Smooth Sailing
Sailing
News By A Sailor For Sailors!
In
Association with:
PYC Challenge
Series For Dinghies
RNYC
Albatross Series For Keelers
NCA
Sterkfontein Interprovincial Regatta
Your Weekend
Weather according to the SA Weather Service
looks like it is going to be as follows:
Durban & Richard’s
Bay: Saturday will be
cloudy becoming partly cloudy with a 20% chance of morning and evening rain and
a maximum temperature of 26 degrees. The wind will be a light south westerly
swinging around to the northeast and gaining in strength during the day. Sunday
will be 31 degrees, cloudy and humid. The wind will be from the northeast,
starting off light and gaining strength throughout the day.
Midmar: Saturday will be cloudy becoming partly
cloudy and cool at 24 degrees. The wind will be a light easterly but northeasterly in the afternoon. Sunday
will be 29 degrees and partly cloudy with a light northeaserly wind blowing.
Vaal Dam: Saturday will be 27 degrees and partly
cloudy with a light northeasterly wind blowing. Sunday will be partly cloudy
and 29 degrees with a light northwesterly wind blowing.
Cape Town: Saturday will be a fine and clear day
with a maximum temperature of 33 degrees and a fresh to strong southeasterly
wind blowing. Sunday will be partly cloudy with morning fog in the coastal
regions and a maximum temperature of 27 degrees. The wind will be a fresh
southerly.
The Sharks take on the Waratahs at the Absa Stadium in Durban tomorrow
evening. The Sharks will be keen to capitalise on their home ground advantage
as they did last week. After a good win against the Cats though the Waratahs
will fancy their chances in Durban. Bottom line I think is that this will be
another tough game. The Sharks are fielding a very similar team to the one that
took to the field last weekend so hopefully the momentum gained in the win over
the Brumbies last Saturday will continue. For those of you not heading down to
the stadium the game will be televised live on Supersport.
While
writing this I have been watching the Stormers taking a 33 points to 18 loss against the Hurricanes. It
wasn’t the best of games with both teams playing badly at times, the Hurricanes
just made the most of their chances.
This weeks Wednesday Evening Fun Race was one of the best
of the season. With the sun setting earlier by the day the race officer for the
evening, Terry Flynn, did well to shorten the course midway through the second
lap, ending the race shortly before it got completely dark. Conditions for the
evening were perfect with a light northeasterly blowing and clear skies. Seven
racing boats and twenty cruising boats made for a good fleet on the water. The
evening, hosted by PYC was sponsored by the SA Post Office who also put up the
prizes for the evening. The results of the race were as follows:
Cruising Fleet:
1st Solar Cruiser Dave Cox Lavranos 34
2nd Aquilla Phil Downing Trapper 28
3rd Chatur Gregg Challis Theta
Racing Fleet:
1st Orion Zephyr Craig Millar L26
2nd Flying Fifteen Jeremy Kriek Flying Fifteen
3rd Container World Challenge Trevor Gibb L26
The full results are posted on
the Smooth Sailing web
site on the Racing Reports
page.
Turns
out that the University of
Natal Yacht Club’s Shipwrecked Party is actually tonight, Friday night, and not on Saturday as
previously advertised. Not sure if I didn’t listen right or they didn’t tell me
the right thing. Either way, tonight, 20:00 at the UNYC Caprice on the yacht
mole. UNYC have been marketing their party on campus under the slogan, “Get
Wrecked Cheap”, which pretty much sums it up, after all they will be selling
the cheapest beer you can get in Durban tonight.
On Saturday the PYC are running their Challenge Cup Series for Dinghies. Racing should start at 14:00, I presume
on the harbour mark course. More than that I do not know!
On Sunday RNYC will be running their Albatross Series 2 for Keelers with the cats more than welcome to join
in if they want to do some racing. The first of two scheduled races for the day
will start at 11:00 offshore.
With the Hunter
Nationals just around the
corner the HMYC Hunter fleet is picking up the pace and making a concerted
effort to improve their performance, mostly to ensure that they put in a strong
showing against the Witbank boys I’m sure! So, on Sunday they are going to be
having a Hunter training day at the club. This will include on shore and on
water sessions. On the water they are going to be pushing hard with some short
course racing placing a premium on close quarters boat handling skills while
off the water the discussion will be centred on technical issues. The Hunter
class is one of the strongest and most active in the country. It is really good
to see that they are putting in such an effort not only to sell boats but also
to raise the standard of sailing in the fleet. How many other classes can claim
to be doing this! Remember, its not too late to get yourself organised for the
nationals. For more information on the class visit www.hunterclass.com.
I received the following report on last weekends Northvaal Catamaran Association Sterkfontein
InterProvincial Regatta from
Theresa Smith:
“The
stunning setting of the Drakensberg was again the backdrop for the NCA Regatta
this weekend, on Sterkfontein Dam. 67 boats
joined in the competition for the Dart vs Hobie shield, as well as the Hobie
InterProvincial title. Almost half of
these boats were Hobie 16s, an inspiring sight given the challenges faced by
the class in recent months. Dart 18s,
Halcats, a valiant Hobie 14 and some larger high-performance cats also had a
bash at the challenge.
Light
winds and mild weather made a marked contrast to the storms of last year but
provided just as much a challenge to both the bridge and to competitors,
attempting to start and finish the races.
Hangovers from Friday aside, Saturday saw three races completed in
moderate breeze. Sunday however proved
particularly tough due to light and shifting conditions. After postponement until late morning, when
a few knots were seen to come through, a course was eventually laid and a race
started. Whilst the course was
shortened, many boats continued to sail in circles after a header from hell
made rounding C-mark, or crossing the finish line near impossible. Only the top ten boats managed to finish
with any degree of breeze. Despite
this, results were achieved. This led
onto prizegiving where The Catamaran Club continued its recent winning streak
in the Dart League and Cape to Rio 2003.
Whilst Gauteng retained the Inter-Provincial trophy for the second year
running, TCC could boast of having four of the top 5 H16s and 3 out of the top
5 Darts. Thanks went to all who
traveled to participate and support the event, including caterers, NSRI, DJs
and Barmen!
Photographs are available online at www.nauticalimages.co.za.”
Things are getting decidedly worse for
Geronimo on her Jules Verne
Trophy attempt. Yesterday
the giant triamaran crossed the equator after after 55 days at sea and found
herself four hours behind the time set by the current record holder, Orange.
What makes things worse is that the weather forecast isn’t looking very
helpful. In fact if it stays as predicted Geronimo will be unable to break the
present record. This must be soul destroying for the crew who have spent the
entire 55 days of the passage ahead of the record up until now. This just goes
to show how difficult these attempts can be. Geronimo had a great run down the
Atlantic, a fair passage around the couther part of the globe and now heading
back up the Atlantic is suddenly staring defeat in the face. For more information or to follow the boat’s
progress a little more closely visit their web site at www.grandsrecords.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 |
|
|
Point
& Zululand Yacht Club’s |
14 March
2003 |
|
|
The
Sailing Center, Simon’sberg Navy Base, Simonstown |
20 to 22
March |
|
|
Henley
Midmar Yacht Club |
20 to 23
March |
|
|
HBYC Admirals Regatta Incorporating the L26
Western Province Champs |
Hout Bay
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
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