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 Keel
Boat Safety Inspections
Friday
afternoon’s round of the L26 Match Racing Series was another
fairly entertaining affair. Age and experience prevailed over youth and
enthusiasm with Jerome McLoughlin’s Harken coming away with a 2 – 0 win over
the PYC’s junior crew on Container World Challenge. The starts were well
contested with some lively dial ups and close quarters action but after the
start Harken showed superior boat speed and pointing ability to out sail CWC.
The match was sailed in a fresh westerly with spinnakers not used, this much to
the relief of some tired cockpit crews who were sweating away after the start
and some furious tacking up the beats. The series now moves into round two with
the next match scheduled to take place in two weeks time. The current standings
will be published on the Smooth Sailing web site later today.
Sunday’s Two-Handed Race for keelers took place in the most
outstanding conditions with a moderate north easter, warm weather and sunny
skies. A real day in paradise. A good fleet of some 16 odd boats turned out for
the race though strangely enough some of the big betters failed to make it to
the start line! The race took the fleet out to a mark off Virginia Airport and
back with the leg back being the highlight of the sail in the building
easterly. Some good downwind surfing conditions really made for a nice sail. It
was noted that on this leg Phill Downing’s Aquilla was seen with a spinnaker up
for the first time in living memory. Hopefully it wont be the last time either.
It is good to see that the more cruising orientated boats are taking part in
some of the racing events and getting into the swing of things too what with
spinnakers flying and boats being tweaked for better speed. This really is what
it’s all about. The race was followed by a prize giving on the lawns at RNYC
with the prizes being generously sponsored by Seaport Supply. The race results
were as follows:
Racing Fleet Cruising
Fleet
1st Wild Thing 1st Stormbird
2nd Parental Guidance 2nd Big Blue
3rd Bandit 3rd
Good News
Being Safety Inspection time of the year this
coming Saturday sees the RNYC’s Keel Boat Safety Inspections taking place.
The inspections are set to take place from 09:00 until 12:00. Sixteen of the
boats on the club’s register were inspected this past weekend which leaves a
huge number still to be done and indicates that perhaps this coming Saturday
could be busier than the past one. Owners are reminded that while this coming
Saturday is not their last opportunity to have boats inspected the after
Saturday the cost of having the inspections done will increase to R200-00 per
boat with the funds raised going to the NSRI.
The Monarch Assurance
Governors Cup Race got off to a good start on Saturday and since then the
competitors have been enjoying some fine sailing in fresh downwind conditions.
Fifteen to twenty knot southwesterly winds since the start have kept the boats
flying towards their destination, the mid Atlantic Island of St Helena. The
front-runners in the fleet are maintaining average speeds in the region of 10
knots and with spinnakers flying it sounds like the crews are enjoying a real
sleigh ride. At the current pace it looks like the leaders will smash the
current race record of some 8 days. The race committee is releasing full press
releases daily and these will be posted on the Smooth Sailing web site as and
when they come in. These and other
information are also being posted on the event web site at www.thegovernorscup.com. In the meantime
the top three places in the IRC Handicap division are as follows:
1st Our Diane – Monarch
Assurance Simonis 35 Rian Leisegang
2nd Jika Epson Printers Judel Vrolik 35 Joe Van Der Westhuiszen
3rd Pintado Muira
30 Richard Moseley
The second round of the KZN Optimist Association’s KZN Grand Prix
Series took place at the
Henley Midmar Yacht Club this weekend. The following report on the regatta was
submitted by Rob Walker:
“Junior sailors
had a busy weekend at HMYC. The KZN Optimist Association held the second Grand
Prix event at Midmar following on from the first at PYC in Durban Bay. Four
races on Saturday were hotly contested by 19 Optimists and 11 Lasers
in a moderate wind which switched back and forth over the dam wall. Day 1 put
Rudy McNeill at the top of the leader board with 2 firsts, Aaron Larkens was
following a point behind carrying an unfortunate 4th. In the Lasers, top gun on
the Saturday was James Hogg also with 2 firsts. Sundays' wind was also moderate
blowing 6 to 8 knots but backed persistently from the dam wall. Three more
races were sailed under Race Officer Dave Claxton. The Optimist rankings
changed somewhat as Rudy McNeill wasn't available to sail. This gave Aaron
Larkens a chance to take 2 firsts, though Sam Hancock caused an upset by
winning the second race. Vincenzo De Gennaro and Michael Bissett vied for third
with only a point separating them. Daniel Larkens in the Lasers managed to
topple James Hogg's commanding position with HMYC sailor Andrew Tarboton taking
third position. The Seniors couldn't stand to see the Laser Juniors having so
much fun and challenged them with a Bar One as stakes, winner takes all.
