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
A number of regattas take place around
the country this weekend. The highest profile event of the lot is the Junior Nationals, which gets underway at Aeolians Club
on the Vaal Dam on Sunday. In sailing terms this should be a good regatta with
the cream of South Africa’s junior talent competing on one of the better pieces
of sailing water in the country. I wouldn’t be surprised though if things off
the water were more than a little heated. Not between the sailors though,
between the parents of course. In the last couple of weeks I have seen and
heard some horrible things in the world of junior sailing and I can’t say that
I like it one bit. The very nature of junior sailing is that it is completely
reliant on parents to make it happen. There are very few people involved in the
running of these events who don’t have an interest in the form of a child competing.
When these parents start fighting with one another over what really amount to
petty problems, issues of sail measuring, selection regattas, coaches and what
classes their kids should be sailing next, the real issues of the sport get
forgotten. The fact of the matter is that we should be concentrating on the
positives, teaching the kids to have fun, compete in a sportsmanlike manner and
making sure that the future paths we map out for them in the sport are the
paths that appeal to the sailors and not to the parents. The example set by
this unpleasantness is really not the one we want. Ultimately we should be
trying to create a generation of sailors who are above all good friends and who
will want to continue in the sport of sailing for the rest of their lives. I
sincerely hope that this is what happens!
Now on the topic of positive and
negative vibes, I have got wind of a perception that Smooth Sailing has allowed
itself to become more of a political tool for various factions in Durban
sailing than what it is meant to be, which is an information resource for
sailors. This is clearly not a good thing and something, which needs to be laid
to rest. Make no mistake, Smooth Sailing will continue to express the point of
view of those organisations that have been loyal to us and have supported us
over the past year where others have declined. However this in no way
compromises or affects Smooth Sailing’s position as a publication “By a Sailor
for Sailors”. Any perception that Smooth Sailing in any way attempted to
scupper an event taking place outside of Durban is completely incorrect. That
Smooth Sailing and our longest standing supporter, the RNYC, took it upon
ourselves to arrange dinghy sailing in Durban on that particular Saturday
afternoon had more to do with reacting to a clear demand by the sailors! That’s
it, we go with what the sailors want. Ultimately though, the purpose of this
editorial piece is to clear up any misconception and redefine Smooth Sailing’s
position. Smooth Sailing remains a publication whose sole aim is the benefit of
sailors, we support all sailing events no matter how big or small and
regardless of the politics involved. So, no more negative, no more politics,
just sailing, which is what we should all be focusing on anyway. I really hope
that the clubs, classes and individuals involved take note of this, think hard
about what it is that we are all here for and make sure that we move forward in
a positive manner for the good of our sport.
Have you done something good for the greater good of our sport today?
Hunter
KZN Champs & Flying Fifteen Nationals
PYC Beach Site
Dinghy Cat Regatta
505 Worlds
Your Long Weekend
Weather outlook is as follows:
Durban & Richard’s Bay: Saturday
is going to be a scorching summers day at 31 degrees and with high humidity.
The sky will be partly cloudy although there is no chance of rain and the wind
will be a moderate east to north easterly. Sunday will be slightly cooler at 26
degrees with cloud cover increasing progressively throughout the day. No rain
is predicted but the wind will be a moderate southeasterly. On Monday the
temperature will be only 23 degrees. The sky will be cloudy and there is a 30%
chance of rain in the early morning and later afternoon. The wind will be a
moderate east to north easterly.
Midmar: Saturday will be partly cloudy and hot at
29 degrees with a moderate northwesterly wind blowing. Sunday will start off
partly cloudy with the cloud cover increasing progressively throughout the day.
There is a 30% chance of afternoon thunderstorms and the maximum temperature
will be 24 degrees. The wind will start of lightly from the northwest but will
be blowing out of the southeast by the end of the day. Monday will have a
maximum temperature of 25 degrees. The sky will be partly cloudy and there is a
30% chance of thunderstorms later in the day. The wind will be a moderate
northerly.
Vaal Dam: Saturday will be partly cloudy with a
temperature of 26 degrees and a moderate westerly to south westerly wind
blowing. Sunday will be pretty much identical with the exception that the wind
will be out of the northwest. Monday will be considerably warmer at 29 degrees.
