Smooth Sailing
Sailing
News By A Sailor For Sailors!
In
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Wednesday
Evening Racing At ZLYC
Maritzburg Radio
Yacht Club News
Your
Weekend
Weather
according to the South African Weather Service is going to be as follows:
Durban & Richard’s Bay: Saturday will be partly cloudy, hot and humid with a
maximum temperature of 31 degrees. The wind will be a fresh northeasterly
during the day becoming a south westerly at night and there is a 30% chance of
evening thundershowers. Sunday will be cooler at 27 degrees with partly cloudy
skies and a 20% chance of evening showers. The wind will be a moderate
southeasterly.
Midmar: Saturday will be 29 degrees and partly cloudy with a 20%
chance of afternoon thunderstorms. The wind will be a moderate northwesterly.
Sunday will be much the same only a little cooler at 27 degrees and with a
light northerly wind.
Vaal Dam: Saturday will be a scorcher at 32 degrees, as will Sunday.
It will be partly cloudy with a 20% chance of afternoon thunderstorms on both
days. Saturday’s breeze will be a light northwesterly to westerly while for the
big race on Sunday the wind is predicted to be a light northwesterly.
Cape Town: Saturdays maximum temperature will be 26 degrees with a
cloudy sky clearing throughout the day. The wind will be a moderate
southwesterly becoming a fresh southerly later in the day. Sunday will be
warmer at 29 degrees with clear blue skies. The wind will be a fresh
southeasterly.
The big event of the weekend is the Round the Island
Race, which
takes place at Lake Denys Yacht Club on the Vaal Dam. While the race itself
takes place on Sunday morning there is a whole load of sailing to do before
hand with the Commodores Race set to take place on Friday afternoon at 14:30.
This is a round the cans race with an all in start as are Saturday’s tune-up
sprints which are set to run from 11:00 until 14:00. The main tune-up race
though has two starts, one for keelers and micro-multihulls at 14:30 and the
second for dinghies and cats at 14:40. On Sunday morning the first start for
the main race is the keeler start, which takes place at 08:20. The micro
multi-hulls follow at 08:30, dinghies at 08:40 and cats and windsurfers at
08:50. In between all this there will be all manner of entertainment, parties
with live music at night, stalls out in front of the club during the day and a gathering
of more sailors on one place than happens at any other time of year. It should
be loads of fun. Camping on the club grounds is free of charge and breakfast,
lunch and supper is available from the club throughout the weekend. For more
information visit the LDYC web site at www.ldyc.co.za.
Tomorrow, Saturday, see’s the premier dinghy series of
the season getting underway, the PYC Class Champs. This series runs over four weekends so should go to eight races with
two scheduled for each Saturday afternoon. This is usually a hard fought series
with more at stake than on a regular Saturday afternoon so we ca expect a good
turnout of sailors and with any luck should see some that haven’t appeared for
a while. There are those who will have chosen the RTIR over sailing in Durban
this weekend but I think that the dinghy fleet will not be overly affected and
those dinghy sailors who are away can be expected to come out fighting the
following weekend.
Wednesday Evening’s
Fun Racing once
again took place in near perfect conditions. The northeaster blew a little
harder than it had the week before making for some fun downwind yet not letting
things get too exciting. Once again a good fleet of boats turned out with a
large number of cruisers making up the bulk of the fleet. The racing fleet grew
a little as well with a couple of cats and a few more mono-hulls than usual
making it onto the start line. This week also saw the introduction of the
RNYC’s latest version of the PHRF handicap system. RNYC Sailing Secretary James
Kier has done a lot of very mathematical work on the handicaps and come up with
a whole new set of numbers that rates the boats individually and not in
classes. James has based his calculations on the data gathered from the RNYC
races sailed so far this year and will continue to update the ratings on a
weekly basis for the foreseeable future. This is the way that PHRF is supposed
to work and with constant updating should provide a level playing field for all
to sail on. Of course the more times you sail the more accurate your rating
becomes. The downside of this system is that it takes a while to rate newcomers
accurately against the fleet. This is however something that everyone should be
able to live with given that Wednesday evenings, for which this system will be
used, are fun races in which there is meant to be more emphasis on the sailing
of the race and the partying afterwards than the winning. Back to this week and
after enjoying a good sail most gathered on the lawns at RNYC to enjoy a few
drinks, have a chat and listen to the live music coming from the veranda. For
the record the results of the evening’s race were as follows:
Racing
Class
1st
Dockleveller L26 Nigel Milln
2nd
Getafix H22 Graham Rose
3rd Donna Mia J27 Gavin Smith
Cruising Class
1st
Peperuka Shearwater
45 Willy Van Der Verre
2nd
Aquila Trapper
28 Phil Downing
3rd Chatur Theta Greg Challis
Some news from the Royal Natal Yacht
Club. The
members monthly draw is taking place this evening in the Britannia Room Bar.
