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
Of the more interesting e-mails that
arrived in my inbox last week was a Notice of Race for a New Year’s Eve Party.
It seems that there will be some sailing involved but what better way to get
yachties to an event at a yacht club than by issuing a Notice of Race. There
are several of these, though more for genuine sailing than for parties, on the Notices of
Race list at the bottom of this newsletter. Scrolling through
them you will see that there is plenty of sailing coming up in the next while,
if you haven’t already done it start planning now by downloading a few NOR’s
off the Smooth Sailing web site. For those of you
needing a bit of direction the Smooth Sailing choice of events definitely
includes the 2002 Hunter KZN Champs and the 2002 Sprog Nationals. For more details
download the NOR for these and other events which catch your eye from the
Smooth Sailing web site. And if you have any comments to make post the on the Smooth Sailing Message Board, its time we
had some more lively debate on there. Prior to the event many people had quite
a lot to say about the Nautical Nomads Regatta which took place at
Sterkfontein this weekend. Now that the regatta is over perhaps its time to
hear what those who went to the event thought and how much those of us who
didn’t go missed out on! You can also read the report on this event elsewhere
in this newsletter.
Kingfisher
Wins Route Du Ruhm Race
It was quite the wild and windy weekend in Durban
with both Saturday’s Dinghy Racing and Sunday’s Keeler Racing falling foul of
the gale force conditions. Sunday’s Keeler Racing was in fact meant to be the
Jonesy Memorial Sprints and not the Port Captain’s Sprints as published in
Smooth Sailing on Monday. The weekends fresh to frightening westerly meant that
we have now had three sailing days in a row of stronger than average breeze
with last Wednesday evening having had similar conditions. The good news is
that my comments in the editorial of this newsletter recently seem to have been
taken to heart with sailors taking to the water for all three events. A
surprising number of dinghies actually attempted to get to the start line of
Saturday afternoon although few crossed it and even fewer, none I think,
crossed the finish line. It should be noted though that at least the start and
finish lines were there thanks to the rescue crews from the RNYC and to race
officer for the day Mike Surgeson. Sunday was even windier and despite a
forecast that had the breeze moderating considerably and swinging to the east
this never happened. A course was set in the bay though only one boat made it
off the moorings while at least on other tried and failed. This was a pity for
many reasons not the least of which was the good turnout at the briefing and
the entry of three 42 footers in the race. Maybe this coming week will be
better weather wise!
The weather was
better away from Durban on Saturday with 25 boats taking part in the inaugural Nautical Nomads
Regatta that was held at Sterkfontein Dam. Conditions for the race were
mixed with everything from 0 to 25 knots. The overwhelming response from those
who attended the race was that it was very worthwhile and definitely worth
doing again next year. With that in mind the organisers have wasted no time in
pencilling in the 24th of October 2003 as the date for the next
Sterkfontein Nautical Nomads Regatta. The plan is that the Sterkfontein event
will be the annual flagship event with the Nomads attending other regattas
around the country during the course of the year. The list of events that the
Nomads will be attending has yet to be released however will be published in
Smooth Sailing just as soon as it becomes available. Back to this weekend’s
event and the racing, the fleet was mixed with the competing boats including
Tornados, a Hunter, Flying Dutchman, Lasers, Hobie’s and 505s. The 505 class
was the biggest single class in attendance with this securing them an
individual class trophy for the winners. The fastest boats made it around the
course in around an hour and a half with the slower boats taking in the region
of four hours. Having spoken to a few people who attended the only complaint I
came across was from a Laser sailors who was muttering about a bruised butt,
the four hours he spent on his boat having been the longest sail he had done in
a while! The trophy winners for the event were as follows:
1st Line Honours Wayne Bird Tornado
1st Handicap Nigel Trevarthen Flying
Dutchman
1st Biggest Fleet Hans Rogotski 505
Longest Sail Dave
Claxton Hunter
While it was a
bleak weekend for sailing it was even bleaker for the Springboks. The only good
thing I can think of out of their tour to Europe is that no one seems to be
calling for the coach’s head, something which is quite surprising given the
well known nature of the South African public and press. At least it looks like
the coach and his team will be given a further chance to prove themselves, and
boy do they have a lot to prove! Saturday’s performance was by far the biggest
shambles of the three-match tour. Although they started off well the sending
off of one of our forwards, an individual clearly endowed with more brawn that
brains, signalled the end of our chances. It was all downhill from there with
little that the remaining men in green could do to overcome continuous pressure
from both the English players and the ref, who certainly did more than his fair
share for the English cause. With the rugby season now well and truly over,
although some might argue that the players have not been playing for at least
two months now, we can focus on happier things like enjoying the good summer
weather and getting in plenty of sailing before the Super 12 starts late next
February.
