Smooth Sailing
Sailing
News By A Sailor For Sailors!
In
Association with:
Japanese
Yacht In Distress Off Port Elizabeth
Durban
Dinghy Racing UNYC WinterSeries
Lion Of Africa
Womens Day Race
The Pre-Olympic Regatta is taking place in Athens at the moment. This
regatta is a full-scale dress rehearsal for the 2004 Olympic games, which will
take place exactly a year from now at the same venue. It is a vital event for
any Olympic aspirant to compete in and not one that you get to sail in easily.
As with the Olympics one has to qualify for this regatta with a limited number
of nations, each represented by only one boat taking part. This is the only
regatta that is actually like the Olympics. South Africa has only one Olympic
contender, Gareth Blankenburg. Smooth Sailing has followed his progress throughout
his campaign and readers will be well aware that he is one of the world’s top
Laser sailors. Gareth’s chances of winning a medal in Athens are very real.
Imagine my surprise then, when looking at the Pre-Olympic Regatta results after
the first day of sailing, to find that he wasn’t taking part in this event.
Knowing that he just had to be there, I checked the list of entrants to see if
he hadn’t just been left off the results for the first two races. When it
turned out that he wasn’t entered in the regatta at all I thought that it was
time to find out why. The reason is almost beyond belief! An administrative
bungle at the South African Sailing offices in Cape Town mean that Gareth had
not been entered in the regatta and despite some high level negotiations by
some of the most influential men in South African and international sailing,
the rules couldn’t be bent and a late entry could not be negotiated! For this
regatta, as with the Olympics themselves, it is up to the national governing
bodies, such as SAS, to enter their chosen sailors in the regatta. My
understanding of what happened is that SAS knew what they were meant to do,
they just didn’t do it. At the time that the entry should have been put in the
SAS office in Cape Town was being moved and this task simply got lost in a
myriad of other things that were going on at the time. Understandable maybe but
still inexcusable. Sailors make huge sacrifices to try and get themselves to
the Olympics. It is a goal that requires total commitment on every level and
basically requires putting everything in your life on hold while you try to
achieve your goal. For Gareth this administrative bungle must be a huge blow.
He now finds himself sitting in Athens unable to take part and having to watch
his opposition for the gold medal next year gaining valuable practice. While I
understand that things are not easy for SAS and that they are undergoing some
fairly large administrative changes at the moment this remains an inexcusable
mistake! Those who are dealing with Gareth and his campaign really should try
and understand the seriousness of what they are dealing with here. He is not
just some weekend sailor having a good time in Europe; he is in fact a
committed young man who has made huge sacrifices to get himself to the top in a
tough class. I sincerely hope that he has the mental toughness and resilience
to overcome this setback and make the most of what’s left of this season. I
also hope that the powers that be go out of their way to make sure that this
kind of terrible mistake is never allowed to happen again!
The
Sharks kept us all smiling when they beat the Blue Bulls in
Durban on Saturday. Both teams were undefeated going into this encounter and it
was the Sharks who made the most of a tough encounter to make sure that they
stayed that way. It was a close game though with some good play from both
sides. Having watched the other Currie Cup games that were plated this weekend
it looks to me like these two really are the class teams of the competition
with the others not quite playing to the same standard at the moment. Both
Western Province and the Lions will need to lift their games a bit in the next
few weeks to make sure that its not just the Sharks and the Bulls contesting
the final in a few weeks time!
The Point Yacht Club’s Annual General Meeting takes place at the club this evening at
18:00. All members who are encouraged to be there. The meeting is open to
members only.
The Royal Natal Yacht Club’s Annual General Meeting takes place tomorrow, Tuesday night, in
the Britannia Room at the RNYC. The meeting, which will start at 18:00, is open
to club members only and all club members are encouraged to attend.
I found the following story of a Japanese Yachtsman in Distress off Port Elizabeth, on the News 24 web site this morning. I
thought that it was worth publishing in here not only for general interest but
also as a reminder how badly abused our rescue services, and in particular the
NSRI, are at times:
“The
South African Air Force is preparing to send out a Dakota after a solo Japanese
yachtsman issued a mayday call off the Eastern Cape coast on Monday.
Lieutenant-Colonel
Piet Paxton of Task Force West said the sailor, aboard Bean 7, radioed at 06:00
from a position 270 nautical miles southeast of Port Elizabeth, saying he had
rudder problems.
He asked for
someone to tow him to the nearest harbour.
However,
there was no vessel near him except for a huge tanker, which was not able to
help, said Paxton.
At
10:00 he sent a mayday call.
The
air force was preparing to send out a Dakota, stationed in George, to locate
him and drop a search-and-rescue raft alongside him.