The draw will happen at 18:00 and makes for a perfect excuse to come down to
the club for a quite drink or two after work. Snacks will be served. A new
innovation in the clubs upstairs and downstairs bars is that they are now
serving cocktails so next time you are in the club and pondering what to drink
why not try out one of these colourful and tasty creations! On Sunday afternoon
there will be live music on the lawns with “Koos van der Merwe en sy Orkes” playing! Sounds like
something different, why not pop along and see for yourself. Of course there is
also the more formal buffet taking place in the Britannia Room for Sunday lunch
but if you are thinking about getting along to this on remember that booking is
essential. Do this by contacting Nicky at the club on 031-301 5425.
Practicing hard for the Inhaca Island Easter Race the Zululand Yacht
Club fleet
are sailing hard whenever possible. Wednesday evening was no exception with six
IRC rated boats taking part in their Wednesday Evening Racing. The reason that they are
sailing so hard is that the Richard’s Bay boys are determined to get the Inhaca
Race trophies back north of the Tugela River mouth and don’t want to be beaten
by any Durban boats this year. The ZLYC race this week took place in a little
more breeze than we had in Durban with 18 to 25 knots of northeasterly breeze
recorded during the course of the race. The results of their race, run using
the IRC rating system, are as follows:
1st L 34 Money Penny Mike Scorer.
2nd Muria 31 Ocean Music. Ivan Peak.
3rd Stadt 34 Mean Time. Kieron Moore
The following piece of Maritzburg Radio
Yacht Club News came from Des Fairbank:
“Just a short note for to say that
Maritzburg Radio Yacht Club will be holding a 36" Shipmate League event
this Saturday starting at 14h00 on the
Duzi just upstream of the College Road Bridge. We have also experienced a surge
in interest and are desperately needing 36" Shipmate yachts. If anyone
knows of any that are available please contact Des Fairbank: des@carpet.co.za.”
The following Junior News was submitted by Rob
Walker:
“[1] KZN Interschools Regatta
The
KZN Interschools regatta will be held on the 1st & 2nd March 2003 at HMYC,
Midmar Dam. Registration from 08h00, first race not before 10h00.
Traditionally, this has been a fun regatta for school children in Lasers,
Mirrors, Dabchicks and Optimists. School teams are made up from the top two
finishers from the same school. Should any team lack a second member, the missing member will be
recorded and scored as DNC. High schools
and Primary schools are scored separately in the Optimist fleet. Contact Andrew
Bromley-Gans on work phone number 031 7653241 for more details.
[2] Freestate Junior Championships
Sterkfontein
generally attracts a fun bunch of junior sailors in the Optimist and Dabchick
Classes. This is an annual regatta organised and run jointly by Northvaal and
KwaZulu Natal Junior Sailing. Sailing
conditions at Sterkfontien Dam allow competent sailors to experience a
competitive and challenging event. This takes place on 15th & 16th February
2003, registration at 10h00, first race 11h00. Contact Peter Clayton
082-371-0904 or (011) 849-0532 evenings. Email pclayton@grineker.co.za for
enquiries.”
Suidoos 2, the
smallest boat in the SAP Cape To Rio Race has had a
frustrating run into the finish. Light winds in the final stretch have seen her
slip from third to eighth on the leader board as the fleet catches up behind.