The Radio Sailing KZN
Marblehead Championships took place in extremely windy conditions at
Durban’s Radio Boat Club on Sunday. Des Fairbank sent me the following report
on the regatta:
“Eight Radio Marbleheads (Once the
premier class in Radio Sailing ) were removed from mothballs for RSKZN's
Championship hosted by the DRBC on Sunday.
On arrival at the pond it was very
obvious that we were going to have a very exciting days sailing. The wind speed
was recorded at 26knots even after passing through and over the numerous trees
and buildings in its path before arriving at the pond from the South West. Two
skippers attempted to launch their boats but did not have suitable size sails
and so never even entered. The Marblehead class allows for 7 rigs three
(A1,B1,C1 ) of which can be the maximum sail area allowed whilst the others
must fit inside these(A2, B2, C2 and C3). This allows various aspect ratio
sails for different wind strength's.
Because of the wind direction a
zigzag course with two short beats was set up. This resulted in a start line
almost parallel to the bank with very little water between the leeward start
mark and the bank. In the wind conditions this made for extremely interesting
stars with several incidents.
Most skippers started the racing on
C3 with the occasional change up to C3. Places changed regularly in each race
as boats were caught in cracks and could not tack or caught in a hole when the
C3 Rig just did not drive the boat. This can be seen from the points where up
until the last race anyone of the top 4 could have won the event.
During the racing we were paid a
visit by none other than Harry Ellens and he informed us that the wind speed
had been recorded at 40 knots and that all sailing had been cancelled. He was
entertained with some exciting radio sailing.
After 15 hectic races the results
were:
1st Des Fairbank 28
2nd Norrie Taylor 31
2nd Bernie Warner 31
4th Joe
Robbertse 32
5th Ray
Cockrell 59
6th
Sheldon McGlone 87”
The Week Ahead in Durban has plenty of
sailing activity to keep enthusiasts busy.
On Wednesday evening the PYC host the regular Wednesday Evening Fun Racing for keelers. The
fun race starts in the bay at 17:30 and will be followed by the regular party
in the Anchorage. Thursday sees the RC Laser fleet racing down at the Pond. Racing
starts at 17:30 and is followed by a social gathering which generally includes
plenty of beer and snacks, usually in the form of wors rolls or some similarly
mouth watering item. With any luck I will actually make it to RCL sailing this
week! Then on Friday there is L26 Match Racing with the Point
Yacht Club’s junior crew on their boat, Container World Challenge, up against
Jerome McLoughlin’s Harken. The juniors have been practicing hard and are
incredibly keen. What they lack in L26 and match racing experience they make up
for in enthusiasm. It should be a fun match both for the sailors and the
spectators! On Saturday the RNYC’s Sunsail
Dinghy Series takes place in the bay. Two races are scheduled for the afternoon
with the first of these starting at 14:00. Finally on Sunday the Two-Handed Race for keelers takes place offshore at 11:00.
This race is also hosted by the RNYC and will be followed by a braai and music
on the lawns at the club.
The first ever Bay to Bay Race to place this
weekend in the in the Western Cape. The event was held as a feeder race for the
Monarch Assurance Governors Cup Race to St Helena Race, which starts on the 30th
of November in Table Bay. The following report on this weekend’s event came
from Di Meek:
“In a fast and thrilling finish to
Cape Town's first "Bay to Bay" yacht race from False Bay to Table
Bay, the smallest yacht in the fleet, a tiny Sadler 26, Yemanj, which had lead
from the start was pipped to the post in the last 100 metres to the finish off
the harbour breakwater in a gale force south easterly on Saturday. (23
November)
Winner of the event was Paul
Dennett, skipper and owner of the Norlin 34, Salamander, who just managed to
sneak ahead of Martin Mills of Yemanj, in a tough final beat in wild sea and
wind conditions. Salamander finished one minute ahead of Yemanj at 11.40am.
