Smooth Sailing
Sailing
News By A Sailor For Sailors!
In
Association with:
ISAF Youth
Worlds Sailor’s Report
It’s going to be a huge game on Saturday when the Sharks take on the Blue Bulls at the ABSA Stadium in Durban. The Bulls and the
Sharks occupy the top two places on the Currie Cup log at the moment and both
are unbeaten so far, something that’s going to change for one of them on
Saturday! It should be another tough and uncompromising game for both teams. We
will also be seeing some new faces on both sides with several players from each
team now unavailable due to their National squad commitments. Kick-off is at
14:45 and the game will of course be televised live on Supersport.
Ricky and Brennan Robinson recently represented South
Africa at the 2003 ISAF
Youth World Championships in
Madiera, Portugal. They sailed in the double-handed boys class, which was
sailed in 420’s. The following in an extract from their detailed report on
their preparation, planning and participation for in this regatta. The full
version is posted on the Smooth Sailing web site. Not only does it give a good
account of the sailing that took place but also the planning that goes into
such a campaign. Its not often that one gets a chance to look into the inner
planning of an international dinghy campaign and probably also not often that
one is as well planned as this one was. For the full version go to www.smoothsailing.co.za/robinsonrpt03.html or read the short version below:
“On
the day we got back from the Mirror Worlds in Tasmania, our Mother posed the
question: “What Next?”
She
already knew the answer. She was thinking of the Youth Worlds, a regatta she
had been unable to attend, even though she won the selections. In those days,
there were no girl’s classes, and she had won overall, but it seems they chose
a boy instead. I think this still burns her ass!
Our father, on
the other hand, saw only numbers.
He
demanded a well thought plan of action, and demanded a return that related to
more than just this regatta.
Under
his guidance, we came up with the document that I attach below. It makes
interesting reading, and it is amazing how well we managed to stick to the
plan.
We
were the only candidates for the South African double-handed boys team so there
was no selection regatta.
Training
locally was a problem and was mostly done on the family Fireball while we also
managed a week of pre-regatta training on a 420 in the UK with Mark Rushall,
one of the UK team’s coaches.
The Youth Worlds took place on island of Madeira which is situated well off the coasts of Portugal and northwest Africa and is exposed to northerly trade winds. It is too small to attract a sea breeze so the best place to sail without being affected by the gigantic volcanic mountains would be the northern side of the island. The only problem was that the ground sloped so steeply down that it was impossible to lay any fairly decent course there. The organizers found a place on the southern side where windward leeward courses could be laid for all three fleets so that's where the racing happened and we just had to put up with the 30 degree switches and big variations in wind strength.
Having got our allocated boat at the regatta venue we spent the afternoon calibrating for different wind speeds, faffing around with pre bend, spreader deflection and length and the general attaching of our bag of ropes to the bare hull. That night there was a presentation on the new rule 42 interpretations and afterwards a buffet dinner. The next day had some more time in the morning for boat prep and a practice race in the afternoon. We took the practice race quite seriously but there were only five boats left in the end so we practiced some wire to wire tacks which we just about perfected. Evening was the opening ceremony followed by the opening dinner.
Race Day One of racing consisted of three races for both fleets. Race one was not too
great as we were only getting used to the conditions and while running a puff
hit us on the leeward beam and made us capsize to weather twisting the
spinnaker around the top of the mast.
The rest of the fleet sailed away while we got up and we had a nice game
of catch-up from there on and we were surprised at how much distance we
gained. Race two saw us starting to
find our rhythm and we had the best start along with the Irish on the pin end,
we kept in there for the rest of the race but lost quite a bit from not getting
the puffs out of the spurs. Race three we had a boat end start with a lot of
speed and we played the puffs really well from there on to finish 9th. It was theoretically decided that the right
side of the course should pay because the current would be stronger there and
lee bowing you into the wind but it seemed apparent while racing that the puffs
coming off the cliffs and through the valleys were causing lifts and there fore
making the left pay most of the time.
But it was very inconsistent and hard to determine which would actually
prove to be the best.
Race Day Two was strong wind and was the first time we sailed a 420 in this wind
speed, it proved to be very difficult as the boat is very prone to capsizing.
The huge abrupt wind shifts didn't help our staying upright at all; neither did
the jib sheets catching on the compass continuously. We still managed to hang
in there with a 18th and 20th. When we
got back I made a big net thing over the compass, which was hard to do because
we were only allowed to use the short spare piece of rope that they gave us and
tape. It was very effective and we
didn’t have any more of that catching.
Race Day Three was
exactly the wind that we trained in and it also suited our weight very
well. It was by far the highlight of the regatta mostly
because we beat team GBR in both races. We got a 10th in race one and
were going very fast. In race two our
tactics, speed and everything else was flawless and we were sticking in 3rd
position until the last run where the fleet split totally we compromised as
best possible and tried to play it safely in the middle. Some boats off to the right got a huge puff
that really was totally against the wind pattern of that day and four boats
that went farming squeezed in ahead of everyone. We finished 7th. We
thought this was great, as long as the wind stayed like this we would really be
up near the front considering our speed and our rapid improvement.
The Lay Day's planned entertainment had us wake up early so the "lay
in" element of the day was not there instead we were taken by a bus into
the mountains where we went on a walk in the mountains followed by
what they call 'extreme' mountain sport (far less than that). We then took the really long cable car down
to Funchal where we had lunch and a group photo of all the competitors.
Race Day Four was very strong and a bad day for us doing things
like capsizing and breaking the spinnaker pole etc. we came 25th and
24th. The wind was terrible gusting 25,
switching 30 degrees, and lulling 10
Race Day Five was right on the limit of them allowing us to sail with the wind mostly
over 20 knots and gusting quite a bit more but they let us out in the end just
for one race and we fared quite well considering our crew weight
being noticeably less than most. At our briefing it was said that there
would be strong current pushing boats on the startline towards the pin causing
gaps to open at the boat end, this didn’t happen so we had to come in behind
someone else we tacked early and got into clean air and on the plane. Once
that’s done its just tactics from there on.
