Smooth Sailing
Sailing
News By A Sailor For Sailors!
In
Association with:
Finn
Nationals & 505 & Laser Northvaal Champs
ISAF Sailing
World Championships
The UNYC Winter
Series ended on Saturday afternoon
in Durban bay with two races sailed in extremely shifty conditions. A passing
thunderstorm dragged the wind from the southeast to the southwest and then back
to the east again making life as difficult for the sailors as it was for the
race officer. Conditions were as wintery as you would ever get in Durban with a
definite chill in the air. Two races were sailed despite the difficult
conditions although there were a good number of sailors who got off the water
in a hurry when the thunderstorm set a few lightening blots crashing across the
bay. Those who stayed were rewarded with some good sailing though. The fleets
were moderately sized but hopefully this is just the start of a good dinghy
season in Durban. The top three positions in the series in each of the classes,
who walked off with prizes courtesy of Seaport Supply, were as follows:
Flying
Fifteen
1st
Mike Wright & Darren Hinnett
2nd
Patrick Harris & Jeremy Kriek
3rd
Peter Morgenrood & James Kier
Sprog
1st
Jof Heathcote & Maya Minkova
2nd
Greg Hurter & Coral Anne Ellens
3rd
Harry Ellens & Warren Ostendorf
Laser
1st
Paul Changoiun
2nd
Daniel Larkens
3rd Denmar
Nel
The
Sharks weren’t looking in such great form throughout the
first half against Griquas on Saturday. They got it together well in the second
half though and gave the Griquas the kind of thrashing we all thought that they
should get in Durban winning by 48 points to 15. With the Lions forcing a draw
with Western Province on Saturday the Sharks no enjoy an 8 point lead on the
Currie Cup log. New weekend they have another easy game when they play away
against the Pumas after which we can look forward to an exciting match when Western
Province come to play at the Absa Stadium in Durban.
The
Finn Nationals were sailed in conjunction with the 505 and Laser Northvaal Champs at the Aeolians club on the Vaal Dam this weekend. A
good fleet of 17 Finns, 9 505s, 14 Lasers and 13 Laser Radials turned up for
this event which came at the beginning of a very busy period of sailing in the
area. The first day of the regatta was a windy one with Saturday, the first day
of the event claiming 5 masts, 2 centreboards, 1 boom and 1 boat sunken, or at
least missing at the end of the first days racing. Only two races were sailed
on the first day with the wind blowing over 20 knots most of the time. Sunday
saw 4 races sailed in much lighter and more manageable conditions while one
final race was sailed this morning, Monday, the last day of the regatta. it
sounds like the racing was very good although generally it appears to have been
a very chilly regatta. I don’t have the full results or points for the regatta
but I do have the top three positions for each of the classes thanks to Ian
Hogg who phoned them through to me. They are as follows:
Finn (17 Boats)
1st
Ali Serritselev
2nd
Klaus Wexelbaumer
3rd
Ian Wolmerans
505 (9 Boats)
1st
Graeme Willcox & Alan Haylett
2nd
Steve Hegestrom & Ian Hogg
3rd
Kyle Klaas & Charles Crosby
Laser (14 Boats)
1st
Leon De Raay
2nd
John Samuel
3rd
Malcolm Osborne
Laser
Radial (13 Boats)
1st
Peter Clayton
2nd
James Hogg
3rd
Matthew McCrystal
Conditions weren’t exactly ideal for the Durban Opening Cruise on Sunday but the rain did stay away while the fleet was on the water
and the breeze was pretty good so all it turned out to be a good sail after
all. I am sure that there were quite a few sailors who looked out of their
windows and went back to bed on Sunday morning and quite frankly I don’t blame
them, I nearly did the same. There was a chill in the air but in ten to twelve
knots of breeze the sailing was near perfect. Discussing it afterwards in the
pub it was agreed that if we lived anywhere in the world where the climate was
not as pleasant as Durban that would have been a great day for sailing. Its
just that in Durban, with our near perfect weather we are rather spoilt so
don’t do the bad days that well. Considering the weather it was a good fleet of
20 or more yachts that took part in the sail past with the Commodores of the
Point, Royal Natal and Bluff Yacht Club’s taking the salute from on board the
yacht Sapristi. The sail past was followed by a fun race in the bay in which
most yachts too part before heading off to the PYC Bar just before the rain
came down. All in all it was a pretty good day, hopefully something that we
will have more of in the coming summer months.
On a very wet & miserable Sunday at the Henley Midmar Yacht Club 5
Optimists and 2 Lasers took to the water for the aptly named Hancock Brass Monkey series on Midmar Dam. This was the first monthly
event held of the HMYC Junior Championship series for the new 2003/04 sailing
season. The cold, drizzle and only 8 knots of wind didn't deter last minute stand-in
Race Officer and Bridge Crew, Laurence & Coo Hancock from running three
races. Both classes sailed a triangular course with the Lasers going off first.
