Smooth Sailing
Sailing
News By A Sailor For Sailors!
In
Association with:
The Official Web Site of the 2003 Lipton Cup
Texwise
Natal Fetch Return Sail Repairs
Watch
The Start At Royal Natal Yacht Club
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 1 5
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 full results
and some pictures from the event are posted on the Smooth Sailing web site. For
more pictures of the regatta visit the Smooth
Sailing web site
and click on the Photographs button.
The Lipton Cup started yesterday, also in perfect conditions off Durban. Mark Sadler and Rick Nankin sailing Daly’s
Insurance for the Theewaters Sports Club got off to the best possible start to
win the first race of the 2003 Lipton Challenge Cup. Dave Hudson’s Greenlight,
sailing for the Royal Cape Yacht Club who had held second position for the
entire race, and defending champions Ian Ainslie’s MSC Donna Mia sailing for
the Zeekoe Vlei Yacht Club engaged in a titanic duel for second place. With no
more than a hundred meters to go to the finish, Greenlight and MSC Donna Mia
exchanged tacks furiously as each jockeyed for position. A container ship
entering the harbour added to the confusion, nearly crossing right through the
finish line as Greenlight edged forward to finish in second place half a boat
length ahead of MSC Donna Mia.
Following the traditional sail past in
Durban’s Harbour mouth, the fleet were greeted by a calm sea with hardly any
wind. As forecast, it filled in quickly from the northeast allowing the race
officer to start the race slightly behind the scheduled 12h00.
Rounding the first mark of the course
Daly’s held a small lead over Dave Hudson’s Greenlight, followed by Sieraj
Jacobs on Bound For Gold, sailing for the Port Owen Yacht Club.
Defending champion Ian Ainslie’s MSC
Donna Mia had a fairly good first leg of the race but then found himself
embroiled in a nightmare at the weather mark. Trying hard to sneak around the
mark in fourth, Ainslie cut things a little too fine and ended up hitting the
mark as he passed it. This is strictly forbidden in the Racing Rules of Sailing
and in order to exonerate himself Ainslie completed a 720 degree penalty turn.
With his penalty turn done the MSC Donna Mia crew were eventually able to get
the spinnaker up and resume racing in around 10th place in the
fleet.
It wasn’t long before the Zeekoe Vlei
team hit more trouble though when halfway down the second leg of the course
they lost the spinnaker rope. This caused the sail to blow away from the boat,
out of control, as more of the fleet sailed on by. By now Ainslie was down to
around 15th place. Down they may have been, but the defending
champions were certainly not out! With three quarters of the race left to sail
the MSC Donna Mia crew got stuck in and started working their way back. This
they did with remarkable success easing themselves into third position by the
finish, no mean feat in such a high quality fleet.
While
Daly’s Insurance and Greenlight enjoyed fairly trouble free race out in the
front of the fleet the bunch from fourth to tenth enjoyed some very close
racing. In this group were several well polished teams including Paul Lagesse’s
Dynamic ID Systems, Craig Millar and Alec Lanham-Love’s Lipton Yellow Label,
George Amoils and Martin Lamprecht on Orion Challenger, Ewald Sternagel on Rote
Hexe and Rob Wilcox on La Digue as well as Sieraj Jacobs on Bound For Gold. There was very little in it between these
boats with places swapping regularly and some hectic mark rounding during the
race.
Both Rote Hexe and La Digue are Gauteng
entries, La Digue from the Victoria Lake Club and Rote Hex from the Transvaal
Yacht Club. While their skippers are both experienced in the conditions
offshore Durban their top ten finishes will be particularly satisfying to both,
as neither had the benefit of practicing in these conditions.
The top five positions in the first race
of the 2003 Lipton Challenge Cup were as follows:
1st Daly’s Insurance Mark Sadler/Rick Nankin Theewaters Sports Club
2nd Greenlight Dave Hudson Royal Cape Yacht
Club
3rd MSC Donna Ian Ainslie Zeekoe Vlei Yacht Club
4th Dynamic Id Systems Paul Lagesse Hottentots Holland Beach Sailing Club
5th Orion
Challenger George Amoils/Martin
Lamprecht Royal Natal Yacht Club
Keep an eye on
the Smooth Sailing Lipton Cup web site for the full report and race
results, which will be published just as soon as they become available.
According to the South
African Weather Service today, Monday, will be a fine day in Durban with some cloud moving
over later. The temperature will reach 22 degrees and the wind will be from the
northeast, peaking at 18 knots.
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 of the Lipton Cup. 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.
Preparations for the Orion Vasco Da Gama Race are now in an advanced stage with many of the fleet already on
their was to Maputo. With the added security surrounding the African Summit
happening in Maputo as you read this, the Mozambique Navy have asked Race
Organisers for a list of entries in order that they don't mistake you as an
invasion force, fire a round across your bow and board you. Seriously, if you
have any means of contacting your delivery crews, advise them that the
Mozambiquan Navy IS out there in Maputo Bay and will have a few questions for
them unless (and probably even though) they have the details of the boat and are
expecting it.
Royal Natal Yacht Club will be showing the start of the Orion Vasco Da Gama Race "live" on the Internet on Sunday
13th at 15:30. Plus the Race Officer on board the Bridge boat in Maputo
Bay will also be "Live" a few minutes prior to the start, giving
updates on the weather, breeze and the sights and sounds of the start as 22
boats jostle for position, and then take you through the starting sequence.
Listen to the countdown and instructions called by the Bridge, hear if YOUR
boat is called OCS or if there is a general recall because of over-eager
skippers. The Club has thrown open their facilities for all and sundry wishing
to see the start of the race. Get there earlier and enjoy their
traditional Sunday scene with great grub, pub and entertainment to boot.
Andrew Heathcote
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 783 8805
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