Smooth Sailing
Sailing
News By A Sailor For Sailors!
In
Association with:
McCarthy
Toyota Inhaca Island Easter Race
Grant
Dalton To Lead Team New Zealand
Despite all the predictions the weather gods conspired to give the McCarthy Toyota Inhaca Island Easter Race fleet and upwind start for the second year
in succession. The pre-race briefing
was held at Lucas’s, the famous Inhaca Island watering hole the afternoon
before the start. The briefing was accompanied by a cocktail party with the
competitors quaffing plenty of the local 2M beer laid on by the sponsors. The
race got underway at 13:00 on Friday afternoon with the fleet sailing into a
15-knot westerly headwind and a fairly lumpy sea. Adding to their woes were a
couple of rain squals which made their way up the coast and it was around the
first of these that the fleet split with some heading out to sea and others
hugging the coast. Where to go at this stage was all to do with dodging the two
to three knot current that was pushing against the fleet. With the westerly
wind dying land breeze became and issue on the first night at sea with those
closest inshore benefiting the most. Hugging the beach the L34 Money Penney
appears to have got the land breeze some three to four hours before anyone else
giving her a huge advantage. She was able to reach off down the coast while
others further out to sea sat and waited for the breeze to fill in. By 07:00 on
Saturday morning Money Penny was off Sodwana Bay with the chasing pack, two
Fast 42’s and a Simonis 35, an hour or so behind. The north easterly breeze
finally filled in at this stage and with the current now working to everyones
advantage spinnakers were hoisted and the fleet was surfing towards the finish.
In these conditions the two Fast 42’s, Adios and Prodigy, quickly passed Money
Penny as they battled for line honours. Taking slightly different paths home
Adios stayed closer inshore than Prodigy and reaped the benefit early on
pulling out a comfortable lead. Determined not to let up until the fat lady had
sung the Prodigy crew pushed hard and managed to find better wind and current
offshore in the final miles into Richard’s Bay. The two converged on the finish
simultaneously with Prodigy prevailing by just a minute at the end, an
amazingly close finish after 30 hours of racing over a distance of 220 miles in
very varied conditions. Money Penny slipping into Richard’s Bay an hour later
to cement a very comfortable IRC win. She was followed over the line by the
Simonis 35, Ciao Bella, the first multihulls, Chadstar and the Stadt 34 Mean
Time. The prize giving took place in the Zululand Yacht Club on Sunday evening
with the crew celebrating in fine style. The top places were as follows with the
full results, list of trophy winners and a few pics of the prizegiving posted
on the Smooth Sailing Racing Reports web page:
1st Money Penny L34 Mike Scorer
2nd Mean Time Stadt 34 Kieron
Moore
3rd Ciao Bella Simonis
35 Harry Ellens
Line Honours
1st Prodigy Fast
42 Chris Frost
2nd Adios Fast
42 Guy Goes
3rd Money Penny L34 Mike Scorer
In Durban
the conditions for the PYC
Easter Regatta were
exceptional with four days of moderate northeasterly winds and fairly big
swells. This is dinghy sailing at its best, relatively tough upwind conditions
and outrageous downwind legs. The surfing was just outstanding, there really is
nothing better than launching a dinghy down those easterly swells, especially
by the fourth day of the regatta when they have got seriously big! While the
winds were moderate, never getting above 18-knots in strength, the big swells
made the conditions a lot more rugged than they might have been. Certainly
sailing upwind was quite hard work and the less serious sailors often seemed
happy to have done enough once two races were over. The fleets were definitely
a lot smaller by the third race of each day. Some 65 odd boats entered the
regatta with a wide variety of classes taking part. This just goes to show how
popular this event is and what a major fixture it should be on the sailing
calendar. With the Sprogs, 505’s and Hobie 16’s holding their KZN Champs during
this regatta it was sad to see that only the Hobie 16’s made class with the
Sprogs and 505’s falling short with 9 entries in each class. There was however
a good turnout of Lasers and with a handful of other boats, 29ers, Flying
Fifteens, Tornados and others the fleet was large and colourful. Race officer
Terry Flynn, who must have the strongest stomach in Africa to be able to sit on
the committee boat for four days in those conditions, set good courses and
started on time each day. With big swells rolling in it was a good thing that
the tide was low in the mornings, exposing Vetch’s and making launching a good
deal easier than it would have been later in the day. Other than the Hobie guys
the rest were probably a little rusty in their offshore skills. Offshore Durban
has to be one of the best dinghy sailing venues in the world and we really
don’t take the advantage of it that we should. Those of you who left kit down
at the beach site, and there is a fair bit of it including quite a flash
trapeze harness and what looks like some 505 sails, can contact Ed Page on 082
422 8464 to arrange to get it all back! The top three places in each of the
classes are as follows with the full results posted on the Smooth Sailing
Racing Reports web page:
505
1st Graeme
Wilcox & Alan Haylett 8
Points
2nd Hans
Rogotski & Peter Roos 20
3rd Andrew
Heathcote & Andrew Butler 25
1st Jof
Heathcote & Maya Minkova 7 Points
2nd Gregg
Hurter & Coral-Anne Ellens 16
3rd Deon Gove
& Tanya Leslie 20
1st Sean Keogh 17 Points
2nd Sean Jones 17
3rd Cyril Foley 22
1st Richard
Parker 13 Points
2nd Richard
Bate 23
3rd Daniel
Larkens 31
Tornado
1st J Bruwer 11
Points
2nd Wayne Bird 15
3rd Eric Cooke 16
The Sharks came close to putting one past the
Crusaders in an inspired performance on Friday morning. In a close run
encounter they fought hard and managed to come away with a bonus point for
finishing within 7 points of the opposition. As losses go this wasn’t a bad one
at all. Given the Crusaders form in this competition the Sharks were given
little hope going into the game but they played well and held the lead for
extended periods. It’s just a pity they couldn’t hold onto that lead until the
final whistle. Having played well they will come away from this game full of
confidence and pride, all of which they will need for their next game against
the tournament leaders, the Auckland Blues. Playing the two best teams in the
competition in two weeks is a big ask, especially on tour, but in the form they
are in I think that we can expect the Sharks to give the mighty Blues a good
run for their money. The game takes place on Saturday morning with kick-off
around 09:30.
