Smooth Sailing
Sailing
News By A Sailor For Sailors!
In
Association with:
The
Cricket World Cup started yesterday and the Rugby Super 12 gets underway in two
weeks time. This on top of all the other distractions, which are often bemoaned
as reasons for sailors not going sailing. Certainly in Durban rugby is a big
factor when it comes to number of boats on the water on any given sailing day.
The thing is that the rugby season has now become so protracted that it runs
nearly all year round. There is almost no respite and hence a constant battle
to tear potential sailors away from the television screens or the grounds
themselves. In such trying times if we are going to maintain participation and
keep the numbers up we need two things, one is good positive organisation by
our clubs and with it communication to the sailors of what is going to happen.
The second is that we need to make a clear decision that sailing is our first
choice. If we can spread this philosophy and positive attitude across the sport
then perhaps we will be able to maintain the continuity of club racing through
the onslaught of the competing spectator sports. What it needs is good positive
attitude from all concerned, sailors, administrators alike.
Now
having bemoaned the television as a bad thing for sailing I have to take note
of one of it’s good things. Scrolling through the DSTV Guide I was pleased to
note that the finals of the America’s Cup will be shown on ESPN. At last South
African viewers will be able to watch the action direct from Auckland, New
Zealand. Now for the bad news for those of you organising club sailing on
Saturday afternoon, the first scheduled replay on local TV will be this coming
Saturday, the 15th of February from 12:00 until 14:30. This will be
a replay of the first race sailed earlier that day. On Friday afternoon you
will be able to catch the Road To The America’s Cup from 14:00 until 15:00. All
this on ESPN, channel 33 on DSTV. Boy am I pleased about that!!
Greenlight
KZN L26 Training Weekend
Sundays second round of the PYC
Congella Series, a there and back race, took place in a fresh westerly with a turnout of
six boats on the start line of which two were Fast 42’s, proof if it were
needed that the big boat scene really is starting to pick up in Durban. The
results of the race were as follows:
1st Woolobolu Fast 42 Chris
Frost
2nd Wombat Fast 42 Leo Kroone
3rd Neptunes Nymph
4th Chatur Theta Greg Challis
The following report on this weekend’s Junior Sailing at Midmar was received from
Rob Walker:
“Midmar was a
hive of junior activity this weekend and it is encouraging to see the growth in
the sport happening at this level. Saturday at the dam saw the Schools Sailing
attended by Michaelhouse (Lasers & Gypsy) under the instruction of
Rainer von Schlichting, Kearsney (Mirrors) and St Mary's (Mirrors). The
Schools were out in force to get it together before their InterSchools
Championships to be held at HMYC on the 1st & 2nd of March 2003. In all 8
Lasers, 5 Mirrors, 3 Optimists and 1 Gypsy competed in the afternoons
practice racing. The Optimist fleet was made up of Sam Hancock (Clifton) and
Emma & Claire Walker (Underberg Primary). Four practice sprints were
sailed in about 8 to 12 knots. The fleet retired to shore not 5 minutes before
a real blow of 20 to 26 knots sprung up. Schools sailing will be a regular
event on Saturdays at HMYC and the racing will count towards trophies for each
class at the end of the season.
Sunday's
sailing was characterised by heavy threatening rain clouds and a gentle 8 knot
breeze that shifted persistently eastwards towards the dam wall. Treverton
sailors were on the water under instruction by Heinz Venter in 3 Miracles,
a Dabchick and an Optimist. So too, were the HMYC regular juniors sailors who
were competing for the Reg Beavit Plate. Four races were sailed but the course
had to be re-laid for the final race due to the changing wind direction. The
Optimist fleet has really developed into a tight bunch of keen sailors and
the positions were separated by seconds. It is noticeable now that only fine
tuned boat handling skills separated the winners from the rest.
Results
for the Beavit Plate :
Scratch
1st
Claire Walker
2nd
Sam Hancock
3rd
Emma Walker”
Also at Midmar this weekend the HMYC held a Ladies Race with the over the line results as follows:
1st Flicka Hunter Christine Bubb
2nd Rumblebum Hunter Julie
Claxton
3rd Tantrum L20 Lauren Ross
Outside of sailing it was quite a big sporting weekend this weekend. It
seems like only yesterday that the rugby season ended, and now, before the
cricket season has even ended, in fact before the cricket world cup had even
started, the Sharks were back in action again. For their first two games
of the new year they traveled to the UK where they put in a reasonable
performance against the London Harlequins last week and then a woeful
performance against the Stormers on Sunday. These were both warm-up games for
the Super 12, which starts in a weeks time. I hope that the Sharks have now
warmed up and we don’t have to see them lose to the Stormers again this season.
