Smooth Sailing
Sailing
News By A Sailor For Sailors!
In
Association with:
The Official Web Site of the 2003 Lipton Cup
The 2003 NCS
Regatta was
ended on Thursday with everyone having enjoyed a great week of racing. The
regatta ended today in the same fashion that it started with the fleet enjoying
the final two races in near perfect conditions.
A light southerly breeze that peaked at around 12 knots although
was never very steady in direction, combined with a large swell left over from
yesterdays strong winds, made for tricky racing conditions. Today was all about
keeping the boat going fast and making the most of the wind shifts. Some did
this better than others.
Once again it was the L26 fleet in which the closest racing took
place although it was not without incident. Only ten of the 33-boat fleet were
recorded as finishers in the sixth race of the regatta. This after all but five
crossed the start line prematurely. Of those over early five returned and
restarted with the rest simply sailing on, unaware of their error. This handed
an unlikely win to Nigel Miln’s Dockleveller Supplies. Race seven went more
according to plan though, especially for Ian Ainslie on MSC Donna Mia. Ainslie
chose the last race of the regatta to hit top gear and did so in fine style,
winning by a huge margin. Second place in this race went to Dave Hudson on
Greenlight with Mark Sadler’s Daly’s Insurance managing only a fourth place.
This was however enough to secure Sadler’s team a comfortable overall victory.
Rob DeVlieg on Stadtistic rounded off a good regatta with two
comfortable wins on the final day to secure overall victory. Early regatta
leader Peter Lee on Staggerlee finished fifth and ninth in the two races sailed
today to find himself slipping to fourth overall behind Rob Samways Elfstoy.
Samways, like DeVleig, improved both in results and consistencty as the regatta
went on and was a deserving runner up.
With two wins in today’s races John Martin’s Fasciantion of Power
finished off the regatta with a convincing win in the IRC Class. With only two
second places to blemish a near perfect scorecard Martin was fairly dominant in
this fleet. The 42 foot Fascination of Power was the biggest boat in the fleet
and immaculately sailed at all times.
In PHRF Class two the
overall standings were turned on their head on the final day. Mike Robinson on
Lorrigray 3 ended the regatta on a high note with two firsts and a second in
the final three races. Going into the final day Lorrigray had been in third
place overall in this class but her good results, combined with a slight slip
in the form of the regatta leaders, saw Robinson sneak into first place.
Once again Durban provided the best possible conditions for the NCS
Regatta, an event that has cemented itself as the premier sailing event on the
South African Sailing calendar. Certainly all who took part in this years
regatta will be back for more at the same time next year.
The prize giving for the NCS Regatta will take place tomorrow,
Friday, night at the Point Yacht Club.
The final overall standings in each of the five classes, after
seven races, area as follows:
L26
1st Dalys Insurance Mark
Sadler 10 Points
2nd Greenlight Dave
Hudson 15
3rd MSC Donna Mia Ian
Ainslie 16
Stadt 23
1st Stadistic Rob
De Vlieg 9
2nd Elfstoy Rob
Samways 13
3rd Staggerlee Peter
Lee 16 Points
IRC
1st Fascination of Power John Martin 7
Points
2nd Close Again Jonathan
Heathcote 15
3rd Skitso Craig
Middleton 17
Micro Multi Hull
1st Bandit Peter
Latter 5 Points
2nd Magic Dragon Bill
Ellens 8
3rd Take One Peter
Bernd 12
PHRF Class 2
1st Lorrigray Mike
Robinson 17 Points
2nd No Compromise CJ
Phillips 17
3rd Mr Bojangles David Scorey 18
The Smooth
Sailing NCS Regatta web page is being updated with pictures, race reports and results
each day of the event. We have posted some good pics of the action on day one
and will have more for you later this evening. Visit www.smoothsailing.co.za/ncsregatta.html.
According to
the South African
Weather Service
today, Tuesday, will be a light wind day. The forecast is for a 7-knot
northeasterly wind turning to the southeast and piping up to around 10 knots
later in the day. The sea will be pretty flat with a 1-meter swell and the
temperature will be 23 degrees.
For those of you sailing the NCS Regatta
doesn’t forget that Texwise
Natal are operating their
Fetch and Return Sail
Repair Service throughout
the week. Sails that need repairs after a tough day on the water can be left in
the Texwise trailer that will be located next to the guard hut at the top of
the walk-on mooring. When leaving your sails in the trailer please don’t forget
to fill in and attach a tag to your sail bag. The trailer will leave the yacht
club a hour or two after the fleet has returned to the marina each day and will
return each morning with a load full of repaired sails ready for another days
sailing. Clyde Kinloch of Texwise Natal is the man to talk to regarding this
service or if you need to discuss any out of the ordinary sail repairs. Clyde
can be contacted on 082 572 3408.
Andrew Heathcote
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 783 8805
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