Tomorrow,
Thursday, sees the final skippers and owners briefing for the 2003 Winter Flotilla Cruise taking place at the Royal Natal Yacht
Club at 18:00. This is an essential meeting for everyone going on the cruise.
Owners and skippers are reminded they need to bring along their flight plans
and all the relevant documentation associated with these as the RNYC will be
processing these for you. You will also need some cash on hand as there will be
a one off payment made for the entire fleet to customs at Maputo and the
contributions for each boat will be pooled at this meeting. Should you require
any further information at this stage please contact Rob Upton on 083 771 4187.
For Royal Natal Yacht Club
members there is a Jazz Evening taking place in the Britannia Room this coming Friday, the
25th of April, at 19:00. With numbers for this not to be missed
event strictly limited booking for this gathering is essential. The cost is
R60-00 per person, which includes a light meal and live music by Jo Jo! For
more details or to book your table contact Nicky on 031-301 5425. Slightly
earlier in the evening, at 18:00 in fact, the monthly club draw will be taking
place.
The next major
event on the sailing calendar is the HMYC 9-Hour Race, which takes
place on Saturday the 3rd of May. That is less than two weeks away,
not this coming weekend but the next one so if you haven’t started making your
plans yet you need to get into action really quickly. Already 31 entries have
been received for the race, 4 more than at the same time last year and there
were of 83 boats on the water for that one so I guess that we can anticipate
the same number again this time round. Remember that this is a great event for
both serious and social sailors alike. The atmosphere at the club is just great
and you don’t have to be on the water to be part of the action. For more
information on this event visit www.geocities.com/hmyc_racing/9hr.html.
Interest is
building for the 2003 Orion Vasco Da Gama Race with the
organisers reporting that they have already had significant interest in the
event. The enquiries received are not just limited to coastal teams though with
a good deal of interest from Gauteng sailors as well. Some of those are taking
it quite seriously with the team from the Mount Gay 30, Betelgeuse out doing
some serious practice off Durban this weekend. Clearly they are intent on
improving on their third position in last years race. Visitors to the official
race web site will notice a new logo on the screen, that of LAM, the official
airline of the race. LAM recently launched a new Durban Maputo route with
return tickets costing R800-00 while a one way trip will set you back only
R600-00. in order to take advantage of this special offer you will need to
contact the race organisers at function@iafrica.com. For more
information on the race visit the official web site at www.vascodagama.co.za.
The race is tightening up as the Around Alone Race fleet roars through the
tropics heading for cooler waters. The frontrunners, Bernard Stamm on
Bobst Group Armor lux and Simone
Bianchetti on Tiscali still enjoy a sizeable
lead over the rest of the fleet, but the race for third in Class 1 is
getting closer and Bruce Schwab on Ocean Planet is anxiously looking over his
shoulder. The strategy that Thierry Dubois on Solidaires and Emma Richards on
Pindar played early in the leg is finally paying off and they are well situated
to roll over the top of the slim Tom Wiley design. Schwab is hoping to make it
through a patch of lighter air and into fresher winds before getting rolled.
The pressure lies mainly on the shoulders of British skipper Emma Richards if
she is to ensure finishing ahead or just behind Tiscali to retain overall 3rd
place. Between Schwab and his pursuers is Class 2 leader Brad Van Liew on Tommy
Hilfiger Freedom America just over 30 miles behind Ocean Planet. If Bruce is nervous about being overtaken, he should give Van
Liew a call. Brad see things differently as he wrote in his daily log.
