Smooth Sailing
Sailing
News By A Sailor For Sailors!
In
Association with:
Joe
Harris, the Honorary Life President
of the Point Yacht Club passed away suddenly on Saturday morning. He was 85
years old. Joe had been a member of the PYC for 54 years during which time he
served on most of the club’s committee’s including holding the position of
Commodore from 1964 to 1966. Joe started his sailing career during his primary
school days as a bailer boy and his proudest sailing moment was being a
crewmember aboard a winning Lipton Cup entry. As the Honorary Life President
and a Trustee of the PYC he was seen at most major club events and clearly
enjoyed his time at the club. Joe is survived by his wife, Shirley, one child,
four grandchildren and two great grandchildren. A memorial service will be held
in the Anchorage at the Point Yacht Club this coming Friday, the 6th
of June at 11:30.
Smooth
Sailing Lipton Cup Announcement
Sangoma Race
Durban To Richard’s Bay
Maritzburg Radio Boat Club News
The big news today is that Smooth Sailing has been appointed to run the Official Web Site for the 2003 Lipton Cup Regatta. This is great news not only for us but for everyone who
reads Smooth Sailing too. You will find the web site up and running at www.smoothsailing.co.za/lipton/lipton.html. While the web site is really geared to
providing you with up to the minute information while the event is underway it
will also contain some useful pre-event info. Details of the entries received
to date are already on the site and the full entry list will be posted once
entries close on Wednesday. All the official regatta documentation is on the
site, NOR and Sailing Instructions while on race days we will be keeping you
informed as the races progress with fleet positions updated as the boats round
every mark of the course. The live update page will be refreshed each time the
fleet rounds a mark of the course so those of you sitting at home or in the
office will be able to closely follow the progress of the regatta. After each
day’s race we will post pictures of the action on the web site while the
mailing list will be used to send out a detailed report on the day’s race. A
copy of this report will also be posted on the web site. Once all the entries
are in we will be running a pole on the site on which you can vote for the team
you think is most likely to win the regatta. That way, by the time the regatta
starts, we will have a firm idea of who our readers this will be most likely to
win the event. If you have any other good ideas on what we should be doing with
the regatta web site or what other information you would like to see on it
please feel free to mail me at hethcot@iafrica.com. In the meantime visit the site at www.smoothsailing.co.za/lipton/lipton.html and save the page to your favourites
list.
As with the Lipton Cup Smooth Sailing will be closely following the
2003 NCS Regatta. This event takes place the week prior to
Lipton and especially the L26 class will be on great interest. While we wont be
going quite as far as providing live updates during the races we will be
posting all the results and race reports on the web site. In addition the daily
reports will be e-mailed out on the mailing list so you will be able to follow
this event pretty closely as well. We have already got an NCS Regatta page
posted on the web site and will expand on this as the regatta draws closer and
gets underway.
Sailors in KZN should remember that the Sailing KZN AGM will be taking place this coming Friday,
the 6th of June at the Royal Natal Yacht Club. The meeting is
scheduled to take place at 18:00 in the Trafalgar Room. While it may not seem
like the most exciting event of the year it really is desperately important
that the sailors in the region stay in the know as to what is going on in their
governing body. With the new SAS constitution in place the regional bodies like
Sailing KZN have far more power than they had in the past and for this reason
it is important that the sailors pay attention to what they are up to. One of
the more common boat park and yacht club bar gripes is the one about what the
SAS and Sailing KZN do for me as a sailor. Well this is a chance not only to
find out, but the correct forum for any justified gripes along those lines!
Perhaps you will find that the gripes are not justified at all! Either way,
come along and see for yourselves!
The Sangoma Race from Durban to Richard’s Bay takes place this coming Saturday. The
start is scheduled to take place at 11:00 offshore Durban and the weather
forecast looks like it is going to fit right in! I took a look at the long
range forecast this morning and was pleased to see that a westerly is predicted
for this coming Saturday, and a strong one at that. While it might well be a
little cold wet and wind it should at least be a good downwind ride and isn’t
that something that all sailors just can’t resist! With a god few yachts being
delivered to Richard’s Bay for the IRC KZN Champs, which take place the
following weekend, there should be a fleet of at least four or five boats on
the start line for this one, providing that the weather forecast doesn’t change
significantly that is! I have the official Notice of Race, Entry Form and Crew
Lists etc, that you will need to fill out in order to take part in this race. I
haven’t posted them on the web though so if you want a copy please e-mail me at
hethcot@iafrica.com and I will e-mail them on the you.