Consistently in front of the old toppies was Ian Hogg of PYC followed by Jon
Marshall. Andy Gray was HMYC's best bet in third position even though he took an
involuntary swim! However, it was the youth that took the prizes and it's
now 'double or quits' for Grand Prix III offshore Durban on the 18th January
2003! HMYC were congenial hosts and the Juniors enjoyed a 'paintball' evening
at the Club, getting their own back on fellow competitors they couldn't beat on
the water! Thanks are due to Race Officers Dave Claxton and Rob Walker also to
Laurence Hancock and Errol Agnew for Rescue and Mark Laying.”
Positions to date GPI &
GPII:
Optimists Lasers
1st Aaron Larkens
1st Daniel Larkens
2nd Rudy McNeill 2nd Andrew Tarboton
3rd Vincenzo De Gennaro 3rd James Hogg
4th Michael Bissett 4th Thomas Thornton
5th Sam Hancock 5th Denmar Nel
Some club news from the Royal Natal Yacht Club. NSRI Christmas cards are now in stock and on sale from
reception at the club. Keep your friends and relatives happy by not leaving
them off the Christmas cars list and keep the NSRI in business by using their
card this Christmas. Bookings for the downstairs New Years Eve Party, which includes a lamb on the spit in a marquee on the lawns, have
been streaming in. To avoid disappointment you need to book your place now. Do
so by contacting Nicky at RNYC on 031-301 5425. The flasher upstairs party in
the Britannia Room is also attracting a great deal of interest with available
places fast running out.
This coming Thursday there is RC Laser Racing at the Pond. This is the fourth round of the RCL Summer Series.
Racing starts at 17:30 and will be followed by the regular round of drinks and
snack afterwards. On Sunday the RC Laser Christmas Regatta takes place down at
the pond. Racing starts at 10:30 with all sailors required to wear Father Xmas
hats for the duration of the event. The regatta will be followed by the RCL
Xmas lunch, which looks to be a jolly affair in the true spirit of Christmas
and the RC Laser fleet.
The 505
World Championships take
place in Freemantle, Australia next week but the sailing starts today with the
Australian Championships taking place. The 505 is possibly the most competitive
non-Olympic dinghy class around and enjoys support from all corners of the
globe. The entry list for this regatta includes several previous world
champions in this and other dinghy classes, Olympic medallists and one
world-renowned designer. The waters off Freemantle are ideal for 505 sailing
especially at this time of year when the weather is warm and the Freemantle
Doctor kicks in daily bringing with it a perfect surfing swell, something that
the 505 crews will be itching to get into. What this means for those of us
unlucky enough to have to be sitting at home is that we can at least look
forward to some outstanding pics. The regatta web site is already up and
running and looks very good. Check it out for yourself at www.505.com.au.
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
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.
In good
condition
Comes with
trailer and life jackets
R3000
Contact:
Kevin Stoffberg
E-mail: kevin@sai.co.za
IN REASONABLE CONDITION
CONTACT: ALAN
on 072 119 8040
OR
HUGH on
033-344 2537
For sailing at
Midmar
Preferably with trailer
Contact:
Kevin Stoffberg
E-mail: kevin@sai.co.za
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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