The Sharks first game of the 2003 Super 12 takes place on Friday the 21st
of February when they take on the Stormers at Newlands in Cape Town.
Then there was the Cricket: At least the South African team performed better in
losing than the Sharks did! That first loss to the West Indies last night is
not the end of the world, cricket is a strange game, a lot can change in a very
short time and you can bet that a lot will chance between now and the next
round of the tournament. As long as Mr Klusners form doesn’t change though
there should be a lot for us to be happy about by then.
This weeks Wednesday Evening Fun
Racing is to be hosted by the Royal Natal
Yacht Club. The evening will be sponsored by Vaurnet, manufacturers of the
highest quality sunglasses. The fun race will start at 17:30 for the racing
fleet and 17:40 for the cruisers and will be followed by a bigger than usual
after party on the lawns at RNYC. Rob Maine-Baillie will provide the
entertainment for the evening. For their part Vaurnet will be giving away ten
pairs of sunglasses during the evening and that in itself is worth being there
for! So, it should be a great evening, the weather looks set to play ball with
bright sunny skies, a nice warm evening and a pleasant little easterly breeze!
See you there.
Another reminder: Friday is Valentines Day! I have not forgotten so neither should you! By
Thursday roses will be blindingly expensive, my advice, buy them now and pop
them into the refrigerator for storage until Friday morning. Then, produce them
on bended knee along with gourmet breakfast in bed. Also, don’t forget the card
filled with sweet words, preferably written in your own handwriting. Then,
after work, get dressed in your Sunday best, not dockies, old regatta t-shirt
and baggies though, although most of us may think that’s trendy, for some
strange reason most women don’t! Try something a bit smarter, perhaps an outfit
purchased at Truworths, Edgars or maybe even Woolworths will do. Don’t take my
word for this though; I have never actually shopped at any of these fine
establishments. Then, take her down to the RNYC where you have booked a quiet
little table in the Britannia Room for the Valentines Day Buffet. Start the
evening off on a good note by buying her one of the fantastic new cocktails on
the menu and then perhaps a tasty little red wine, red being the colour of the
day of course, off the extensive wine list.
After that, well, its all up to you from there on out. Now before you
dash off out the door to secure your half dozen red roses at well below Friday
mornings going rate, remember that numbers for the Britannia Room Dinner are
strictly limited so make sure that you get your table booked early, now is a
good time to do it! Make your booking by contacting Nicky on 031-301 5425.
Saturday sees the second weekend of the PYC Class Champs taking place. Two
races are scheduled to be sailed on the deepwater course in Durban Bay.
On Sunday RNYC will be running the Albatross Series 1 offshore for
keelers. For this series there will be separate courses for the L26’s and other
racing classes and the cruising fleet. To make sure that everybody knows
exactly what is going on there will a briefing at RNYC at 09:30 sharp on Sunday
morning where Race Officer Hemraj Gokal will explain the plan for the day to
all skippers and crew. In the meantime should you require any further
information on this event contact Phil Downing on 082 465 9630.
On Sunday, the 16th of
February, the biggest cat event of the year will be taking place when the
annual Hobie Indaba Day takes
place at the PYC Beach Site at Vetch’s Pier. The aim of the day is to get as
many cat and cat sailors on the beach for the day. This creates not only a great spectacle with so many brightly
colored sails on the beach but also a whole load of interest in the sport and
gets some old sailors and boats out of the woodwork. There must be hundreds of
beach cats lying around in people’s gardens, not only Hobies but also Halcats
and Darts. Hopefully some of those old sailors and boats will get into the
swing of things and come back for more throughout the rest of the season.
During the day there will be some informal handicap racing, beach games and
prizes for the oldest boat on the beach and more interestingly the oldest
sailing t-shirt on the beach. While all this is going on the bar will be open
with cold beer and hot food on sale. All in all it should be a great day. For more information contact Lorraine
Duggan-Jones on O82 664 8555 or Ed Page
on 082 422 8464. So, if you have a beach cat lying around, Hobie, Dart or
anything else lying in your driveway or back yard get it out and down to the
beach.
In an e-mail this
morning one of our readers made a very valid point regarding the results of not
only the SAP Cape To Rio Race, as published in Smooth Sailing on Friday
but also the results of other offshore races as they are published locally. The
point was that so often only the corrected time is published while elapsed time
remains a mystery. Since the corrected times and handicap positions often
aren’t a reflection of who did what on the water this often leaves race
followers a little in the dark as to what is actually happening on the water.
