Smooth Sailing
Sailing
News By A Sailor For Sailors!
In
Association with:
Today’s
newsletter carries a very interesting article on last weekend’s KZN
Interschools regatta, which took place at HMYC. In this article the author, Rob
Walker, makes a number of interesting, and in my opinion, very correct
observations. I hope that all the junior parents who read Smooth Sailing take
the time to read Rob’s article and note carefully the points that he makes as I
think that a lot of what he is saying is often lost or forgotten in the highly
competitive world of junior sailing. I have little doubt that if the pressure
of the competitive environments in which we place out juniors was eased off and
the emphasis was more on having fun than anything else that in the long run we
would produce far higher quality sailors who would stay in the sport for a lot
longer than many of our juniors tend to do. This is not a dig at junior parents
rather a constructive comment that bears some consideration!
Prior
to reading Rob’s article though there was something else about the Interschools
regatta that concerned me and that was the entry of only one Dabchick in the
event. Dabchick sailing used to be the cornerstone of this regatta. My first
ever regatta was an interschools regatta which I sailed two up on an old Dabchick
and I think there are several other top sailors around the place who can say
the same. Last week I had a discussion with a junior parent about the relative
merits and demerits of the Laser vs the Dabchick as a junior boat. While I
think that there is a place for both I really think that the Dabchick has a far
more important place than the Laser doe for young sailors. It is fast, often
faster than a well-sailed Laser in fresh conditions, fun and relatively
technical. It makes sailors think and teaches young sailors loads about sails
and rigs, stuff which it is fair to say a Laser does not. Cost, simplicity,
availability and the maintenance factor all make the Laser an attractive
option. So there are merits both ways and really it should not be for me or any
other observer to decide which is the better boat. Rather the sailors should
decide and the 23 Laser entries against the 1 Dabchick entry show what they are
deciding. I do however think that it is a pity that its going that way and from
a personal point of view would like to see more kids getting into Dabchicks. In
the long run I think it will produce much better sailors.
As
always, if you have anything to add feel free to e-mail it to me at hethcot@iafrica.com.
RNYC High
Tech Piping Dinghy Series
Sailing In
Durban This Coming Weekend
Ultimately I
would have to say that the 31st
America’s Cup Match was a
bit of a disappointment. The Swiss challenger, Alinghi, crewed by a
multi-national team, proved to be far superior to Team New Zealand beating them
in five straight races to win the best of nine series. I think that many of us
had hoped for a closer match. I think that most people in and around the
sailing world wanted to see the cup move to Europe but I also think that most
would have rather seen TNZ go down fighting rather submit meekly as they did.
With two DNF’s in the five races sailed that left only three races to be
contested. Of those only one, race two was anything to write home about as
match racing goes with some close sailing and several lead changes. Races three
and five saw Alinghi comfortably winning the start and then dominating from
there onwards. In yesterday’s fifth and final race the pattern was the same
with Alinghi leading off the line and TNZ playing catch-up, something that they
did quite well throughout the regatta, until they lost further ground through a
spinnaker pole breakage. In the final analysis it will have to be said that
equipment failure really was the thing that let TNZ down the most. It seemed to
have a knock-on effect, downing their confidence and their performance. In the
post race press conference skipper Dean Barker suggested that he was happy with
the boat that they had produced but given it’s terrible reliability problems it
is hard to see how though could be completely true. Whatever the shortcomings of
the campaign though, it’s all over now. Next on the agenda is to see what plans
Alinghi have for their defence of the trophy. Speculation is rife as to where
and when they will defend but it seems that 2007 is the most likely year, since
it follows on after the 2006 Soccer World Cup. Several Mediterranean venues are
being touted with Caiscais in Portugal seeming to be the favourite. The future
direction of the cup will be revealed on Tuesday afternoon when Alinghi hold a
press conference in Auckland to reveal their plans. Until then, why not take a
surf past the winners web site at www.alinghi.com.