The sky will again be partly cloudy and the wind will be a moderate to fresh
northwesterly.
Cape Town: Not the best of long weekends in Cape Town
with a maximum temperature of 21 degrees on Saturday, a 60% chance of rain
showers, mainly in the afternoon and a fresh northwesterly wind blowing. Sunday
will see a slight improvement to 23 degrees with only a 20% chance of rain
showers early in the day and a moderate southerly wind. Monday will still be 23
degrees and partly cloudy with a fresh northwesterly wind blowing and no chance
of rain.
The Hunter KZN Champs and the Flying Fifteen
Nationals take place this weekend hosted by the RNYC. As of Thursday
afternoon there were ten entries in each of classes. This represent just about
a 100% turnout for the Flying Fifteen fleet, a very good effort, while the
Hunter class can probably expect a few more entries today and tomorrow morning.
The class is expecting around fifteen boats on the water. Both fleets should
provide some quality racing with at least five seriously competitive teams in
contention in both. With a great forecast it looks like we are in for a
seriously good weekend of racing. Eight races are planned for the weekend so
there could be some tired sailors around by the time it is all over. Now to
keep it all exciting a Sweepstakes will be running on each race in the regatta
for both the Flying Fifteen and the Hunter class for each race. For a
contribution of R10-00 per race which allows you to select a set of winning
number, with a number allocated to each boat, you could potentially win in he
region if R950 if you were to get every race right. At least that’s the way I
understand it and I know next to nothing about gambling of any kind except that
whenever I do it I seem to lose. Phil Downing is the man in charge and he will
be running the Sweepstakes from the outside bar at RNYC throughout the weekend.
Just another reason to be around and taking in the full atmosphere of the
regatta. Remember that there is a spectator boat going out onto the water on
each day of the event. Places on the boat need to be booked in advance and you
can do this by contacting Sandy on 083 389 6567.
Down at the PYC Beach Site the Beach Site Dinghy
and Cat Regatta will be taking place, also from Saturday through to Monday.
The event is open to all classes and for more information you can contact Pat
at the PYC on 031-301 4787.
This weeks Wednesday Evening Fun Race saw one of the
biggest turnouts of cruising boats this year while the racing fleet had exactly
the opposite. 20 Cruisers and 3 racers enjoyed a good sail in a fresh
northeasterly breeze under clear skies and in warm weather. It was a great
evening to be on the water. With the difference in numbers of the fleets as it
was it got me thinking again about whether we should not just be sailing off
one start on Wednesday evenings again. Perhaps this is a god topic for some
debate on the Smooth Sailing Message Board. While I wasn’t
there myself I am told that once again the attendance at the party afterwards
didn’t quite match the number of sailors out on the water. This is something
else I can’t understand; I had thought that it was the holidays and therefore
the party season. Clearly not! Another topic for debate? I have been asked to
point out that in the great ongoing challenge between the yachts Chatur and
Aquilla, Aquilla kicked ass this week. The story I heard suggests that a bit of
complacency may have set in the skipper of Chatur having brought along a bottle
of celebratory champagne, which he was sure that he was going to award to
himself, after winning the race! Pity it didn’t work out that way for him but
perhaps we will hear the other side of the story in the next edition of Smooth
Sailing! Enough with the debates then, the results of Wednesdays race were as
follows:
Racing Class:
1st Bandit Simonis
Cat Peter Latter
2nd Ladybird Simonis Cat Andrew
Dolloway
3rd Magic Dragon Dragonfly Peter
Bernd
Racing Fleet:
1st Aquilla Trapper
28 Phil Downing
2nd Chatur Theta
26 Greg Challis
3rd Rain Holiday
23 Brian Millar
Thursday evenings
RC
Laser Summer Series Regatta was the second last of the year and took place
in difficult conditions. Twenty boats competed in a dying northeasterly breeze,
which my sources tell me was anything but steady in direction. The onset of a
serious electric storm later in the evening surely couldn’t have helped either
but luckily the rain only seemed to come after the sun had gone. While the wind
may not have been that steady Des Fairbank was and with two firsts and a second
in the three races sailed he won the regatta in convincing style. The “Proper”
rc sailors really seemed to have the measure of these conditions and ended up
occupying the top four positions overall, something that may need to be
rectified by the big boat sailors next week before the Xmas break! The top
three places then were as follows:
1st Des Fairbank 4 Points
2nd Sheldone McGolone 7
3rd Peter Simons 15
Interest in the Sprog Nationals is rapidly
growing. Sprog sailors have been seen out practicing, others are working on
their boats and I even hear word of one or two new suites of sails having been
ordered. In fact it is looking like the pace might be that hot that young Mike
Robinson may even have to hand over the helm to his more talented other half
just to be able to stay in the hunt! The regatta take place at the Henley
Midmar Yacht Club from the 27th to the 30th of December
and at this stage it looks like a fleet of around 30 boats will turn up. These
include entries from as far away as Cape Town and Gauteng so it should be a
truly national Nationals. For more information on this regatta visit the Sprog
page on the Smooth Sailing web site at www.smoothsailing.co.za/sprog.html.