"Man I wish I could just coax a wee bit more out of Tommy Hilfiger Freedom
America so I could reel in Bruce Schwab. The latest available standings are as
follows:
1st Bobst Group-Armor
Lux, Bernard Stamm, 1643 miles from finish
2nd Tiscali, Simone
Bianchetti, 155 miles from leader
3rd Ocean Planet, Bruce
Schwab, 365 mfl
4th Solidaires, Thierry
Dubois, 393 mfl
5th Pindar, Emma
Richards, 451 mfl
1st Tommy Hilfiger, Brad
Van Liew, 2045 miles from finish
2nd Everest Horizontal,
Tim Kent, 193 mfl
3rd Spirit of yukoh,
Kojiro Shiraishi, 506 mfl
4th BTC Velocity, Alan
Paris, 738 mfl
5th Spirit of Canada,
Derek Hatfield, still sailing leg 4
For more information
visit the race web site at www.aroundalone.com.
In some interesting America’s Cup News well known round the world skipper Grant
Dalton has been appointed as the new head of Team New Zealand. Having lost the
cup to the Swiss many expected TNZ to simply fold up and go away. The cost of
campaigning in Europe is going to be nearly double for this small nation that
battled to fund it’s second home defence a campaign away from home was thought
to be a mountain too high to climb. Dalton is a huge figure in international
yachting and seems to be seen by many New Zealanders as the best chance they
have of getting the cup back. Having run many high profile international
campaigns he is as well versed in the boardroom asking for money as he is on
the water sailing hard. In his first statement after being appointed as the TNZ
Managing Director Dalton indicated that Dean Barker would be retained as TNZ
skipper and that he would be moving to secure the positions of key personnel in
the team as an immediate priority. It will be interesting to see what influence
Dalton will be able to have and whether he will be able to emulate the
performance of the late Sir Peter Blake, also a former round the world sailor
and TNZ head, in brining the cup back to Auckland. For more information visit
the New Zealand Herald web site at www.nzherald.co.nz.
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
KZN Clubs |
December
2002 to July 2003 |
|
|
Royal
Natal & Point Yacht Clubs |
March to
May 2003 |
|
|
Henley
Midmar Yacht Club |
26 to 28
April |
|
|
Witbank
Yacht & Aquatic Club |
26 to 28
April |
|
|
East London Yacht Club |
26 to 30 April |
|
|
Henley
Midmar Yacht Club |
3 May |
|
|
Theewaters
Sports Club |
1 to 4
May |
|
|
Durban
Radio Boat Club |
11 May |
|
|
Royal Cape Yacht Club |
16 to 18 May |
|
|
Zululand
Yacht Club |
14 to 16
June |
|
|
Point
Yacht Club |
14 to 16
June |
|
|
Point Yacht Club |
28 June to 4 July |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
In reasonable condition
R1000 onco.
Contact: Mark
Phone: 031-767 1909
Cell: 083 556 7212
Highly manoeuvrable fast fun boat.
Lifting keel
On trailer
Ready to race or cruise
R50 000-00
Contact: Trygve Roberts
Cell: 083 658 8888
E-Mail: info@autolink.co.za
FireBall
(Wooden)
Good condition. (Pretoria)
R5 500-00
"L CID"
A good clean and fast boat.
Plenty of sails, 5 hp mercury motor.
Currently lying Richards Bay
Ready for Lipton in Durban
Phone before I change my mind!
R65 000-00 neg.
Cell: 083 303 9351
Office : 035-751 1416
E-Mail: wadeciv@iafrica.com
Sail No. 1997
DuToit Hull
Multiple Nationals Winner & Current
National Champion
Excellent condition
Seriously fast boat!
Contact: Jof Heathcote
Cell: 083 714 3238
E-Mail: hethcot@iafrica.com
“JACK THE
LADD”
A high
performance racing boat with a large cockpit
Boat is on
trailer in Cape Town
Lightweight
racing construction
Optimised
keel for heavy winds
Complete with
outboard 6 Hp Mariner and remote tank
No. 1, No. 2
No. 3 and storm Jib
Mainsail
Large light
wind spinnaker
Heavy weather
spinnaker
Depth and
speed instruments
Duall
compasses
Contact:
Peter Hill
Cell: 083 384
5924
E-mail: hillbilly@global.co.za
Including spinaker
On new road trailer
All in reasonable
condition
Offers on R2 500.00
Contact: Mark Spooner
Cell: 082 558 6032
E-mail: spooner@intekom.co.za
WANTED
In good condition.
Contact Max Ozinsky
Cell: 082 414-7147
E-Mail: maxo@anc.org.za
Tender
Approximately
1,85m loa required
Suitable for
L36
Contact: Jeff
Montjoie
Phone:
011-823 2402
E-mail: jmo@clearspan.co.za
Contact:
Richard Barron
E-Mail: Richard@creatinginsight.co.za
Andrew Heathcote
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 783 8805
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Please note that the views
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