So
the Sharks
whipped the ACT Brumbies on Saturday evening in a vastly improved and quite
frankly unexpected performance. No complaints from me though, for the most part
I really liked what I saw. Perhaps there is hope for us in the Super 12 after
all. Particularly impressive was the performance of the forwards and in
particular some of the newcomers. In last weeks debacle the forward performance
or lack thereof was the biggest problem. As for the other SA teams, well the
Stormers were as bad this week as the Sharks were last week going down by 41
points to 17 against the Otago Highlanders in Dunedin. The Cats lost a vital
home game in Bloemfontein on Saturday night when they went down by 48 points to
29 to the New South Wales Waratahs. This is the only game I didn’t watch this
weekends so no comment on this one. The Bulls impressed me immensely in their
46 – 34 win over the Wellington Hurricanes, their first ever Super 12 win in
New Zealand. They are a team that looks solid and focused and at the moment
look the best of the South African Super 12 outfits. Next weeks games see the
Stormers take on the Hurricanes and the Bulls the Highlanders on Friday
morning, while the Cats face the Brumbies on Friday evening with the Sharks
taking on the Waratahs on Saturday afternoon.
Saturday afternoon saw the second weekend of the RNYC’s High Tech Piping Series for Dinghies being sailed in light conditions on the bay. A small fleet
of four Lasers, five 29ers, five Flying Fifteens and two Sprogs turned out for
two races which were sailed in fairly light conditions though luckily without
rain after a very wet morning. This series ends with the next final two races
to be sailed on Saturday the 22nd of March. The full results are
posted on the Smooth Sailing web site on the Racing Reports
page.
Three races were
sailed in the PYC’s Sigma Series for Keelers, which took place offshore Durban yesterday in a brisk
northeasterly wind. Four L26’s and a J27 took to the water and as far as the
L26’s are concerned I don’t think that it enough if we are going to be “Keeping
the Cup”. There are at least four other good L26’s that I can think of that
were not out there yesterday. I hope that they will all be out there in force
for next Sunday’s racing, the details of which you can find later on in this
newsletter. Craig Millar’s Orion Zephyr looks to be in good form and won all
three of yesterday’s race with Harry Ellens Parental Guidance recording two
seconds and a third for the day. The top three positions in the series to date
are as follows:
1st Craig Millar Orion Zephyr 3 Points
2nd Harry Ellens Parental Guidance 7
3rd Nigel Miln Dockleveller Supplies 10
The full results are posted on
the Smooth Sailing web
site on the Racing Reports
page.
The KZN Intershools
Regatta that took place at HMYC this
weekend was well attended with 23 Lasers, 25 Optimists, 9 Mirrors but only one
Dabchick taking part. The following report on the event came from Rob Walker.
He makes some very pertinent points in it!
“Interschools was
for me a very interesting regatta. The 'vibe' was very different this year to
any regatta I've experienced. Somehow the sailors twigged perhaps from the
example set by Jessica Hogg and Charlotte Marshal that this was some sort
of team race! It caught on like wildfire and on water advice between the
schools teams flowed thicker and faster as each race went by. The bottom of the
fleet was getting all sorts of encouragement across all classes. I've never
seen anything like it, the camaraderie and fun these kids were so obviously
having gave me goose bumps and I wished I could join them. My first
interschools, which I sailed as crew with Roy Heiner (back in 1970) on his
Dabbie was a very serious affair and you daren't give away any tips. This was
different and I hope this new trend continues as it's going to be to the
benefit of KZN Junior sailing across the board. I see the hey days of
hero-worshipping, team building and fun coming back to life. The sailors even
thanked the bridge! Let us, as parents nurture it. Remember kids will only sail
well if they're enjoying themselves with their mates on & off the water. A
happy sailor is a good one. I was also pleased to see the humility of
those who won and the obvious support from their peers when they did win,
there was no hint of jealousy, just good sportsmanship.
Saturdays wind
was a light southerly, persistently switching to the dam wall from Curry. Two
races were put in in the morning and three more after the lunch break assuring
us of a regatta, the discard was a bonus. The leaderboard of the 24 Oppies
looked like a tussle between Underberg Primary (Walker combo) and Maris Stella
(Jessica Hogg & Charlotte Marshall). The trend in the 23 strong Laser fleet
was set with a Larkens/Hogg/Larkens tryst. Sunday promised a strong gusty NE
which promptly died as the race officer signalled the fleet out! Three
more races were sailed in frustrating conditions as the wind invariably
switched 15 degrees to the East as the start gun went. The 9 Mirrors were very
interesting to watch as there was no clear dominance except possibly for
Thornton/Dracos but Bissett/Smythe and the Smith/Nomonde crews caused
upset from time to time. The wind eventually settled down to a 5-8
knot SE for the last race of the 8 scheduled by the sailing instructions.