The majority of
the Monarch Assurance Governors Cup Race fleet have now
arrived at the island of St Helena. The SA Navy’s Muira, Pintado, remains on
the water and is the only boat still racing which is in with a chance of
winning the race. Late yesterday afternoon the yacht was just 16 miles from the
finish but battling along in very light winds. At the time of writing it was
unclear as to whether she had finished within the required time to win the race
or not. Visit 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 Finished
2nd Pintado Muira
30 Richard Moseley 16 miles to go
3rd Jika Epson Printers Judel Vrolik 34 Joe Van Der Westhuizen Finished
The Around
Alone Race gets underway
again in Cape Town tomorrow, Saturday, when leg three of the race starts at
12:00. All but one of the fleet have had a good rest, something which most
didn’t get to enjoy between legs one and two. The one who didn’t was Simone
Bianchetti’s Tiscali, which only arrived in Cape Town on Tuesday morning. The
fleet will start leaving their berths in the V & A Waterfront at 09:30 on
Saturday morning from where they will proceed to the starting area outside the
breakwater. Although the weather doesn’t look like it will be that great it
should be quite a spectacle. The fleet is in for a tough month at sea as they
head off towards New Zealand on a leg that will take them deep into the
southern ocean. For more information visit the race web site at www.aroundalone.com.
The semi-final round of the Louis Vuitton Cup has been action packed with some of the closest racing of the
regatta to date. Carrying a one point penalty One World have more to do than
most and their match with Prada has so far been the closer contested of the
two. At this stage the match is tied at one race each although the penalty
means that One World have actually won two races to Prada’s one. In the other
match Alinghi seems to have the beating of Oracle BMW and currently hold a
three nothing lead over them. One more victory to the Swiss team and it’s all
over so the pressure certainly is on the Oracle boys and one wonders how well
they will be sleeping at night at present. Today, Friday’s match, was cancelled
due to too much wind however will be re-sailed tomorrow, Saturday. For more information visit the regatta web
site at http://www.louisvuittoncup.yahoo.com/.
The 505 Worlds taking place in Freemantle this week
sound like they have been loads of fun so far. For the most part there has been
plenty of wind although when there hasn’t been there has been none at all with
one day lots due to lack of breeze so far. After six races USA boats are
occupying three of the top four spots. Currentl Dan Thompson and Andrew Zinn
hold a slender one point lead over former world champions Howie Hamlin and Mike
Martin. It will be interesting to see if they can maintain or stretch their
lead in the final days racing. Perhaps Swede and multiple world champion
Krister Bergstrom will ruin it all. Currently he is lying in third spot three
points off the lead and looks like the only non-American capable of winning the
regatta. If you are interested pop by and take a look at www.505.com.au but if you want something just a little
more exciting take a look at www.aussiesinaction.com.au where you will find masses of pictures of last
weeks pre-worlds regatta, the Aussie Nationals.
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
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.
Fireball Dinghy
Complete, in good
condition & on road trailer
Preferably fiberglass
‘wide hull’
JHB or Northern OFS
Contact: Jeff Dell
Cell: 082 707 7166
E-Mail: jeffm_d@hotmail.com
Andrew Heathcote
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 783 8805
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