Young Byron Gray was out testing his new boat and kept with the pack. Scratch
results were as follows:
Optimists
1st
Claire Walker
2nd
Sam Hancock
3rd
Emma Walker
Lasers
1st
Andy Gray (Master)
2nd
James Houston (1st Junior)
The South
African team has had mixed fortunes at the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Cadiz,
Spain. Racing has finished in the Star class and I am sure that Charles Nankin
and Marc Largesse will be fairly happy with their 57th place in this tough class. While Charles had
sailed the Europeans a week or so beforehand this was Marc’s first experience
of this difficult class. Not only are the boats quite fiddly to sail but the
competition is red hot, as it is in all the Olympic Classes actually. The Star
however seems to be the place where all the rock stars hang out at the moment
and there were some very big names amongst the fleet. Not all of them did as
well as they might have hoped though! In the Laser fleet our top contender is
Gareth Blankenburg who is currently lying in 6th place after 8
races. After a relatively slow start to the final series Gareth has really his
top gear towards the end, winning race 7.
Nonetheless 17th is nothing to be scoffed at. Paul Willcox,
who is the current South African National Champion is further down the fleet in
146th position. This has to be a measure of just how tough the Laser
class is internationally. Paul is an exceptionally good young sailor and there
are few who can beat him consistently locally so you can just imagine how fast
the rest of the guys at this regatta are. Bruce Keen is lying in 166th
place but has only sailed three races in the regatta. In the Tornado class
Duncan Ross and Roger Hudson are lying in 51st place after 8 races.
You can follow the regatta on the web at www.cadizworlds2003.com.
Oracle won both
the Pro-Driver and Owner Driver Series of the Moet Cup this weekend after six days of exciting
racing on San Francisco Bay. Both were narrow wins though, 4-3 in the
Pro-Driver Series and 3-2 in the Owner Driver Series. While neither Oracle nor
Alinghi fielded their number one combinations, using this event for crew
training and regatta exposure, the racing was still tight and there was pride
at stake. I am sure that neither team owner wanted to lose! Most commentators
seem to agree though that the real winner in this series was the America’s Cup
and the sport of sailing. The event has received rave reviews wherever I have
read them. The sailors seem to have had a great time too revelling in the
outstanding conditions that San Francisco Bay offers. One of the things that made this event so unique was the
proximity to the shore with which the racing took place. Spectators didn’t have
to be out on the water to see what was going on with the yachts racing only
meters from the shore at times. Despite this the organisers went out of their
way to ensure that on the water photographers could get as close to the action
as possible with the result that some fantastic images of the event have been
published. Click on any or all of the three links below to check them out.
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=2805942&uid=1433118&members=1
http://www.wavelengthstudios.com/photo/index.htm
http://ggyc.org/moet/moetcup-gallery.htm
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 & FBYC |
23 & 24 August & 20, 21,
24, 27 & 28 September |
|
|
Sterkfontein Dam |
24 to 28 September |
|
|
Royal Natal Yacht Club |
24 to 28 September |
|
|
Saldanha Bay |
24 to 28 September |
|
|
Denysville Aquatic Club |
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 |
|
|
Simon’sberg Naval Base,
Simonstown |
10 to 12 October |
|
|
Nautical Nomads Society |
25 & 26 October |
|
|
Albert Falls Yacht Club |
Changed to 15 & 16 November |
|
|
Seal Point Yacht Club/Manten Marina |
25 & 26 October |
|
|
Durban Radio Boat Club |
8 & 9 November |
|
|
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 |
|
|
Royal Cape Yacht Club |
13 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 andrew@smoothsailing.co.za.
REEF JUNIOR
WETSUITS
2 JUNIOR
SUITS, SIZE J2 (7-8YRS), SHORT SLEEVE/KNEE LENGTH
COLORS:
GREEN/BLACK, BLUE/BLACK, EXCELLENT CONDITION
R200-00 EACH
&
HENRI-LLOYD
JUNIOR OILIES
SHARK JUNIOR
(BREATHABLE CT1000 FABRIC)
HI-FIT
TROUSERS & JACKET WITH HOOD
SIZE: JUNIOR
SMALL (110-122CM /+/- 6yrs)
VERY LITTLE
USED, EXCELLENT CONDITION
NAVY/WHITE
R500-00 AS A
SET
CONTACT: EERO
& TONYA LEHTINEN, HOUT BAY / CAPE TOWN
TEL. 021-790
8328
E-MAIL: eerolehtinen@telkomsa.net
WANTED
Contact: Julian Verbeek
Cell: 083 410 5978
E-Mail: JVBeek@anglogold.com
Andrew Heathcote
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 783 8805
This newsletter is
distributed free of charge to anyone who chooses to subscribe to it. The
subject matter contained herein is entirely of a yachting orientated nature or
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
reflect the view or policies of any of Smooth Sailings associate clubs,
sponsors or advertisers.
To be added to the mailing
list send a blank e-mail to sailing.join@ffs.co.za.
To be removed from the list
please send a blank e-mail to sailing.remove@ffs.co.za.
All submissions are welcome. News of any club or yachting related
event should be sent to andrew@smoothsailing.co.za
for publication.
Smooth Sailing is kindly distributed courtesy of FFS Refiners (Pty) Ltd