Credit must go where credit is due and Andrew & Pippa Bromley-Gans deserve it. They and various committee members over the years have been involved in putting together the Interschools since the mid 1970's! Thanks also to the Mark Layer who must have moved marks every 20 minutes of the weekend, Andy Gray and the unsung Rescue crews Mike Leigh and Laurence Hancock. It was also useful to see the Thornton and Smith ducks on the water offering encouragement. Andrew Tarboton made use of his ex Oppie experience and was very useful coaching the tail enders. Regatta scoring was donee by Leigh-Ann Barford and the Kirbys. Thanks also to HMYC who hosted the event and for their support of junior sailing.”
The top three places
individually in each of the classes were as follows:
Laser
1st Daniel Larkens Thomas Moore 6 Points
2nd Aaron Larkens Kearsney College 14.7
3rd James Hogg Glenwood 17.4
1st
Westville Boys High
2nd
Glenwood
3rd Thomas Moore
Mirror
1st Thomas Thornton & Chris Dracos Kearsney College 0 Points
2nd Micheal Bissett & J Smythe Kearsney College 15
3rd T Smith & X Nomonde St Mary’s School 28.5
1st
Kearsney
2nd St
Mary's
3rd Treverton
Optimist
1st C Walker Underberg Primary 6 Points
2nd E Walker Underberg Primary 14
3rd Jessica Hogg Maris Stella 31.4
1st
Underberg (Junior School)
2nd
Maris Stella (1st High School)
3rd Clifton
Dabchick
1st Jamie Barker Hilton 0 Points
The full
results are posted on the Smooth Sailing web site on the Racing Reports page.
Looking ahead a little to next Saturday
when possibly the finest yachtie party takes place with the University of Natal Yacht Club holding a Shipwrecked Party down at their club house, the Caprice, out
at the end of the yacht mole. Always a good event this party boats some of the
cheapest beer in Durban, in fact, even the Shebeens cant get their prices this
low! The party starts at 20:00 and will go on until the sun comes up or the
beer runs out or both. So, my suggested schedule for Durban yachties for
Saturday is as follows: Morning, be good to the wife/girlfriend etc. Afternoon,
sail in the PYC Challenge Cup Series for dinghies. Immediately after sailing
head off to the nearest TV or to the ground itself to watch the Sharks drill
the Waratahs. After the rugby grab a snack and head down to the Caprice and party
the night away. Remember, beer at the Caprice will be less than half the price
of that you will get anywhere else in Durban! See you there!
As for Sailing
in Durban This Coming Weekend, on Saturday PYC are running their Challenge Series for Dinghies
in the Bay. This will take place on Saturday afternoon, presumably on the
harbour mark course. There should be two races sailed with the first starting
at 14:00. Then on Sunday the RNYC will be running their Albatross Series 2 for
Keelers offshore. Two races are scheduled the first of which will start at
11:00. To accommodate the less serious sailors who still want to do a bit of
racing there will be a second start for the cruisers five minutes after the
racing start. For more information on what is planned for this coming weekend
and in fact the rest of the year see the full Durban Sailing Calendar for the 2003 Calendar Year on the Smooth Sailing web site.
Geronimo, Olivier De Kersausan’s maxi
trimaran is still struggling northwards in the Atlantic, bogged down by fickle
and inconsistent winds on her Jules Verne Trophy attempt. Geronimo is still a good 422 miles ahead of the current
record but this is a gap, which is slowly being eroded by the light conditions.
With the equatorial region still ahead of them there is no respite in site and
the crew are going to have to continue working hard to make the most of the
conditions. Little to no wind is one problem but the crew are now faced with
the added discomfort of stifling hot conditions as they head north. From
freezing cold and wet to stifling hot and windless in such a short space of
time has to take some getting used to and is one of the factors that makes this
sort of attempt so difficult. An indication of just how bad the conditions are
is that in the last 24 hours Geronimo has done only 190 miles, painfully slow
going for a boat that little more than a week ago was racking up 500 mile days.
For more information or to follow the boat’s progress a little more closely
visit their web site at www.grandsrecords.com.
Their mast may be down but the crew on Kingfisher 2 still have a lot of sailing left in front
of them as they head towards Freemantle, Australia, under jury rig. With a
dedicated press man on board the boat the communication remains outstanding and
their web site, www.greendesignhosting.co.uk. This has to be one of the better sailing
web sites in the world at the moment with the content giving an amazing insight
into life on board the boat. It is interesting to see how the crew are
struggling to cope with the monotony of the passage as they plod along between
speeds of 3 and 10 knots.