The
raft would enable him to survive for several days if his yacht sank.
Asked
if the sailor had given details of other problems in the mayday call, Paxton
said: "Nobody seems to be able to speak to the guy. He's Japanese, and our
Japanese is not good."
However
Paxton did note that Bean 7 was towed in by the National Sea Rescue Institute
about three weeks ago, after reporting rudder problems off Cape Point.
The
sailor had used the same sequence - a call for a tow, followed by a mayday, on
that occasion.
His
rudder was repaired in Hout Bay, and he set off on his voyage once more.
"We
believe the mayday is just to get somebody running on the other end,"
Paxton said.
He
did not know what the weather conditions in the vicinity of the yacht were
like.”
The Dart 18 World Championships ended on Saturday with 11 races sailed at the Stokes
Bay Sailing Club in the UK. French teams dominated the regatta taking the first
two places by a fairly comfortable margin and their third boat in 6th
place. The rest of the top ten positions went to UK sailors, sailing on their
home waters. Kim and Bruce Phillips were once again the top South Africans
finishing in 20th place. Although this wasn’t as good as their 6th
in last years regatta. Their best individual results in the regatta were and 8th
and a 9th but other than those two races they seemed to battle to
stay in the top twenty in individual races. With the next two South African
entries placed 22nd and 25th it was a good result for the
South African team and a good sign for the state of Dart sailing in SA. It is
good to know that we have a local fleet that is internationally competitive,
more so, by the look of things than any other local class in which SA sailors
have sailed world championships this year. So, for some good racing locally
perhaps the Dart class is the place to be?
To see the full results go to http://www.stokesbay-sc.co.uk/result/open/dart.htm. The South Africans
finished as follows:
|
20th |
Phillips & Phillips |
199 Points |
|
22nd |
Holman & Holman |
210 |
|
25th |
Stirk & Stirk |
235 |
|
35th |
Mienie & Holman |
323 |
|
47th |
DeWet & DeWet |
401 |
|
48th |
Hartley & Scott |
402 |
|
55th |
Konighofer & Konighofer |
472 |
|
63rd |
Ytema & Ytema |
510 |
|
74th |
Nicoll & Nicoll |
630 |
Dinghy Sailors in Durban will be pleased to know that there is now only one weekend left
before the first series of the new season gets underway. As is traditional, it
will be the UNYC Winter
Series that is sailed
first. The series will take place on the 6th, 13th, and
20th of September and is open to all dinghy classes. Racing will
take start at 14:00 on each afternoon with two races scheduled for each day of
racing. On the first week at least you will need to enter the series so make
sure that you get there nice and early to get this done! Since it’s been a
while since we had any dinghy sailing in Durban it would probably be wise for
most dinghy sailors to have a look over their boats this coming Saturday to
make sure that they are all ready for action. I am sure that most will find
that they have a bit of maintenance to do! If you require any more information on this
year’s UNYC Winter Series then contact UNYC Commodore Colin Becker at colinb@winning.com.
The
following report on the Lion
Of African Womens Day Race,
which was sailed from the Royal Cape Yacht Club on the 9th of
August, came from Viqui at RCYC:
“Whilst
women all over South Africa celebrated International Women’s Day, Royal Cape
Yacht Club was host to over 100 female skippers and sailors taking part in the
Lion Of Africa Women’s Day Race in Table Bay. Grey skies, winter winds and a
very uninviting lumpy sea proved no deterrent to the 15 yachts and lady crews
taking part.
With well-known
role models such as Marion Cole and Judy Provoyeur amongst the competitors
taking the helm, it was heartening to see first timers and established female
skippers and crews sailing against one another in a very testing and
competitive regatta. With the guys firmly relegated to the administration and
running of the race, there was no quarter given and none expected out on the
water, although there was a lot less shouting than normal!
Lion
of Africa Insurance Company CEO, Fred Robertson, was quite frankly amazed and
delighted at the number of women taking part in the regatta and has pledged his
company’s ongoing support and sponsorship for next years event. Speaking at the
prize giving ceremony afterwards, he said that he had no idea that sailing was
so well supported by women from all walks of life, and it proved that his
company’s vision of an equal and non prejudiced society was well founded.
With
generous support from sub sponsors who share this vision, and driven by the
RCYC Ladies Association, this event will surely go from strength to strength.
|
1st |
Marion
Cole |
Wall
Banger |
Simonis
35 |
|
2nd
|
Dominique
Provoyeur |
Devonvale
Orion |
J22 |
|
1st |
Jennifer
Burger |
Lapwing |
L34 |
|
2nd
|
Mary
Ann Sherwood |
No
Promises |
Laser
28 |
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 |
|
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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