Smooth Sailing
Sailing
News By A Sailor For Sailors!
In
Association with:
Smooth Sailing, as all of
you would have noticed on Friday, suffered some technical problems. It wasn’t that
there was no news, just that the news didn’t make it to you but instead ended
up drifting around somewhere in cyber space. We have finally got to the bottom
of the problem and our e-mail seems to be functioning just fine again so lets
just hope that it stays that way. As a result today’s Smooth Sailing is packed
with useful and interesting information.
In particular the news of
the Active 15, a new dinghy being developed in South Africa is particularly
exciting. With any luck this will prove to be a good boat to fill the gap that
currently exists in the market for a good double-handed boat at an affordable
price. By the look of things the big advantage that this boat will offer is
going to be price. Locally built just has to be cheaper than imported. Have a
look and let us know what you think!
HMYC News – Including a Floating
Bakkie!
Active 15 –
New Dinghy For South Africa
Durban Keeler
Safety Inspections
The annual SPYC Pick ‘n Pay Big Boat Regatta attracted a good fleet of 41 boats on the
Vaal Dam this weekend. This event comprises of two medium to long distance races
and, as the name implies, is only open to big boats, with a minimum size
limitation of 28-foot. It is a good, fairly laid back event, well laid back
from my perspective on a serious cruising boat that is, I am sure that the guys
on the serious racing boats take it quite seriously! The regatta wasn’t without
incident though. Saturday afternoons race was rudely interrupted by a vicious
thunderstorm bringing with it gale force winds and rain and forcing the
abandonment of what had, until that point, been a very pleasant race. Those who
didn’t get their sails down before the winds hit had the worst of it. Some,
three boats I think, ended up blown onto the lee shore while on boat, a Nimbus,
was dismasted as the storm hit. One crewmember was lost overboard from another
yacht but luckily was picked up again.
For a good twenty minutes or so the conditions were absolutely
horrendous, worse than I have experienced on any offshore race in the last few
years. Luckily it didn’t last too long and when it was all over everyone
managed to get back ashore and into the safety of the pub in one piece. What
that meant though was that only one race had now been sailed so the plan for
Sunday was changed with one shortish race set to precede the main race of the
day. As it turned out the weather didn’t quite play ball and the fleet had to
bob around for an hour or so on a windless dam before the breeze finally
materialised. When it did it at least came up at a reasonable strength and
provided some good sailing. The course was roughly a windward leeward with a
gate in the middle. The first race was sailed around one lap of the course
while the days second race saw the fleet completing three laps of this course.
Sailing in the back half of the cruising fleet was a lot of fun and quite an
eye opener. While none of the boats are sailed particularly efficiently the
racing is still quite close. Somehow its not the same as life at the front of
the fleet and the gains and losses are often much more than one is used to.
Perhaps this is a function of the slow tacking or inefficiency of the roller
furling headsails that most prefer to use. Either way it was a lot of fun and
certainly more laid back than what I am used to. Despite the vagaries of the
weather this was once again a good event. The atmosphere was pretty laid back
and a lot of fun was had by all who were there. I am sure that most will be
back next year for more! The results were as follows:
Racing Class
|
1st
|
Aphrodite |
DB2 |
T
Klosterman |
|
2nd
|
Crux |
Astove |
Sleigh
Haynes Jnr |
|
3rd
|
Mysti
Blue |
Beneteau
345 |
Herbert
Karoulis |
Cruising Class
|
1st
|
The
Highlander |
Astove |
A
McIntosh |
|
2nd
|
My
Way |
Carribea
30 |
R
Tunnell |
|
3rd
|
Apogon |
Atlantis
36 |
J
Bogos |
A fleet of only 20 odd boats took part in
the Nautical Nomads Regatta at the Sterkfontein Dam last weekend.