In the Around
Alone Race Graham
Dalton’s Hexagon was dismasted on Saturday off the South American coast. This
will be a bitter blow for Dalton who had been forced to stop to repair a broken
boom shortly after rounding Cape Horn.
With the rig down and presumably cut-away Dalton reported that the boat was not
seriously damaged and that he had stated motoring towards Mar Del Plata in
Argentina. This means that Dalton is out of this leg since the rules disqualify
yachts, which use their engines. Now unless Dalton’s shore crew can make a plan
to get the yacht from Argentina to next stopover port, I think that there is a
good chance that Hexagon could be out of the race altogether. This would be a
great pity for an event that has struggled with a small fleet that has
diminished in numbers as the race has gone on. When Hexagon’s mast first went
down the race committee had the nearest yacht to her, in this case, Tommy
Hilfiger, divert in case Dalton needed any assistance. As it turned out this
was not necessary and Tommy Hilfiger is now back on course but the yacht will
be granted redress for the time spent sailing in the wrong direction. Not that
she needs it though, Brad Van Liew on board Tommy Hilfiger still holds a massive
lead over the rest of the class 2 fleet. Meanwhile Thierry Dubois on Solidares
is fighting hard to hold off Bernard Stamm on Bobst Group Amor-Lux. After
stopping to repair his keel Stamm now seems to be back up to full pace and is
charging hard and closing on Solidares. Dubois will doubtless win the leg
anyway as Stamm has incurred a 48 hour penalty by stopping for repairs with
outside assistance but Dubois will also want to beat him on the water,
something that has yet to be done in this race. The positions on the water in
both classes are as follows:
CLASS 1:
1. Solidaires Thierry Dubois 1649miles
to finish
2. Bobst Group-Armor Lux Bernard Stamm 1732
3. Tiscali Simone Bianchetti 2017
4. Pindar Emma Richards 2251
5. Ocean Planet Bruce
Schwab 2524
6. Hexagon Graham Dalton Retired
CLASS 2:
1.
Tommy Hilfiger Brad Van Liew 2434 miles from finish
2.
Everest Horizontal Tim
Kent 3198
3.
Spirit of Yukoh Kojiro Shiraishi 3404
4.
BTC Velocity Alan Paris 3883
5.
Spirit of Canada Derek
Hatfield 4007
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 |
|
Various
WC Dinghy Clubs |
September
2002 to March 2003 |
|
|
Various
KZN Clubs |
December
2002 to July 2003 |
|
|
Glendee
Yacht Club |
15 &
16 March |
|
|
Royal
Natal & Point Yacht Clubs |
March to
May 2003 |
|
|
The
Sailing Center, Simon’sberg Navy Base, Simonstown |
20 to 22
March |
|
|
Henley
Midmar Yacht Club |
20 to 23
March |
|
|
Club
Mykonos |
21 to 23
March |
|
|
Durban
Radio Boat Club |
12 &
13 April |
|
|
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.
Hunter Class
2 suits of
sails
1 brand new
North suit
Recently
refit
Great
condition
R12 500 ono
Contact: Kim
Wilkinson
Cell: 083
4576 792
Phone: 011
373 6610
E-Mail: kimw@ampnet.co.za
WANTED
Second hand Laser
In
good condition preferably with dolly, cover and radial rig
In
Western Cape area.
Price range R10 000 to R12 000.
Contact: Stephen Flesch
Tel: 021 705 4317
Cell: 083 229 3581
E-mail: sflesch@iafrica.com
Conact: Andrew
Heathcote
Cell: 083 783 8805
E-Mail: hethcot@iafrica.com
Andrew Heathcote
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 783 8805
This newsletter is
distributed free of charge to anyone who chooses to subscribe to it. The
subject matter contained herein is entirely of a yachting orientated nature or
that which may be of interest to yachtsmen.
Please note that the views
contained in this newsletter are those of the authors concerned and in no way
reflect the view or policies of any of Smooth Sailings associate clubs,
sponsors or advertisers.
To be added to the mailing
list send a blank e-mail to sailing.join@ffs.co.za.
To be removed from the list please send a blank e-mail to sailing.remove@ffs.co.za.
All submissions are welcome. News of any club or yachting related
event should be sent to hethcot@iafrica.com
for publication.
Smooth Sailing is kindly distributed courtesy of FFS Refiners (Pty) Ltd.