“You may notice that the folk sailing the boats are all
30/40/50 something: right on the nail for the target market for this rig. All
individual crewmembers were +80kgs, with the exception of Lucas who weighted in
at around 70kgs. Charles is probably the largest and is pushing 110.
Charles as you know is the flow dynamisist for the Shosholoza
design team, had quite a lot to do with the decisions in designing the boats
rigs and designed the profile for the foils. His take on the boats' handling
was that it was the most balance dinghy he had sailed to date. [He owns a 505,
49er and Moth all of which he has sailed with some competence].
With more of the hulls on the water and Greg's Race 1
all but complete, we will be able to start finding out the true potential of
the boat. Certainly all who have sailed her speak of the roominess and ease of
tacking. BUT it is not all that forgiving. If you sail it well it goes fast;
foul up and it stalls and slows; so you need to know a bit about sails &
trim.
In fact unlike any other dinghy we have in the country at
present.
The hull in composites [epoxy laminate on structural foam
core with carbon and carbon kevlar hybrid weave strategic panels] is very rigid
carries the rig well. Plenty of righting moment on the beam at deck level.
The regatta rig is a hiking version. The race 1 carries a
single trapeze.
What I like about the folk that are coming into the class
is that they tend to be technical and come from a background of sailing, having
left it due to lack of interest in the hardware available.
Just, maybe, this will attract more such folk back into the
sport and appeal to others who have looked at available dinghies and gone
"Hmmmm, too forgiving/small ... " and walked away.”
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 |
|
|
Hermanus Yacht Club |
6 to 8 May |
|
|
Dar Es Salaam Yacht Club |
4 & 5 June |
|
|
Point Yacht Club |
2 to 8 July |
|
|
Table Bay, Cape Town |
20 to 26 August |
|
|
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 |
Red Bethwaite Trapeze Harness
On Sunday after the Nine Hour
race at HMYC
Contact: Roy Dunster
Cell: 083 6616 522
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.
FOR SALE
Rigged for fishing
R1 500-00
Contact: Craig Brown
Contact: 083 236 9696
Not licensed
but in good condition
In Mooi River
R3200.00 onco
Contact Heinz
Venter
Phone:
033-263 2237 (Home)
Phone:
033-263 1252 ext 227 (Work)
Posted: 03/05/05
Good condition,
ready to sail
No trailer
Choice of sails
R10 000-00
Cell: 084 611
4889
Posted:
03/05/05
Good condition,
ready to sail
Excellent
Trailer
R13 000-00
Posted:
06/04/05
Contessa 35
Built by
Jeremy Rogers
As
"Bootlicker" and won a Fastnet race (1975)
Currently named "Odyssey".
Good sails.
Engine needs some work.
US $34,900-00
Located in
Luperon Bay in the Dominican Republic.
Contact: Gil
McWhirter
E-Mail: mcwhirtergil@gmail.com
Posted:
06/04/05
Contact: Felix/Annett Groenwaldt
Cell: 083 389 4263
Contact:
Louwrens Toerien
E-Mail: louwrens.toerien@za.didata.com
Work: 021-659
4867
Home: 021-880
1749
Posted:
03/05/05
Gypsy Sails
Main and jib please.
Including battens in good condition.
Contact: Kevin Evans
Cell: 082 603 9229
Around 30-feet.
Around R150 000-00.
Contact: Arch Vermeulen
Phone: 021-940 3499
Cell: 083 284 3499
E-Mail: archiev@transtel.co.za
Posted: 03/05/05
Andrew Heathcote
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 783 8805
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