Third was Rian Leisegang on the Simonis 35, Our Dianne Monarch Assurance.
Organised by False Bay Yacht Club
and structured as a pursuit race, the Bay to Bay fleet of 20 yachts was given a
staggered start, the small yachts leaving first, the biggest last, to give all
yachts an equal chance of winning. Most of the fleet also finished within an
hour and a half of the winning yacht, Salamander.
The race was a feeder event for the
Governor's Cup 2002 Yacht race which starts in Table Bay on Saturday 30
November and ends at the remote mid-Atlantic island of St Helena. All the
yachts competing in both events are moored in the V&A Waterfront this week.
Yemanj was the first yacht to start
the race at 2am on Friday night. She left in rainy weather, lumpy seas and a
big cross swell rounding Whittle rock on a course for Cape Point and then down
along the Peninsula past Kommetjie, Hout Bay and the Atlantic Seaboard to Table
Bay.
Sailing just three up on Yemanj with
Dale Smyth and Heather Mackintosh as crew, Mills was bitterly disappointed to
have lost his course lead to Salamander in the mere final minutes of his seven
hour, 42 minute dash around the Peninsula. Salamander had started two hours
behind Yemanj at 4am and doggedly refused to let up in her pursuit to take the
top spot.
Our Dianne Monarch Assurance
recorded the quickest time of 6 hours. 35 minutes having started from False Bay
at 5.15am.
Principle race sponsor Patrick
Taylor of the UK-based company Monarch Assurance awarded three new trophies for
the event at the event prizegiving held at the Governor's Cup marquee in the
V&A Waterfront last night (Saturday). Salamander won the main Patrick
Taylor Cup, Yemanj, the Lucy Taylor Cup and Our Dianne Monarch Assurance, the
Sarah Taylor Cup - the latter two trophies are named after Taylor's two
daughters who are with him in South Africa for the start of the Governor's Cup
race.
Race officer, Tom Ambrose of False
Bay Yacht Club, said the race had been highly successful and looked set to
become a popular annual event on the SA yacht-racing calendar.
Results:
1st Salamander Norlin 34 Paul Dennett
2nd Yemanj Sadler
26 Martin Mills
3rd Our Dianne
Monarch Assurance Simonis
35 Rian Leisegang
4th Pintado Miura Richard Moseley
5th Ambre Stadt 36 Larry Davis
6th Brightwater Fox Simonis 35 John Caig/Cris Trace
7th Swimlion Schumaker 41 Derek Frey
8th SA Eagle Paragon Ocean 31 Peter Martin
9th Solitaire
Monarch Assurance Compass
47 Dave Elcock
10th
Beluga
Monarch Assurance Lavranos 50
Jon Paarman”
The
South African International
Dart Class Association
are pleased to announce Kim and Bruce Phillips have been awarded their South
African Sailing colours on the strength of their performances in the Dart Class
this year. Kim and Bruce had an extremely successful season both locally and
abroad where they scored a particularly good top ten result at the 2002 Dart
World Championships.
Ellen Macarthur on board Kingfisher won the Route Du Ruhm Race on Saturday in the process breaking a
number of records. One was the race record for a Mono-hull, which she has now
brought down to 13 days, 13 hours, 31 minutes and 47 seconds, some 48 hours
less than the previous record. She also became the first female skipper and the
first British sailor to win this arduous and highly prestigious race. Second
over the line was Mike Golding aboard Ecover. Golding finished some 9 hours
behind MacArthur and also well within the previous record time. The two had
fought a hard battle all the way across the Atlantic and although MacArthur had
held the upper hand for most of the race the result was not settled until the
final day. Unusually the first two mono-hulls finished ahead of the first of
the 60-foot trimarans with the winner probably just happy to have made it
across upright and in one piece after the well documented carnage in this
fleet. Michael Desjoyeaux on Geant was the first of the tri’s home and although
he finished after Kingfisher his time was still 6 hours better with the tris
having started a day after the mono-hulls. The rest of the fleet will continue
trickling in over the next few days. For more information and some great pics
of the leaders finishing visit the race web site at www.routeduruhm.org.