Those who didn’t get there certainly missed some exciting sailing with lively
conditions for the main race on Sunday. In fact it was a bit of a stormy
weekend all round with no sailing possible on Sunday due first to strong winds
and then a frightening electric storm. Sunday’s 30km endurance race took place
in frightening conditions with strong gusts and some pretty extreme chop out on
the water. There were several pitch poles and capsizes with the NSRI being kept
busy pulling stranded boats and sailors off the water at regular intervals.
Those who made it round the course though had a fantastic time despite the odd
swim. It’s a pity that this event wasn’t better supported, as it is a fairly
unique concept at a grossly under-utilised venue. The top three positions in
the main race were as follows:
|
1st
|
Shaun
Ferry & Jaco Colyn |
Formula
18 |
|
2nd
|
Johan
Bruwer & Andries Swart |
Tornado |
|
3rd
|
Mark
Kopel & Richard Sparks |
Formula
18 |
Well there is not much good to say about the Sharks performance in the Currie Cup final. They were thoghroughly
outdone by a classy Bulls team who clearly wanted the trophy a lot more than
the Sharks did. Quite a lot of the Sharks play was downright poor, especially
amongst the forwards, several of whom must be in the market for office jobs
while the team management go out and try to buy some decent front rankers.
Hopefully they will be able to find a few with half a brain cell and that can
tell the difference between walking on grass and walking on players from the
other team! The Sharks have now been in more finals than any other SA team in
the last decade but haven’t won many of them. It all starts again towards the
end of February when the Super 12 kicks off. Hopefully next season will be a
better one!
The Springboks did themselves proud on Saturday when they thrashed
Samoa in their final pool game in the Rugby World Cup. Next up are the All Blacks on Saturday and after seeing their
performance in their last game I think its fair to say that we are in with a
chance. It’s going to be a tough encounter though and I think that we are in
for a nail biting game. Many of our players seem to have hit top form at just
the right time so despite one injury blow things are looking good. Saturday’s
game kicks off at 09:30 and will of course be televised live on Supersport.
Best of all though it will be over in time for sailing afterwards!!
Dinghy Sailing in Durban this coming
Saturday is to be hosted by the Royal Natal Yacht Club and will start at the
later time of 14:30. This is to accommodate the Sail Seminar, details of which
you will find below. Racing will take place on the deep-water course and is of
course open to all classes of dinghy and cats. Sailing will be followed by
snacks and drinks in the RNYC’s Foredeck Bar with this gathering doubling as a
de-brief for the sail seminar.
So to the aforementioned Sail Seminar. The seminar
has been arranged by Peter Morgenrood of Quantum Sails and will be presented by
Barry Gately who is an experienced sail coach and sail maker. Barry grew up
racing dinghies before going to work for 5 times America’s Cup winner John
Wright as a boat builder and rigger. Moving on from dinghies his focus changed
to the small keel boat arena and he also turned his hand to public speaking,
giving seminars on deck layouts, tactics and strategy and the like. For a
period of time he was the J24 coach for the US Navy Sailing Academy after which
he joined Quantum Sails. During his sailing career he has won numerous national
and regional championships and has competed extensively around the world.
Barry’s seminar will take place in the Royal Natal Yacht Club’s Foredeck Bar
starting at 10:00 on Saturday morning. It is open to all sailors and might be
of particular interest to L26 sailors as one of Barry specialities is J24 sail
design. J24’s have a lot in common with L26’s so there could be a lot to be
learnt here. Should you require any further information on this seminar please
contact Peter Morgenrood on 082 804 7459.
