Smooth Sailing Newsletter # 227

First there was too little wind, then there was too much, then finally after nine days they went racing this morning in the 31^st America’s Cup Match! Conditions this morning were fresh, not overly so though. In winds of 18 to 22 knots race four started with a fairly laid back starting sequence in which both boats seemed to avoid each other. Alinghi crosses the start line a few meters clear of Team New Zealand again and managed to extend their lead on both legs of the first lap. A broken batten on the mainsail slowed TNZ and the top of the main was seen back winding and flogging consistently as they went upwind. But on the second beat another major disaster struck when TNZ’s rig came crashing down. I am watching the replays as I write this and it looks like the rig failure was a result of the boat bouncing hard over two quite large waves. The rig fractured just above the bottom spreader, with a broken cap shroud having let it go. While the rig was totally destroyed there didn’t seem to be any damage to the hull which should at least make it a little easier for TNZ to be up and running at full pace for tomorrows fifth race. This disaster puts Alinghi on match point with the score now at four nil. They just need to win tomorrow’s race to finish the match off. It is fair to say that the series has been more than a little disappointing so far. To be fair there has only really been one good race and that was race two in which there was a good deal of place swopping and a nice close finish. Race three was pretty one way traffic while races one and four have now been no contests with major breakages forcing the defenders to retire. So, what could be the final race takes place tomorrow morning at 02:00 SA time. There is no live TV coverage but the race will be rebroadcast at 14:00 SA time on ESPN on DSTV channel 33. Hopefully we actually see some racing in this one! For more information visit the America’s Cup web site at www.americascup.yahoo.com.

Your Weekend Weather according to the South African Weather Service should be as follows:

Durban & Richard’s Bay: Saturday will be a cloudy day with a maximum temperature of 27 degrees and a 30% chance of light occasional showers. The wind will be a moderate southeasterly. Sunday will be warmer at 30 degrees and humid with partly cloudy skies. The wind will be a moderate easterly becoming light and variable later in the day.

Midmar: Saturday will be a partly cloudy day after morning fog with a maximum temperature of 25 degrees and a 20% chance of light occasional rain. The wind will be a light southeasterly. Sunday will be warmer at 29 degrees with clear skies and a light southeasterly wind.

Vaal Dam: Saturday will be partly cloudy with a maximum temperature of 29 degrees and a light northeasterly wind. Sunday will be a degrees hotter at 30 degrees, otherwise the conditions should be identical to Saturday.

Cape Town: Saturday will be a fine and clear day with a maximum temperature of 29 degrees and a fresh southeasterly wind blowing. Sunday will be cooler at 26 degrees and partly cloudy with a fresh southerly wind blowing.

It’s back to RNYC Dinghy Sailing in Durban this weekend with the RNYC’s High Tech Piping Series set to continue on the bay on Saturday afternoon. Racing is set to take place on the deepwater course with the first of two scheduled races starting at 14:00. CJ Miln is the race officer for the afternoon. He is aiming to start dead on time to enable everyone, well at least those who still care to watch, to be back in the pub in time to watch the rugby later in the afternoon.

Then on Sunday it is the PYC’s turn with the Sigma Series for Keelers taking place offshore. Two races are scheduled for the day with the first of these starting at 11:00.

At HMYC the KZN Interschools Regatta will be taking place this weekend. This regatta is traditionally well attended and often introduces new youngsters to the sport of sailing. It also does a lot to promote sailing in the schools, something that our sport desperately needs.

Meanwhile the Cats will be at Sterkfontein for their annual Interprovincial Regatta. This event usually attracts a good entry from KZN and Gauteng and this year the KZN boats will be hoping to wrest the trophy from their Gauteng counterparts who won it last year. For those of you still thinking of heading off to the regatta you can pick up a copy of the NOR and all the relevant event details off the Smooth Sailing Notices of Race page.

