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SPA Regatta - Greg Barker Reports
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Natal Yacht Club Access Control
Your Weekend Weather according to the SA Weather Service will be as follows:
Durban & Richard’s
Bay: Saturday
will be 24 degrees and clear with a light northeasterly wind blowing. Sunday
will be 27 degrees and clear with a moderate northeasterly wind blowing.
Midmar: Saturday will be 19 degrees
and clear after the temperature bottoms out at a chilly –1 degree on Friday
night! It will reach the same low on Saturday so campers beware! The wind will
be a light northwesterly. Sunday will be 21 degrees and clear with a light
northwesterly wind again blowing.
Vaal Dam: Both Saturday and Sunday
will be 21 degrees and clear with a light northwesterly wind blowing.
Cape Town: Saturday will be 19 degrees and partly
cloudy with a moderate westerly wind blowing. Sunday will be 21 degrees and
fine with a moderate southwesterly wind blowing.
Greg Barker sent us the following report
on last weekends SPA
Olympic Classes Regatta, which
was sailed in Medemblik, Holland:
“My team-mate and
I made a last minute decision to skip work and drive to Holland to compete in
the 2003 SPA Regatta for Olympic Classes (In the words of a veteran Oppi coach,
‘the first, he wins, the second, he loses, and the rest… they just compete!’).
10
Races were sailed in good sailing conditions for the 49er class, with
relatively flat water and good breeze disturbed only by the armada of coach
boats and the occasional Dutch ships which cruised through the middle of the
racing areas (apparently oblivious to all regatta proceedings).
3
Races in moderate breeze on day 1 provided slim pickings for us as we finished
each race immediately behind the pack. The score sheet looked quite dismal at
this stage, which was quite concerning as we had not done too much wrong in the
racing (just not enough right!). Day 2 saw another 3 races in similar
conditions. A more aggressive approach to the pre-start resulted in a better
performance with some good racing and improved results.
The
big breeze arrived on day 3 with winds of over 20 knots and full-on conditions
for both fleets. For most of the day we raced in the top ten of the fleet along
with the pros after some good pin-end starts and unbelievably good speed, but a
capsize towards the end of each race spoilt the score sheet in a big way. Small
helming mistakes on the downwind legs under pressure from other boats proved
expensive. More important in the big picture was the good boat speed we found.
Racing
on day 4 was cancelled due to lack of breeze, giving us plenty of time to
ponder (using 20-20 hindsight), the 10 seconds or so of brain farting on the
previous day that had led to our downfall and effectively haemorrhaged 30-plus
points from our score. After a good comeback in the final race on day 5, we
ended the regatta in position 39.
Although
not reflected in this result, our feeling is that our sailing has moved up a
notch and that we are close to breaking into the next level of the pecking
order in the fleet. After a couple of weekends of preparation in the UK, we
look forward to the forthcoming international events with quiet optimism.
Unexpected
changes in our professional obligations in the UK have freed up some time for
sailing (My team-mate has a new job as a neurosurgeon, and I have managed to
secure some unpaid leave from my project director), so we will go to Kiel,
Germany next month and the European Championships in Laredo, Spain in July.
The 49er Tabloid:
Having previously covered ‘sailor-rage’, inter-team violence and olympic
selection politics, the subject of this month’s 49er tabloid is self governance
of the sailing rules. Tiller extensions are (unofficially) disregarded as part
of the boat i.e. collisions involving tiller extensions are completely ignored.
Port-tacker’s tiller extensions are considered fair game and breaking them
under your bowsprit is good form and part of on-the-water justice (as tiller
extensions are ‘not part of the boat’, there is no problem with ‘avoiding a
collision’ here - at R1000 a pop, too many dodgy crossings on port can get
expensive!). Also, ‘nearest possible opportunity’ for penalities on downwind
legs is generally accepted to be at the downwind gate (regardless of where the
incident occurred). In terms of protests, there is clearly an unwritten code of
conduct in the 49er class that prohibits them altogether (in almost two years
of competition I am not aware of a single protest in the 49er class). Frantic
shouting on the water (normally in a foreign language) and a stern talking to
afterwards for the offending team avoids wasting valuable sleeping and eating
time.”