The Electronic Specialities Radio Controlled
Laser National Championships take place this weekend at the Durban Radio Boat
Club. This promises to be a tough regatta with all the top contenders in good
form. Once again it will be interesting to see whether it is the proper sailors
or the modellers who come out on top. Looking at the form in the last few weeks
I think that it is the modellers who go into this one with a distinct advantage
but we will see, interesting things can happen on the day. Registration for the
regatta will take place not at the venue but in Charlie’s Bar at PYC from 09:00
until 10:00. This is to allow competitors to take in the SA All Blacks game
before heading off to the pond for the first race, which will start at around
12:00. As with all RC Laser events this should be a good one with lots of
sailing and lots of socialising on the banks of the pond. There will be a class
dinner at PYC on Saturday evening but to attend this you need to make a booking
by e-mailing Terry Flynn on rclaser@xsinet.co.za right now! For more information on this regatta or
anything to do with RC Lasers go to www.rclaser.co.za.
Two of South African Optimist Sailors were recently invited to attend
the Buenos Aries Sailing
Week in Argentina. This comprised two weekends of regatta
attended by the top sailors in the region and a week between of specialized and
intense training with two of the worlds’ top optimist coaches. 130 boats from 5
countries attended the regatta, namely Argentina, Ecuador, Chili, Uruguay and
the two sailors from South Africa. A total of 7 races were sailed in excellent
sailing conditions (good winds, swell and chop). Rudy McNeill and Vincenzo De
Gennaro, excelled and finished 5th and 57th respectively.
They both were accommodated by the coaches’ families and gained from the
experience both in regards to sailing and interaction with other foreign
sailors.
The following
report on the Pennant Nine Yacht
Club’s 9-Hour Endurance Race, which was
sailed recently on the Vaal Dam, was written by Stephen Kirker:
“It
was obviously unfortunate that the PNYC Endurance Race was scheduled on
the same day that the Springboks took on England at the Rugby World Cup.
Unfortunate for those who missed out on some very brisk sailing conditions…not
to mention having to watch the Bokke get beaten.
A
cold front was bringing icy Cape style weather to the Highveld but on the day
of the race the temperature was bearable…as long as you stayed out of the
water. With winds gusting up to 25 knots before the race there was no guarantee
of this either, especially for the Flying Dutchmen fleet. That sailors would be
working hard on the water was certain and spectacular sailing a given, at least
at the beginning of the 6 hour race. Happily conditions did not vary much
throughout the day, except for the odd lull and temporary switch that kept
crews on their toes.
Although
the fleet that that was flagged off was not a big one, there was a very
interesting variety of craft represented including Triloneum, a Twiggy trimaran (a little late to the start), a
Holiday 34, 3 Formula Ones, the Flying Dutchmen and more. There was near
disaster just before the start when Jessica Lenz and the crew of the Astove Dr. Ballantine suffered a crash jibe. A
crewmember was trapped against the coach roof by the mainsheet and was carted
off to hospital by ambulance suffering from concussion. This saw them withdraw
from the race and made the battle a little bit easier for the other sailors who
would have been hard pressed to hold off such an accomplished helm. The
accident was a clear demonstration for everyone that take to the water that
safety is not something that can be taken for granted, no matter where you are.
Another
boat late for the start was the Holiday 34 Moonpath,
Bruce Richard's (PNYC) crew getting it all wrong with the signals and watching
the fleet head away when they thought there was still 3 minutes remaining to
the start! This did not have too much of a bearing at the end of the day as the
14 laps completed still gave them victory in the keelboat fleet and 4th
overall in the handicap standings. Second in the keelboat fleet was the L26 Tatoosh, a very familiar sight on the
Vaal Dam and this time crewed by a youth team and helmed by S. Haynes (LDYC).
While others in the race spent most of the race battling with their boats,
these lads even found time to braai some wors for their lunch and this saw most
crews eyeing them enviously.
Dirk
Manten (Sealpoint) on the Formula One Joint
Venture had a hairy moment when the boat broached spectacularly and showed
no willingness to return to a more normal position. There was a fair amount of
damage to sails in the fleet, especially spinnakers that in some cases lived up
to their other name, kites.