A Cape Town reader sent me an e-mail this week under the pretence of asking me to promote the Laser Nationals a bit but really what he was doing was revving me about the poor performance of the Sharks against the Stormers last weekend, noting that I had not uttered a word about the rugby last week. Fair enough, the Sharks were horrible last week and the Stormers whipped us! Now its not that I had forgotten that the Super 12 was on or anything, its just that I was trying to apply the principle, “When you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all!” The thing is, the Sharks were shocking. Any loss to the Stormers is a sad thing, to do it twice in the space of three weeks is almost more than any Sharks fan can take. Tomorrow afternoon the Sharks find themselves up against the ACT Brumbies. Much has been said in the local papers this week about the Brumbies poor record against the Sharks in Durban. I am not quite sure how much help that record will be though. The Sharks need a massive improvement if they are even going to be able to compete in this game let alone harbour any hopes of a win. The game kicks off at 17:00 and will be televised live on Supersport for those of us not brave enough to head on down to the stadium to see it live.

Now to the Laser Nationals, this regatta takes place at Club Mykonos in Langebaan from the 21^st to the 23^rd of March with the Extra Nationals being sailed from the same venue at the same time. Up to 100 Lasers are expected in Full Rig, Radial and the new 4.7 configuration. With this range of choice available almost anyone can sail one of these boats no matter what your size and weight. The Extra class is hoping to attract in the region of 40 boats to their regatta. The Notice of Race for this combined event is posted on the Smooth Sailing Notices of Race page and includes all the information you need regarding accommodation at the venue not to mention the regatta entry form.

The Hunter Nationals take place from the 20^th to the 23^rd of March with this regatta taking place at the Henley Midmar Yacht Club in KZN. Midmar is one of the most outstanding venues in the country and the Hunter class at present provides some of the closest one design racing available. They are fairly simple boats to sail and the emphasis is strongly on boat speed and tactics. The class is expecting in the region of fifty boats at this event with these coming from KZN and Gauteng. Competition at the front of this fleet is always tight and there are at least 8 boats that should be in with a shout of winning the regatta. In the last few Hunter regattas the medal places have only been separated by single point gaps, an indication of just how tight the racing has been. There are a few options when it comes to getting onto the water for this regatta, you can either borrow a boat or, if you want to go in big, buy a new one from Fast Yachts in Pinetown. Fast Yachts have built a couple of these boats now and they really are producing god quality well built boats. For more details on either the regatta or the class on the whole visit the Hunter class web site at www.hunterclass.com or contact Dave Claxton at function@iafrica.com.

Then, once you have bought or borrowed you Hunter for the Nationals you will probably need a sail or two. For top quality racing sails for you Hunter nationals campaign Hood Sails is the place to go. Hood Sails will get you up to speed without breaking the bank. To order your new Hunter sail contact Harry Ellens on 083 700 0108 or at custom@saol.com.

There was a good turnout of both racing and cruising boats for this weeks Wednesday Evening Fun Race in Durban. As the season has gone on so the fleets seem to have grown, it’s just a pity though that as the fleets get bigger so the sun seems to set earlier. In fact it is qui alarming just how early the sun is going down already in Durban. It really makes a good case for daylight saving doesn’t it? Just imagine how much more evening sailing we could do if we adjusted ourselves an hour or two forward in the summer months! Anyway, that is another story altogether. A brisk northeasterly made for an interesting evenings sailing and may have resulted in more than one G & T being spilt along the way. The after party at RNYC was as usual a festive affair that went on fairly late into the night and surely made some peoples Thursday mornings just horrible! The results of the fun race were as follows:

Cruising Class:

1^st Touchstone Greg Donkin

2^nd Sunsail One Beneteau

3^rd Solar Cruiser Dave Cox Lavranos

Racing Class:

1^st Orion Zephyr Craig Millar L26

2^nd Prodigy Chris Frost Fast 42

3^rd Bandit Peter Latter Simonis 26 Cat

The following report on last weekend’s Mykonos Offshore Regatta was sent to us by Viqui from the Royal Cape Yacht Club:

