Smooth Sailing
Sailing
News By A Sailor For Sailors!
In association with Royal Natal Yacht Club, Henley Midmar Yacht Club
, South African
Hunter Class Association and Sailing
KZN.
www.smoothsailing.co.za
RNYC Smooth
Sailing Dinghy Sprints
RNYC Statement
on Keeler Slipping
The Weekend Weather looks like it is going to be as follows:
Durban & Richard’s Bay: A cloudy and cool weekend here with temperatures of
20 and 23 degrees. On both days there is a 40%chance of rain late in the day.
The wind on Saturday will be a fresh to strong south westerly while on Sunday there will be a moderate southerly
heading to the south east throughout the day.
Midmar: Also cool and cloudy here with
temperatures of 20 and 19 degrees. The There will be a moderate south easterly
wind on Saturday with a 40% chance of afternoon thunderstorms. Sunday will
start off with drizzle and fog patches with a light easterly wind becoming a
moderate north easter later in the day.
Vaal Dam: Saturday will be warm at 30 degrees. The
sky will be partly cloudy and there is a 20% chance of thunderstorms later in
the day. The wind will be a light north westerly becoming a moderate north
easterly later in the day. Sunday will be cooler at 24 degrees with a partly
cloudy sky and a 20% chance of thundershowers late in the day. The wind will be
a moderate north easterly.
Cape Town: The temperature on Saturday will be 20
degrees with clear skies and a strong south easterly wind blowing. Sunday will
be warmer at 26 degrees however the sky will still be clear and the south
easter will still be blowing.
Smooth Sailing and the Royal Natal Yacht Club
came to the rescue for Durban’s Dinghy sailors this week when it was discovered
that there was no Dinghy Sailing scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday the 23rd.
Just as the fleets are increasing in size and more boats are getting out on a
Saturday afternoon than expected breaking the momentum like that would not be a
good thing at all. Added to that many sailors and in fact on whole class were
completely unaware that there was no sailing. Well, that all changed in a hurry
and instead of no sailing we now have the RNYC Smooth Sailing Sprints. Racing will
start dead on time at 14:00 with Mike Surgeson doing duty as the race officer.
Racing will be on a windward leeward course which differs slightly from the
regular set-up so Sailing Instructions for the day will be available from RNYC
on Saturday morning in addition to which we will make sure that they are widely
distributed around the boat park. The plan is for the races to be relatively
short allowing us to get in three races before heading back to the club to
watch the rugby. It should be a lot of fun and something slightly different and
I hope to see a whole load in dinghies there.
The Springboks have their last
chance to do themselves and the rest of the country proud on Saturday when they
take on England in the final test of their European tour. So far they have been
woeful in their performances to say the least and we all know how bad the
results have been! We also all know that beating the poms is desperately
important. While most of us do not have high expectations we can only hope that
something goes our way. The game will be televised live on Supersport and not
on the Cartoon Network as some humourless git suggested. Kick off is at 16:30,
right after sailing is over!
Sunday sees the PYC’s Port Captains Sprints taking place
offshore for keelers and cat if they wish to join in. Racing is set to start at
11:00 on a windward leeward course. For more information contact Pat at PYC on
031-301 4787.
The Royal Natal Yacht Club have issued the following statement regarding the Slipping of Yachts in Durban
in the interests of yachting in Durban and in particular those of keel boat
owners:
“By now
most, if not all of you will be aware of the wholesale changes which have taken
place in the area from the old RNYC car park right across the top of the public
slipway to the end of the PYC building.
Not
only has this affected access to the water, although this is slowly improving
as the work nears completion, but has also resulted in the closing down of the
keel boat slipping and maintenance facility which previously occupied this
area.
As
all keelboat owners know regular slipping of boats in a necessity and the demise
of this facility in the yacht mole has rightly been a cause for some concern
around the clubs. While slipping at the yacht mole is now a thing of the past
the RNYC would like to bring to the attention not only of it’s own members and
keelboat owners but to all keel boat owners in Durban, the fact that a viable
and in fact technically superior and safer alternative to the facility that we
previously had doe exist in Durban.
Marina
Yacht Lift down at Bayhead offers a professional and comprehensive facility
with state of the art equipment and an impressive array of facilities. At
Marina Yacht Lift all yachts are removed from the water at their custom built
dock using one of two travel lifts. All slings and lifting gear meet the
legislated safety requirements and are well maintained to ensure the safety of
your yacht going both in and out of the water and being moved around the yard.
Once
out of the water yachts are positioned and chocked in the safest possible
manner. Gone are the risks of collapsing cradles and haphazardly balanced
boats.
On
site Marina Yacht Lift boasts and impressive array of facilities with a number
of on site contractors including specialists in wood and stainless steel work,
yacht masts and rigging, yacht engines and spray painting and polishing. There
is no spray-painting in open public areas, a practice which is illegal as it is
anyway!
All
spray-painting work is done within the confines of a spraying area with
additional protection to ensure that fumes and over spray are confined to that
area. This means no worrying about over spray from the yacht next door on your
newly polished yacht or car parked nearby.