Those of you who visit our web site regularly, and in
particular the Photo
Gallery link, will know
that this link in fact takes you to the Nautical Images web site. Here you can find a very large selection of pics from a
number of events around the country by well-known photographer Trevor C. Now the Nautical Images site has got so full
that Trevor is no longer posting his entire selection of pics on it although he
will still be posting the best from each of the events that he goes to. While
not all his pics will be posted on the web Trevor will still be cataloguing all
of them so if you are looking for anything specific, a pic of a particular boat
for instance, just e-mail him the name of the boat at tc@nauticalimages.co.za and Trevor will forward you thumbnails of
all the pics he has of that particular boat. For more information or to get
hold of some quality photos of your self or others contact Trevor at the
address above or go to www.nauticalimages.co.za.
For those of you who are missing your midweek sail, don’t
forget that the less formal Wednesday Night Sailing is still taking place in Durban each week. This coming Wednesday,
the 4th of June, the fun race will start between the harbour marks,
E2 and E3 at 18:00 with the course being a straight line, or as close as you
can get to it, to the Bluff Yacht Club. Once there a braai and social will take
place with the fleet returning as and when they want to. You will be able to
purchase beer and braai packs at the BYC or take your own if you prefer. For
more information contact Greg Challis at greg@centralmail.co.za.
Now for something a little different from
the Maritzburg Radio Boat
Club where they seem to
be more focused on the arts than sailing at the moment! The following was sent
to me by Des Fairbank:
“News
from the Duzi. It would appear we have a Poet and a sailor in our midst. Report
thanks to Robin Mcintosh. It takes a trip out of town to find these things out.
If it is any consolation I ended up drifting at Wemmerpan on Sunday and so
Robin’s words were very applicable to all Radio Sailing this past weekend.
Racing on
Saturday, 1st Robin Mcintosh 4
did not really
pay. 2nd Guy Bompas 9
3rd Martin Stevens 11
As the wind
did not play the game, 4th Caroline Stevens 20
nothing seemed
to remain the same. 5th
Neal Young 20
6th Steven Wagner 26
"O"
what a pain, 7th Luke Wagner 31
when the wind
does wane.
For the
sailors weep,
when it is
wind they seek.
The current in
the pond was rough,
as the wind
was not enough.
Some sailors
were seen to sail aback,
instead of doing the
nautical tack.
While all did
their best to play their part,
it was hard to
maintain heart.
Everyone found
the conditions very trying,
but
nonetheless they did continue to do their
vying.
Only the
determined man,
was able to
carry out his plan.
To hold
off any opposition,
and thereby
maintain his position.
Everyone did
try their best,
to beat all
the rest.
Starboard remained
number 1,
under the soft
winter sun.
And
so the totals ranged from 39 to
6,
as there
remained much for some to fix.
We all agreed
in anticipation,
to proceed
with out further consternation.
For next
Saturday coming,
is when next
we shall go beating and running.
See you all
there, and in the interim - do take care.”
The second of the Muira Classes Bullsheet Newsletters has just come out. Once again it is
packed with interesting information, some of which may only be relevant to
Muira sailors though. What is interesting to see though is just how much effort
this class is putting into their own survival and growth. Now if others could
put in the same effort or at least think in the same direction where would it
get our sport in general. It is very refreshing to see the pro-active effort
that is being put in by this class. To see what its all about go to www.smoothsailing.co.za/muirabull2.html.
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 |
|
|
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
Designed by America's
top one design sail maker.
These sails will make
you win the Nationals.
Main & No 1 Genoa
R8 250-00
Contact: Tony Strutt
2,3metre
stingray
4 HP Suzuki
motor
R5 000-00
onco.
At Vaaldam,
Deneysville.
Contact:
Liesel
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
Preferably in
good condition yet second hand
Contact: James
Kier
Phone: 031 301
5425
E-Mail: jimbric@ananzi.co.za
For Volvo-penta
Archimedes air cooled outboard (2 HP, long shaft).
This is a "left
hand" prop.
There may be a good
one on an old motor somewhere.
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
with radial rig
In reasonable
condition
Contact:
Louwrens Toerien
Phone (W) 021
936 7814, (H) 021 880 1749
E-Mail: louwrens.toerien@za.didata.com
Andrew Heathcote
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 783 8805
This newsletter is
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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
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