The highly popular “downwind dash” from Cape Town to Club Mykonos was thrown a curve ball by the notoriously unpredictable Cape weather, and only 4 of the 33 Royal Cape entries endured the light and fickle winds to finish the race. Picasso, the Sovereign 54, skippered by Hylton Hale and crewed by a young and very keen team, cheered themselves over the finish line just after 23h00 on Friday night to win Line Honours. Aurora, an Atlantic 49 skippered by Mel Hawtrey finished just before midnight with Hill Billy, the J27 skippered by Peter Hill sliding past the breakwater 40 seconds later. The cut off time had been extended from midnight to 02h00 to give everyone a chance to finish in time, but for the crew of Just Fun, skippered by Klaus Schade, it wasn’t quite enough. Saturdays Bay Pursuit Race was started from the good ship Shanty just off the breakwater, and the fleet of 38 boats including the Holiday 23’s from Saldanha Bay Yacht Club and the classic 102ft entry, Blue Leopard, made a spectacular sight for spectators on shore. The Port Elizabeth entry, Warrior, skippered by Rick Nankin stormed the 25 mile course and finished in great style ahead of the rest of the fleet. It was a truly great day of racing and the final results were as follows:

Line Honours – Distance Race:

1^st Picasso Sovereign 54 Hylton Hale

2^ndAurora Atlantic 49 Mel Hawtrey

3^rd Hill Billy J27 Peter Hill

Bay Race:

1^st Warrior Simonis 60 Rick Nankin

2^nd Spilhaus Swede 55 Teddy Kuttel

3^rd Picasso Sovereign 54 Hylton Hale

IRC Class 1:

1^st Picasso Sovereign 54 Hylton Hale

2^nd Spilhaus Swede 55 Teddy Kuttel

3^rd Picasso Sovereign 54 Hylton Hale

IRC Class 2:

1^st Hill Billy J27 Peter Hill

2^nd Freedom Farr 38 CP van der Merwe

3^rd Pallucci Simonis 35 Syd Kaye

Class 3 Club Handicap:

1^st After Dark J22 Lance Burger

2^nd Chiquita Holiday 23 Patrick Nobel

3^rd Silhouette Fireball Owen Kitchin

Class 2 Club Handicap:

1^st Aurora Atlantic 49 Mel Hawtrey

2^nd Madonna Farr 38 Dave Arnott

3^rd Bateleur Stadt 34 Jakkie van Rijswyk/ Michael Moore

Class 1 Club Handicap:

1^st Faraway Farr38 Chris Sutton

2^nd Godahop South 35 Geoff Meek

3^rd Hot Ice Mount Gay 30 P Roelofse”

The following report on last weekend’s Island Sailing Club Interclub Challenge was sent to us by regatta organiser Villette Pretorius:

“The first of the interclub dinghy challenges was a great success. The weather was absolutely fantastic, with a steady north easterly wind blowing making for perfect sailing conditions. Thanks to all who participated, the support was great, everyone taking the opportunity to practice for the Sterkfontein Interprovincials this weekend. However, it would have been nice to see a bigger variety of dinghies, hopefully next race will see more of you taking up the challenge. Lots of fun on the water, drinks and lunch on the sand bank in the bay made for an even more relaxing afternoon. The Hobie 16’s from Point dominated the racing, with Sean Fennesey and Gerrie Pretorius taking first place. In tie 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th postions respectively was Mike Dixon on his Hobie 14 [nice to see him on the water again], and with Sean Keogh and Eric Mallet having a really good dice over the 2 races giving them even scores overall. The next challenge will be on the 23^rd of March – races to start at 12.30 followed by prize giving and a braai back at Island. For more information contact Villette 083 788 4161.”