Suidoos 2 finally got into Rio late last night and it will now be a wait and
watch game for her crew as they see how well the following pack are able to
negotiate their way through the light conditions off Rio. If they get through
faster than the little RCOD then she is not going to make any ground up the
leader board but with the conditions off Rio being as fickle as they are
anything can happen. The Fast 42 Baleka still leads on handicap with her sister
ship Investec in second place. It is interesting to note though that the
Leisure 42, Madiba Racing team, has slowly crept away from the Fasts on the
water in the last few days and it will be interesting to see if she can hold
her position until the finish. She is also making a steady climb up the leader
board and as of last night had got herself into second place ahead of Investec.
Should she be able to get any further away from Baleka she could be in with a
good chance of snatching overall victory right at the death. For more information visit the race web
site at www.capetorio.org. The top five
places in the IRC Handicap fleet are as follows:
1st Baleka Fast
42 Alec Schon
2nd Madiba Racing Team Leisure 42
3rd Investec Fast 42 Sean
Cummings
4th Thunderchild Lavranos 52 R
& G Goldswain
5th Helsall 2 Adams 65 Bill
Rawson
While Olivier De Kersausan’s giant trimaran Geronimo continues to blast
her way around the globe at breakneck speed Ellen MacArthur’s Kingfisher, a
cat, set sail yesterday in hot pursuit both of Geronimo and the Jules Verne Trophy. At present Geronimo is setting a cracking pace and is just over two
days ahead of the present record time. Kingfisher had a slight delay in starting
when they found some minor damage to the rig after the delivery trip to the
start line. After a short stop in Plymouth for repairs Kingfisher finally got
underway in wet and windy conditions. Reports from the boat indicate that they
have started off in 35 to 40 knots of wind and rough seas. On the bright side
though they are making speeds of 25 to 30 knots, which is nothing short of
frightening. You can follow the progress of both boats as they chase the same
record around the globe on their individual team web sites at www.teamkingfisher.com and www.grandrecords.com. While it is not a race as such it is certainly very
interesting to have to different types of speed machine, one a cat and the
other a trimaran, sailing the same course at the same time. Although weather
and sea conditions do make a difference it will be interesting to see which of
these awesome machines is able to outperform the other.
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
WC Dinghy Clubs |
September
2002 to March 2003 |
|
|
Various
KZN Clubs |
December
2002 to July 2003 |
|
|
Lake
Denys Yacht Club |
1 &
2 February |
|
|
Henley Midmar Yacht Club |
1 & 2 March |
|
|
Glendee
Yacht Club |
15 &
16 March |
|
|
Henley
Midmar Yacht Club |
20 to 23
March |
|
|
Club
Mykonos |
21 to 23
March |
|
|
Milnerton
Aquatic Club |
21 &
22 March |
|
|
Zululand
Yacht Club |
21 to 23
March |
|
|
Saldahana
Bay |
18 to 21
April |
|
|
Inhaca
Island to Richard’s Bay |
18 April |
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.
Cell: 082 564 4037
‘Getafix’
22 Foot Sport boat
Lively performer under
asymmetrical kite
In good sailing order
On road trailer with
new axel
Price Negotiable
Contact: Graham Rose
Cell: 083 251 0485
E-Mail: grose@pixie.co.za
Overhauled in 2001
Rigged for racing
New Hood Sails
New Ronstan Deck Gear
R21 000-00
(Negotiable)
Contact: Kathy Manten
Cell: 083 632 1963
E-Mail: manten@lantic.net
WANTED
To be used
for diver training purposes.
No motors
required.
Will collect
if still accessible on site.
Contact:
Grant Trebble
Cell: 083 446
1447
E-Mail: gtrebble@iafrica.com
With lifting keel or
centerboard
On trailer.
About 20 foot.
Contact: Max Ozinsky
Cell: 082 414 7147
E-mail: maxo@anc.org.za
With trailer, turbo
Kit
And all necessary accessories
for fun sailing.
Contact: Chris Oberem
Cell: 082 373 2397
(JHB)
E-Mail: Chris@demaplastech.co.za
Needed urgently
Suitable for a
Fireball dinghy
For the Round The
Island Race.
For sale or on loan
Contact: Jeff Dell
Cell: 0827077166
E-Mail: jeffm_d@hotmail.com
Andrew Heathcote
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 783 8805
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