Line honours are after all as important as hadicap results. So, as a direct
comparison, here they are, the elapsed and corrected time results for the top
five boats in the SAP Cape To Rio Race:
|
Pos |
Yacht
Name |
Yacht
Type |
Elapsed
Time |
Corrected
Time |
|
1st |
Baleka |
Fast 42 |
21 Days,
21 Min, 52 Secs |
22 Days,
21 Hours, 15 Min |
|
2nd |
Madiba
Racing Team |
Leisure
42 |
20 Days,
13 Hours, 57 Min, 9 Secs |
23 Days,
19 Hours, 30 Min |
|
3rd |
Investec |
Fast 42 |
22 Days,
1 Hour, 33 Min, 39 Secs |
24 Days,
2 Hours, 19 Min |
|
4th |
Diel |
|
20 Days,
7 Hours, 49 Min, 25 Secs |
24 Days,
2 Hours, 33 Min |
|
5th |
VCR 90.6
FM |
Gitana 43 |
24 Days,
30 Min, 58 Secs |
24 Days,
8 Hours, 36 Min |
Despite continuing difficult conditions
with extremely high winds and huge seas Geronimo, Olivier De Kersausan’s giant
trimaran, continues to maintain an impressive pace on her Jules Verne Trophy attempt. On Sunday morning the giant
trimaran passed the Australian island of Tasmania and continues to average
speeds in excess of 19 knots. Meanwhile conditions in the Atlantic have
improved for Kingfisher however they remain some way off the pace set by both
the current record holder, Orange and Geronimo. For more information visit the
Kingfisher web site at www.teamkingfisher.com or the Geronimo web site at www.grandsrecords.com.
One
of the longest awaited announcements in the world of yachting was made in Auckland
this weekend when the new format of the Volvo Ocean Race was announced to the world. The race organisers had a few aims in
mind when redesigning the race, which is set to run again in 2005/2006. To
reduce the cost of competing, make the racing more exciting and appealing and
attract more teams to the start line. It looks like they may have done this
with an exciting new 70-footer, much along the lines of the successful Open 60,
fewer stopovers and a vastly improved scoring system. The boats will be limited
in some key design areas with standard masts and keels although they will be
allowed dagger boards at their own discretion. They will also be limited to
using only 20 sails during the race, which should among other things reduce the
amount of stacking required. The race will now start in a Mediterranean port,
most likely Monaco, and will stop in Cape Town, Australia, Rio, Baltimore,
Annapolis and Southampton and will more than likely end in Kiel. During each of
the stop overs there will be three or four round the cans races, which will
increase the spectacle of the race in each port and add value for the sponsors.
Weather routing will be banned and the information to which the crews have
access on the water will be severely limited. It is estimated that during the
last race teams were spending in the region of $100 000-00 per month for the
9-month duration of the race on weather information. There are also some
interesting crew limitations, all male crews will be limited to 9 sailors, a
mixed crew with at least 5 women on board will be allowed 10 sailors and an all
female crew will be allowed 11 sailors. It is envisaged that teams should be
able to mount a campaign on as little as $6 000 000-00 while a well-funded
campaign should run at around $10 000 000-00. Still not cheap in Rand terms, in
fact downright unaffordable, but still a lot more attainable than the America’s
Cup. Are there any takers?
The Greenlight KZN L26 Training Weekend is taking place coming weekend from the
14th to the 16th of February. Commencing on Friday
evening the weekend will involve both on and off the water session conducted by
Dave Hudson and Rick Nankin. The weekend is aimed at helping the more serious
L26 crews get onto the pace with Lipton 2003, which is being sailed in Durban
in July, in mind. For more information contact either Rick Parker on 072 244
4548 or Chris Rudham on 082 5723 201.
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 |
|
|
Club
Mykonos |
21 &
22 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 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Saldahana
Bay |
18 to 21
April |
|
|
Inhaca
Island to Richard’s Bay |
18 April |
|
|
Henley
Midmar Yacht Club |
26 to 28
April |
|
|
Henley
Midmar Yacht Club |
3 May |
|
|
Zululand
Yacht Club |
14 to 16
June |
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.
10% Shares in
Prout Cat
5 Shares Available
Totaling 50% of yachts
value
Well Appointed cruiser
Lying in Durban
Contact: Rob Black
Cell: 082 640 8731
E-Mail: jbtrade@yebo.co.za
WANTED
Conact: Andrew
Heathcote
Cell: 083 783 8805
E-Mail: hethcot@iafrica.com
Andrew Heathcote
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 783 8805
This newsletter is
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that which may be of interest to yachtsmen.
Please note that the views
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