Nigel
Trevarthen (Boskop) on the Flying Dutchman Genesis
delivered a master class and despite losing a side stay during the last lap
which he was unable to finish, comfortably won the race overall with 19 laps
completed. It was an awesome display of boat control as demonstrated by others
in the Flying Dutchmen fleet who spent long periods hull up. The next best
performance in the FD fleet was 8 laps completed! The FD's were spectacular,
especially in the off wind legs when they took off on the plane with a massive
white wake streaming behind.
H.
Konigshofer (Stilbaai) was also very impressive on his Dart Buccaneer. Joining the fleet well after
the start he proceeded to burn up the course at speed with an ease that was
apparent from our vantagepoint. Not once was his bright pink sail seen in the
wrong position and his 18 laps gave him 3rd overall on handicap.
Unfortunately it was not enough to lead the multihull fleet home. This honour
went to B. Mienie (Stilbaai) and the crew of Krokodil, who sailed their Dragonfly very well and revelled in the
conditions.
The
PNYC Endurance Race was blessed with great sailing conditions, perhaps a little
heavy for some, but was enjoyed by all that sailed. PNYC is situated in a very
pretty part of the dam and the medium distance course that was laid offered
safe, satisfying sailing. PNYC is hoping to increase the size of the fleet in
coming years and especially eager to encourage dinghy sailors to take part in
the hope that these will be able to sail for class prizes too.
The results were as follows:
Overall
|
1st |
N Trevarton |
Genesis |
Flying Dutchman |
|
2nd |
B Mienie |
Korkodil |
Dragonfly |
|
3rd |
H Konigshofer |
Buccaneer |
Dart |
Keelboats
|
1st |
B Richards |
Moonpath |
Holiday 34 |
|
2nd |
S Haynes |
Tatoosh |
L26 |
|
3rd |
P Groenewald |
Dingus |
Formula 1 |
Dinghy
|
1st |
N Trevarton |
Genesis |
Multihulls
|
1st |
B Mienie |
Korkodil |
Dragonfly |
|
2nd |
H Konigshofer |
Buccaneer |
Dart |
|
3rd |
G Teasedale |
Trilonium |
Twiggy |
The following
report on last weekend’s sailing at Henley Midmar Yacht Club was sent to us
by Robin McIntosh:
“HMYC on Saturday had 5 boats racing 4 short distance races. Time was spent doing some training on starting procedure and how to actually approach the start, then out on the water 4 races were run with very competitive racing taking place. After the results time was spent as a group discussing tactics and aspects of right of way. Very enlightening for all involved with much being learnt by those present. The weather was magnificant and those that believed the weatherman definately missed a wonderful afternoon sailing with the evening being one of those lovely balmy ones. A lovely atmosphere at the evening braai with good company led to several hours of fun and laughter
A Maritime Warning issued by HMYC, cautions sailors to beware of floating Bakkies! It seems last Saturday in the storm, one narrowly missed colliding with Rumblebum after Fritz had run agroud. The Hunter was blown aground and while recovering, our commodore noticed out the corner of his eye a white Nissan bakkie floating toward the Hunter, a case of trading functions? Story goes that the owner, on seeing the commotion and helping to pull the bakkie out by hand, offered to fetch his bakkie (the same one which had just run down the slipway into the water and was floating ) to help. It was pulled to back shore by hand before it sank completely and later pulled out by a helpful 4 X 4.
Well I a, pleased to say it seems the club is coming alive again if Sunday was anything to go by. Hunters are being worked on and tuned all over, perhaps with Provincials coming things will be very busy. Sunday’s Monthly mug was won by Tony Cockerill on both scratch and handicap.
3 Races were run with 14 starters including several juniors. Conditions were ideal until the 3rd & last race when mist & drizzle set in proving the tenacity of the stayers who came off the water cold, wet and satisfied. Well done to the new Michaelhouse boys who proved their determination to use new found skills.