Dinghy
Racing in Durban tomorrow
is to be hosted by PYC who are running their Interclass Championship. Racing
will, I presume, take place on the harbour mark course, starting at 14:00 and
with two races set to be sailed. For more information contact Pat at PYC on
031-301 4787.
Then on Sunday PYC’s Rose Bowl Series for Keelers is taking place. This is the last club racing in Durban
before the IRC and L26 KZN Champs and also the NCS Regatta. With any luck this
means that there will be a good turnout of boats on the water, both L26’s and
others on Sunday. Once again there could be as many as five or six big boats on
the water and an equal number of L26’s. I hope that the Durban yachties make
the effort to make this the biggest turnout of the season. Racing starts
offshore at 11:00 on Sunday morning with two races planned for the day.
The Royal Natal Yacht Club have released the following statement regarding their facilities in
Durban for the benefit of all visiting yachtsmen as well as those Durban
sailors who make use of this excellent club:
“Due to the increased amount of
traffic in the area as a result of the yacht mole modifications we have been
obliged to place a concierge at our front door. His brief is to ask people
wanting to enter the Club for proof of membership. This is a security measure
and also to keep out any undesirable elements. We are however still keen to
offer our facilities to yachties and any persons who can show they are a member
of a bona fida yacht club are welcome to use the club on a temporary basis,
with ultimate objective from our point of view that they enjoy it so much that
they will become members. Furthermore we would like to remind folk that Sundays
at RNYC are "open day" and we welcome prospective new members to come
and enjoy Durban's superb winter weather with a braai on the lawns and live
music.”
This coming Wednesday, the 4th of June, is the closing date
for entries for the Lipton Cup Regatta. Other than the defending yacht, six entries have
been received to date. With at least 18 L26s being shipped to Durban from the
Western Cape on MSC ships this means that there should be at least that many
entries in the regatta secretaries hand by now! Add to that the KZN and Gauteng
boats, well; I expect that the regatta secretaries fax machine will be pretty
busy in the next few days! If you haven’t yet got your copy of the NOR or Entry
Form get it off the Smooth Sailing Notices of Race web page.
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 |
|
|
Albert Falls Yacht Club |
31 May & 1 June |
|
|
Zululand Yacht Club |
14 to 16 June |
|
|
Point Yacht Club |
14 to 16 June |
|
|
Albert Falls Yacht Club |
14 to 16 June |
|
|
Point Yacht Club |
28 June to 4 July |
|
|
Durban Offshore Challenge Incorporation the Mirror
& Laser Youth KZN Champs |
Point Yacht Club |
28 June to 4 July |
|
Point Yacht Club |
4 to 11 July |
|
|
UCT Yacht Club, Zeekoeivlei |
2 & 3 August |
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
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Main & No 1 Genoa
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Contact: Tony Strutt
C/W rowlocks and oars.
E-Mail: anthonya@rdi.co.za
2,3metre
stingray
4 HP Suzuki
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R5 000-00
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At Vaaldam,
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Contact:
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Cell:
0839629209
Sail # 3416
Du Toit Hull
1 Main, 2 Jibs
Foil Bag, Dolly and boat cover
R9 000-00
Contact: Nicholas Pratt
Cell: 082 418 4401
E-Mail: prittn@yahoo.com
WANTED
Contact: Eksteen
E-Mail: brande@danfoss.co.za
Laser
In good condition
In Gauteng or KZN
Contact: Andrew Heathcote
Cell: 083 783 8805
E-Mail: hethcot@iafrica.com
Preferably
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In reasonable
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Contact:
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Phone (W) 021
936 7814, (H) 021 880 1749
E-Mail: louwrens.toerien@za.didata.com
Andrew Heathcote
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 783 8805
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