There
are also ablutions and a catering facility on site completing the all round
service offered.
The
next time your yacht comes due for a fresh coat of anti foul, a new stern gland
or any other out of the water repairs you now know where to go. For booking
information or further enquiries contact Marina Yacht Lift on 031-205 1814 or
e-mail mrgas@iafrica.com.
This
release as well as photographs of the facility are posted on the Smooth Sailing
web site at www.smoothsailing.co.za/marinayl.html.”
Clearly
my comments on sailing in stronger winds were noted and well taken by Smooth
Sailing readers because a good number of boats took to the water in a fairly
fresh westerly for this weeks Wednesday Evening Fun Sail. The race took place in fairly blustery conditions with some big
puffs streaking across the bay. Even in the racing fleet no spinnakers were
seen which is quite something. The sailing was lots of fun but the westerly put
a bit of a damper on the after party with the fresh wind chasing everyone
inside. Nonetheless there was good music, good beer and pleasantly served too
by the Windhoek Beer Girls! The results of the fun race were as follows:
Racing
Class Cruising Class
1st
Prodigy 1st
Touchstone
2nd
Wild Thing 2nd
Aquilla
3rd
Donna Mia
Eighteen 60-oot trimarans started the Route Du Ruhm Race, now only three remain in the event. On
Tuesday night the leading tri suffered the same fate as many of his fellow
competitors with a sudden gust leaving the boat capsized in the middle of the
ocean leaving her skipper to wait for his shore team to come and pick him up.
Will the last three make it to the finish without incident? That remains to be
seen. What does however seem to be a certainty is that the first boat to the
finish will unexpectedly be a mono-hull. Ellen Macarthur on board Kingfisher is
currently involved in a ding-dong battle with fellow Brit Mike Golding on
Ecover. With 434 miles to go Kingfisher was enjoying a 70 odd mile lead over
Ecover however there is still some tricky sailing to be done between there and
the finish line which the leader is expected to reach sometime tomorrow
afternoon. It should be an interesting finish to the race and if you have some
time to spend on the net this weekend have a look at www.routeduruhm.org to see who finally won the battle into Guadeloupe.
One
of the more spectacular failures in the 60 foot trimarans fleet was that of FujiFilm which broke up
early in the race. Her skipper, Loik Peyron was rescued from his stricken boat
by a passing ship and returned to the safety of land only to try and recover
what remained of his boat. Sadly more than one attempt to recover the remains
of the boat failed and Peyron and his shore crew now have no option but to wait
for the wreck to wash up somewhere on the Spanish coastline in order that they
can salvage what they can from the boat. A sad end to a spectacular boat. To
see some great images of the boat before her demise visit http://www.fujifilm.fr or http://www.loickpeyron.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
Western Cape Points Series Various WC Dinghy Clubs September 2002 to
March 2003
KZN Optimist Grand Prix Series Various KZN Venues November to
January
Nautical Nomads Regatta Sterkfontein Dam 23 & 24 November
Cape Town to St Helena
Race False Bay Yacht
Club 30 November
Sailing KZN Blue
Water Challenge Various KZN
Clubs December
2002 to July 2003
Sangoma Race Durban
to Richard’s Bay 6 December
Hunter KZN
Championships Royal
Natal Yacht Club 14 to 16
December
Table Bay International
Race Week Royal Cape Yacht Club 14 to 20 December
Junior Nationals Aeolians Club, Vaal Dam 14 to 21 December
Sprog Nationals Henley
Midmar Yacht Club 27 to 30 December
Stadt 23 Western
Province Champs Theewaters
Sports Club 28 & 29
December & 4 & 5 January
2003 Cape to Rio Race Royal Cape Yacht Club 11 January 2003
IRC KZN Champs
(Announcement) Zululand Yacht
Club 21
to 23 March 2003
Western Province Dinghy
Champs Saldahana Bay 18 to 21
April 2003
The Classifieds has been updated on the Smooth Sailing web site. Take a surf past to see what is for sale or sought after in the wanted column. To place an ad, e-mail the details to hethcot@iafrica.com.
Centre control with steering consol,
4.3m +
trailer & 55hp Yamaha –
Quicksilver
Control, Electric start
Excellent
condition R.35 000neg
Cell:
0828528398
Winner Optimist SA 958
"Private Puff"
R 4 500
Luggage trailer including racks to
carry both boats,
dollys and tubes for the sails
R2 000
Both boats are in good condition
and are immediately ready for sailing.
Contact: Peter Shorten
Cell: 082 414 4710
Hunter 19,
Sail number 273.
Very Recently stripped out for serious
racing,
and wetted area prepared and painted.
Competitive Boat.
R20000.00
Contact: Dave
Cell: 082 455 1071
Flying Fifteen
RSA 3007
Contact: Russell Thornton
Cell: 0823301275
E-Mail: rthornto@pnr.co.za
Andrew Heathcote
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 783 8805
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that which may be of interest to yachtsmen.
Please note that the views
contained in this newsletter are those of the authors concerned and in no way
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