Results for day as follows:
1st Tony Cockerill
2nd Jamie Barker (Hilton)
3rd Anthony McMillan (Michaelhouse)
A team from the University of Cape Town
Yacht Club took part in last week’s Student Yachting World Cup Regatta in Cap de Agde, France. Teams from 13 universities in 12
countries took part in the regatta, which was sailed over four days. The racing
took place in supplied, identical keelboats and in very mixed conditions. The
fifth and final day of the regatta was blown out by gale force winds while
earlier races were sailed in light to non-existent breeze. As with all
university events it sounds like the sailing was hard and the partying even
harder. Although they led the regatta at one stage the UCT team eventually
finished 4th overall. This looks to have been a pretty good result
in a hard fought regatta. Only 4 points separated 1st to 5th
places which gives and indication of just how tight the racing must have been.
For more information visit the event web site at www.sywoc.org.
Following on from the recent debate on post oppi classes I am
pleased to be able t report that the development of a new South African Dinghy
Class, the Active 15, has now been made public. The Active 15
is a completely new design, commissioned from renowned dinghy designer Phil
Morrison. The first hull is under construction at the moment and will be
launched shortly. The boat is being built from wood. It is a 2-man dinghy that
will allow four different choices of rig. These will cater for all levels of
sailor from complete novice to high performance hooligan! The boat will be
available in kit form so should be ideal for an interesting father-son project.
The class itself will be strictly one design so there will be no room for
development and the associated escalating costs. Looking at the lines of the boat
and the various sail plans it looks like the boat will comfortably cater for a
wide range of crew weights and certainly wont favour the light weights as many
dinghy classes tend to do. In fact on of the design briefs was that it should
cater for a crew weight in the 160kgs region. A web page has already been
established for the class so if you want to find out more about it, see the
lines and read about the plans and even check out pics of the first boat being
built go to www.activesportsboats.com.
Something that I have followed with
interest of late has been the debate in the 505
class over Carbon Spars. This is something that has been going on
for a while now stimulating heated debate on the many 505 forums around the
world. It all culminated recently when the class held a ballot to decide
whether they would allow masts to be made from Carbon Fibre or not. The results
were announced last week and despite 50% of the votes being in favour of the
change this was not enough to allow the resolution to be passed. In a class
that has flourished by being progressive I was rather surprised at this
decision. While carbon spars were somewhat revolutionary 10, or even 5 years
ago, they are now the norm. The technology is well understood and the
advantages in strength and performance have been extensively documented. the
forums have gone strangely quiet after the ballot result announcement but I am
sure that there are many out there who are quite disappointed that the vote
went the way it did. For more information on the 505 class visit www.505.com.
The time has come for the annual Keel Boat Safety Inspections to take place in Durban. These are vital in order to ensure
that your boat remains registered with the port and cleared for sailing
offshore Durban. Both the Point and Royal Natal Yacht Club will be doing their
safety inspections on the morning of Saturday the 29th of November.
The relevant inspection and registration forms are available from either of the
yacht clubs. It is worth remembering that when the boat is inspected the Ship’s
Radio Licence, Radio Operators Licence and Liferaft Certificate need to be on
board. For more information about the safety inspections please contact either
the Point Yacht Club on 031-301 4787 or the Royal Natal Yacht Club on 031-301
5425.