In the Louis Vuitton Cup racing in the Quarter Final Repechage Round, which
was meant to start on Saturday, has yet to get underway with conditions not yet
allowing for any racing to take place. For three days now there has either been
too little or too much wind. So with no racing to keep them busy Team Dennis
Conner and Prada have instead entertained themselves by filing a joint
submission to the Americas Cup Arbitration Panel to take another look at the
One World case. One World, who are up against Team Dennis Conner in the
Repechage Round, were earlier penalized by the panel for having in their
possession design information from Team New Zealand, Prada and America True
Challenges in the 1999/2000 America’s Cup. One World were penalized prior to
the start of the Louis Vuitton Cup and the case was considered closed. Whether
this joint submission is simply an attempt to unsettle the One World Team
before this vital match, which will see the loser out of the Cup, or a genuine
gripe, remains to be seen. Either way it is sure to open up heated debate once
again. Whether the Panel will even hear the submission remains to be seen.
Hopefully tomorrow we will see some racing and get back to focusing on sailing
and not legalities in this regatta. For more information visit http://www.louisvuittoncup.yahoo.com/.
The Albert Falls Yacht Club has sent us three Notices of Race
for events coming up on their calendar. Two of these are for their NNYU Interclub
Challenge, for legs 3 and 4 of this series in fact. The third is for their New
Years Eve Party! Sailing, party, maybe some more sailing, sounds like a good
way to spend New Years Eve! Click on the links below for the full details of
these three events.
We don’t have the full Notice of Race for it but we can tell
you that the Seal Point
Yacht Club’s “Summer 4” Middle of the Dam Race is set to take place in the middle of the Vaal Dam on Sunday the 1st
of December! The race starts at 10:00 in the Muster Mark area, which all Vaal
Dam sailors should be able to find, and is open to all keeler classes. For more
information contact Kathy Manten at manten@lantic.net.
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
Cape Town to St Helena
Race False Bay Yacht
Club 30 November
NNYU Interclub Challenge –
Leg 3 Spioenkop Boating Club 30November & 1 December
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
AFYC Fun Regatta 2002/2003 Albert
Falls Yacht Club 31
December & a January
2003 Cape to Rio Race Royal Cape Yacht Club 11 January 2003
NNYU Interclub Challenger –
Leg 4 Glendee Yacht Club 15 & 16 March
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.
Social
cruising dinghy
In good
condition.
Limited
edition with dhow sail configuration.
Sail no 18)
Suitable for
1/2 people and easily managed by youngsters.
Great for
family outings.
Lightweight
and easily transported on roof top of a small car roof.
Urgent
disposal required.
Price:
R 1500.00 neg.
Contact:
Carol Booth
Cell: 082 371
8342
E-Mail: carol@ion.co.za
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
RSA 3007
Contact: Russell Thornton
Cell: 0823301275
E-Mail:
rthornto@pnr.co.za
Debonair
(Mistral)
On Vaaldam
Main, Genoa, Jib,
Storm Jib, Spinnaker
2Hp Mariner
Good condition
R16 000
Cell: 0825593715
E-Mail: franzv@joburg.org.za
3330
6 jibs, 4 mains
2 rudders, 3
centerboards
All fittings and ropes
3 masts, Boom
Cover
R4000-00
Contact: Peter Becker
Home: 031- 564 0975
Cell: 072 426 3039
E-Mail: petebeck@hotmail.com
Dolphin Dinghy
In good condition.
Gauteng area.
Contact: Francois
Home: 012 664 4227
Cell: 082 491 5824
E-Mail: soundfa@iafrica.com
Andrew Heathcote
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 783 8805
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contained in this newsletter are those of the authors concerned and in no way
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