With Bernard Stamm’s Bobst Group Amor-Lux having taken a short break to repair her damaged keel, something that will see her inclure a 48 hour penalty on this leg, the Around Alone has a new leader on the water for the first time pretty much since the start with Thiery Dubois on Solidaire having taken over the lead. Stamm’s stop was a short one and he wasted no time in getting the boat back in the race with the result that he dropped to only second place. Further back in the fleet Hexagon is busy fixing her boom in the Archipelago just to starboard of Cape Horn while Ocean Planet is heading to the Falkland Islands to repair hers. The positions on the water in both classes are as follows:

CLASS 1:

1. Solidaires Thierry Dubois 2070 miles to finish

2. Bobst Group-Armor Lux Bernard Stamm 217 miles behind leader

3. Tiscali Simone Bianchetti 455 mbl

4. Pindar Emma Richards 656 mbl

5. Ocean Planet Bruce Schwab 677 mbl

6. Hexagon Graham Dalton 786 mbl

CLASS 2:

1. Tommy Hilfiger Brad Van Liew 2877 miles from finish

2. Everest Horizontal Tim Kent 758 mbl

3. Spirit of Yukoh Kojiro Shiraishi 948 mbl

4. BTC Velocity Alan Paris 1414 mbl

5. Spirit of Canada Derek Hatfield 1563 mbl

For more information and daily position reports visit the event web site at www.aroundalone.com.

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
Sailing KZN Blue Water Challenge	Various KZN Clubs	December 2002 to July 2003
KZN Interschools Regatta	Henley Midmar Yacht Club	1 & 2 March
NCA Sterkfontein Open Cat Challenge	Sterkfontein Dam	1 & 2 March
NNYU Interclub Challenger – Leg 4	Glendee Yacht Club	15 & 16 March
KZN L26 Lipton Selection Series	Royal Natal & Point Yacht Clubs	March to May 2003
National Development Regatta	The Sailing Center, Simon’sberg Navy Base, Simonstown	20 to 22 March
Hunter Nationals	Henley Midmar Yacht Club	20 to 23 March
Laser, Laser Radial & Extra Nationals	Club Mykonos	21 to 23 March
Radio Controlled Laser KZN Champs	Durban Radio Boat Club	12 & 13 April
MACS 24 Hour Challenge	Milnerton Aquatic Club	21 & 22 March

Western Province Dinghy Champs	Saldahana Bay	18 to 21 April
Inhaca Island Easter Race	Inhaca Island to Richard’s Bay	18 April
HMYC Youth Regatta 2003	Henley Midmar Yacht Club	26 to 28 April
HMYC 9-Hour Race	Henley Midmar Yacht Club	3 May
IRC KZN Champs (Announcement)	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.

FOR SALE

J22 - "After Dark"

Sail # 183
Complete with 3 sets of sails and double axle trailer.

Competitive boat , 7th in CT worlds and 5th in PE worlds.

Price R80,000 onco.
Contact: Lance Burger

Cell: 082-890-9793

E-Mail: lanceb@gem.co.za

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

Tornado RSA 55

Currently undergoing a total rebuild

Boat is sound but a little heavy, excellent entry-level craft

Standard rig Tornado with trailer and launching dolly.

Sport rig available at additional cost

Contact: Gavin Davies

Cell: 082 447 6479

Work: 031-709 3879

E-Mail: gavin_davies@scottbader.co.za

WANTED

L34 or Simonis 35

Conact: Andrew Heathcote

Cell: 083 783 8805

E-Mail: hethcot@iafrica.com

Sprog or Fireball

Preferably fibreglass

Price approx. R2000.00 or less

Contact: Mykee

Cell: 084 734 3309

E-Mail: mykee@mweb.co.za

Full Rig Laser Wanted

Starter Boat

Reasonable condition

R4000/R4500 neg. once viewed.

Preferably with Dolly but no road trailer required.

Contact: Arthur Bertram

Tel: 072 194 7337

Fax: 032-945 4778

Email: pbera05@kearsney.com

Preferably in Durban Area but not essential.

Andrew Heathcote

hethcot@iafrica.com

www.smoothsailing.co.za

Mobile: +27 (0) 83 783 8805

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