The schedule of Sailing on TV for the next few days is as follows:
|
Watersports World |
Supersport
2 |
04:00 |
Monday
10th |
|
Watersports
World |
Supersport
1 |
19:00 |
Monday
10th |
|
Watersports
World |
Supersport
1 |
14:00 |
Tuesday
11th |
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 |
|
Albert Falls Yacht Club |
Changed to 15 & 16 November |
|
|
Durban Radio Boat Club |
8 & 9 November |
|
|
Hout Bay Yacht Club |
15 & 16 November |
|
|
Lake Denys Yacht Club |
15 & 16 November |
|
|
FBYC & HBYC |
22 November |
|
|
Denysville Aquatic Club |
23 November |
|
|
Hout Bay to St Helena Island |
29 November 2003 |
|
|
Point, Royal Natal & Zululand
Yacht Clubs and Club Naval, Maputo |
December 2003 to July 2004 |
|
|
Spionkop Boating Club |
6 & 7 December |
|
|
Royal Natal Yacht Club Christmas
Regatta |
Royal Natal Yacht Club |
13 to 16 December |
|
Royal Cape Yacht Club |
13 to 17 December |
|
|
Stutterheim Aquatic Club |
13 to 20 December |
|
|
Henley Midmar Yacht Club |
13 to 16 December |
|
|
Henley Midmar Yacht Club |
27 to 30 December |
|
|
Lake Denys Yacht Club |
30 January to 1 February 2004 |
|
|
Glendee Yacht Club |
1 & 2 February 2004 |
|
|
Point Yacht Club |
20 to 22 March |
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.
FOR SALE
Laser
Barely used
R15 000-00
Contact: Neil Burnett
Cell: 082 552 6436
E-Mail: neil@speakersofnote.co.za
49er
GBR 532
Excellent Condition,
Rev 9 mast, Pryde Sails, 2 spare spinnakers and jibs
u/o covers some
spares, Herzog trapeze lines and halyards, carbon tiller
extensions, foils
aligned, ready to race.
Price: £4995 ono
Wooden boat
built by Stephen du Toit (one of the yellow pair).
In good
condition with high quality fittings.
Includes boat
cover and strong dolly with large galvanized pneumatic wheels and SS axle.
Old
sails are still useable, but new set will be required for serious racing.
Price R8 500.
Contact:
Louwrens Toerien
Work: 021 659
4867
Home: 021 880
1749
E-mail: louwrens.toerien@za.didata.com
Wooden Extra
In excellent
condition for sale.
Built by
Stephen du Toit.
Kept
permanently inside and seldom sailed in the past few years.
Price R11
000-00
Includes
spare sails, dolly and boat cover.
Contact: John
Sibbald
Work: 021-762
5067
Home 021-786
3012
Cell: 082 658 2490
Sail Number
186.
Sail
Wardrobe-Main , Working jib , No.1 Genoa , Spinnaker
Roller
furling gear . Marriner 5hp outboard
All in
excellent condition
Yacht moored
@ Midmar
Contact: Mike
E-Mail: tessmike@mweb.co.za
Cell - 0835564182
No. 23575
Situated in
Cape Town.
Contact:
Carel
Cell: 072 551
4223
E-mail: zvogel@kingsley.co.za
In the Durban
Marina
R3 000-00
Contact:
Brian
Phone:
039-973 2247
E-Mail: yachty@telkomsa.net
On trailer with
sail box
Contact: John
Lupton-Smith
Cell: 083 301
4775
With sails
and dolly
R1 500-00
Contact:
Charles
Cell: 082 926
0046
WANTED
Phone: 011-974-2310
Will pay
cash.
Greater
Gauteng and Free State.
Contact
Chris or Theresa
Phone:
011-974-2310
E-Mail: theresas@accessweb.co.za
Second hand
Laser Radial Sail
&
Second hand
Lower Mast section for Laser Radial
Contact:
Louwrens Toerien
Work:
021 659 4867
Home: 021 880
1749
E-Mail: louwrens.toerien@za.didata.com
Boom length
max2.15 m
Or similar
main sail
Lance
0844263475
E-Mail: lance@connections.org.za
E-Mail: Brendan.vickers@poyry.co.za
2nd
Hand in good condition
Preferably
in Durban area
Contact:
Trish Adams
E-Mail:
vixend@iafrica.com
In reasonable condition for Club Racing.
Contact: Louwrens Toerien
Tell: (H) 021 880 1749, (W) 021 659
4867
E-Mail: louwrens.toerien@za.didata.com
Andrew Heathcote
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 783 8805
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