Our vang slide on the boom slipped by about two inches so that when the
pulleys were block to block the leech was still slightly open and at the
leeward mark we were beating the brits but the spin halyard knotted itself and
the bag stayed up for a few moments too long.
Race Day Six was very strong again but dropping a lot later on in the race, which
caught us with too much rake and a 420's rake cannot be adjusted during the
race.
After
giving all the boats back and coughing up the euros for the broken spinnaker pole
(60) and two little rips of less than 1cm (20) we were taken to Funchal
pier where we had a great Madeiran meal. It was a great atmosphere with
all the country's socializing and swapping shirts and stuff. After that
there was a big projection of the highlighted footage and special moments of
the regatta followed by fireworks. That was a nice finish to a different
but enjoyable event.
The
professional training was invaluable to our results and we owe most of what we
achieved in Madeira to that one week.
Now imagine if SA had 420’s and we could do things of that nature as
often as we like. Surely that is the
only way we can expect to compete at events like world champs and Europeans
without spending your parent’s pension in one campaign. The benefits that come with having the 420
present in SA are too numerous for me to start mentioning in this report. We can’t let another opportunity to get hold
of these boats slip.”
Nine races have been sailed in the Dart 18 World Championships, which end tomorrow at the Stokes Bay Sailing Club in
the UK. A further two races are scheduled in the regatta. 127 boats are taking
part in this event including a large South African contingent. It looks like SA
Dart sailing is of a pretty high standard with three of our teams lying just
outside the top 20. This is not at all bad in such a large fleet although the
only worry might be that none of them have really managed to get into the top
ten with our two top teams each having recorded ninths as their best results.
The French look like the strongest nation at this event and are occupying the
top two places fairly comfortably at this stage. To see the full results go to http://www.stokesbay-sc.co.uk/result/open/dart.htm. The South Africans taking
part in the regatta are positioned as follows:
20th Holman & Holman 136 Points
21st Phillips & Phillips 153
26th Stirk & Stirk 199
37th Mienie & Holman 237
48th Hartley & Scott 308
49th Konighofer & Konighofer 308
53rd DeWet & DeWet 325
67th Ytema & Ytema 428
75th Nicol & Nicol 478
This year’s West Coast Cruise will take place from the 27th
to the 31st of December and will be sponsored for the first time by
Bound For Gold under their 33° South label. One of the highlights of
this unique event will be a breakfast on Dassen Island on the 28th
of December. The event includes a navigational exercise, a distance race and an
afternoon of round the cans racing. It also sounds like there will be several
good parties along the way with the final one being the New Years Eve Party at
the Port Owen Yacht Club. After the event yachts that have taken part will be
able to enjoy the benefit of free mooring at Port Owen for a month. This
presents a good opportunity to spend a few weekends sailing in that part of the
world. Entries are limited to 40 boats so there is a need to enter early to
avoid disappointment. For more information contact Frank Stuyck on 083 701 9434
Or email on stuyck@mweb.co.za.
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 |
|
Transvaal Catamaran Club |
23 & 24 August |
|
|
GBYC & HBYC |
23 & 24 August & 20, 21,
24, 27 & 28 September |
|
|
UNYC Winter Series |
Durban Bay |
6, 13 & 20 September |
|
RCYC & HBYC |
11 September |
|
|
HBYC & FBYC |
12 September |
|
|
False Bay Yacht Club |
20 to 28 September |
|
|
False Bay Yacht Club |
20, 21, 24, 27 & 28 September |
|
|
2003 Nationals for 36" Shipmate, IOM and RM
Class Radio Yachts |
Henley Midmar Yacht Club |
20 to 27 September |
|
|
|
|
|
Royal Natal Yacht Club |
24 to 28 Septembet |
|
|
Saldanha Bay |
24 to 28 September |
|
|
Henley Midmar Yacht Club |
3 to 5 October |
|
|
Hout Bay Yacht Club |
4 October |
|
|
Chelmsford Boating Club |
4 & 5 October |
|
|
Various Clubs |
10 to 12 October |
|
|
Nautical Nomads Society |
25 & 26 October |
|
|
Albert Falls Yacht Club |
25 & 26 October |
|
|
Seal Point Yacht Club/Manten
Marina |
25 & 26 October |
|
|
Sterkfontein Dam |
25 & 26 October |
|
|
Hout Bay Yacht Club |
15 & 16 November |
|
|
FBYC & HBYC |
22 November |
|
|
Hout Bay to St Helena Island |
29 November 2003 |
|
|
Spionkop Boating Club |
6 & 7 December |
|
|
Table Bay International Sailing
Week |
Royal Cape Yacht Club |
12 to 17 December |
|
Glendee Yacht Club |
1 & 2 February 2004 |
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
RCOD
R40 000-00
Contact: Michael Pammenter
Cell: 082 414 8209
Fits Venter
6' trailer or similar
Lid opens
with boats loaded
With 110
diameter UPVC sail/spars tube for two rigs.
What offers?
Contact:
Chris Rudham
Cell: 082
5723 201
Phone:
031-266 9729(ah)
Moored Manten Marina
Brand new roller furling and main sails
Inboard 9hp
Great nick - great family cruising
keelboat
R65 000-00
Contact: Russell
Cell: 0836754454
Winner Optimists (2)
‘Opalon’ & ‘Banana Split’
With road trailer
Contact: Richard Cluver
E-mail: Richard@rcis.co.za
Andrew Heathcote
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 783 8805
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