Smooth Sailing Newsletter # 291

Durban & Richard’s Bay: Saturday will be 24 degrees and cloudy at times with a 30% chance of morning and evening showers. The wind will be a moderate southeasterly. Sunday will be 28 degrees and partly cloudy. The wind will be a moderate southerly.

Midmar: Saturday will be 23 degrees and partly cloudy with a 40% chance of morning mist. The wind will be a light southerly but light southeasterly in the afternoon. Sunday will be 27 degrees and fine becoming partly cloudy. The wind will be a light southwesterly but light southerly in the afternoon.

Vaal Dam: Saturday will be 31 degrees and partly cloudy. The wind will be a light westerly. Sunday will be 30 degrees and fine with a light southwesterly wind blowing.

Cape Town: Saturday will be 22 degrees and partly cloudy becoming fine. The wind will be a strong southerly. Sunday will be 26 degrees and fine with a string southeasterly wind blowing.

Clipper Ventures has today announced that the port city of Durban will represent South Africa in the Clipper 2005 Round the World Yacht Race, joining the UK city of Liverpool and the State of Western Australia in a highly competitive international line-up. In a £427,000 (5m Rand) deal, the city of Durban will provide a cash rights fee and event hosting infrastructure and services during a high profile race stopover in November 2005. The Clipper fleet’s stay in Durban Bay will be hosted by its main marina, served by yacht clubs. Clipper Venture’s Chairman, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, said: “Durban’s expedient location and excellent yachting facilities make it a natural stopover. With the return of South Africa to the international yachting fold, more sailors than ever are experiencing first hand this country's many attractions. “As a nation, South Africa has a close affinity with round-the-world racing and its predisposition towards competitive sport stands the Durban entry in good stead. The port city plays an important role in the country’s sporting arena; it boasts a thriving yachting fraternity and the national sailing scene is also immensely competitive. The ten strong racing fleet will spend over a week here in November 2005, attracting international tourists and locals alike to the port city and providing a significant boost to the region’s tourism, hospitality and maritime industries. The positive economic impact runs into tens of millions of Rand, as the Clipper race not only attracts visitors whilst it is in port but also provides an opportunity to promote Durban throughout the whole eleven-month race. The hunt is now on for a complement of South African men and women to crew the Durban yacht, as well as a professional South African skipper to take the helm. Many of the crews will cut their offshore teeth for the first time on the Clipper 2005 Race, as no sailing experience is required prior to joining the intense Clipper training. In addition to a new fleet of Dubois 68 yachts, a new ground breaking route is planned for Clipper 2005. This challenging route will start from Liverpool (UK) in September 2005 with a short, warm-up sprint to a Western European port, before taking the crews on their first big ocean race across the Equator to Brazil. Following a crew change, the fleet will then set off across the South Atlantic and around the Cape of Good Hope for a ten-day Durban stopover in the southern Summer. The yachts then dive south to the Roaring Forties for a Southern Ocean sleigh ride to the Western Australia port of Fremantle and an Antipodean Christmas. The Islands of Indonesia beckon next as the crews race north towards China where additional crews will join in February for another high wind, high speed blast across the top of the North Pacific. The penultimate leg will then see the team’s race down the west coast to transit the famous Panama Canal, followed by a sprint across the Caribbean. The final crew change will then take place for the crews who will be joining to race the yachts up the East Coast of the United States of America and back across the Atlantic for the magnificent homecoming in the summer of 2006. Clipper Ventures’ fifth running of its flagship event will be divided into 12 stages in all, taking its crews on the longest route of all round the world races as they fight for the ‘Clipper World Challenge Cup.’ The newly introduced concept of “nation versus nation” for the Clipper 2005 event and the increase of the fleet size to ten longer and faster yachts will enable a three-fold increase in revenues over the 2002 race. For more information go to www.clipper-venutes.com.

Well Rugby World Cup is as good as over now with the springboks having been sent packing by the All Blacks on Saturday morning. It was a dismal performance by the Boks who missed tackles and knocked the ball on all over the place. It was a performance that the U14 D team at the blind school would have been ashamed of. Having now suffered the ignominy of our earliest ever ejection from the tournament, there is little left to do except hope that the wretched Poms don’t actually win it. If they do we are sure to never hear the end of it. Judging on Saturday’s form they will have a tough time beating the All Blacks though. On the bright side, at least we can get on with our Saturday afternoon sailing now!

Saturday redeemed itself as a day when the afternoon came with the most fantastic conditions for Dinghy Sailing in Durban. It was a reasonably good fleet of Lasers and Flying Fifteens, with a couple of Sprogs, the ones that clearly don’t study, enjoying a fantastic afternoon on the water. With bright sunshine, a good 10 to 15 knots of easterly and a near perfect course laid we had all the ingredients for a great afternoons racing. That’s exactly the way it turned out to be with two races sailed. That has to rate as one of the best Saturday afternoons of sailing I have had in a long time. I certainly hope that even more dinghy sailors make the effort to come out and sail next Saturday! With the rugby now out of the way next Saturday’s sailing will take place at the regular time of 14:00. Racing is to be run by PYC and will take place on the Harbour Mark Course. There will be separate starts for all classes with more than five boats and that includes cats. Mike ‘Dead On Time” Surgeson will be the race officer for the afternoon and so make sure that you are out on the water well before 14:00. Another thing to remember is that for PYC races you need to register before you head off onto the water and if you haven’t filled in an entry form for the season please also do that at the same time. Registration and entry forms will be available on clipboards under the thatch in the PYC boat park and at the Royal Natal Yacht Club.

Sunday see the Port Captains Sprints taking place offshore Durban. The start time is 11:00 and John Burn is the Race Officer. This is one of the first keeler races to be held offshore this season and the 'sprint' concept is normally well supported, so lets all get out there to support our sport and show that keeler racing is not dead in Durban as some people think! Those cat sailors wanting to get in some offshore racing are also more than welcome to join in. There will be a braai on the deck of PYC’s Charlie’s Bar after racing.

The Henley Midmar Yacht Club will be holding their Dam Bottle Sprints Series on the dam this coming Sunday, the 16^th of November. With less than a month to go before the Hunter KZN Champs take place at the dam the class is expected to be out in force getting in some valuable practice. Racing is set to start at 11:00 and will be preceded by a briefing at the club. For more information on this series or anything else to do with HMYC please contact Robin McIntosh at robin.mcintosh@liblink.co.za.

With all the debate around Dinghy Classes of late, whether to go local or international, single or double handed and what kids should be sailing after Oppis, the recent announcement of the Active 15 being developed in Cape Town has generated a lot of interest and more debate. Much of this has been in yacht club bars and boat parks and certainly this is where I have heard most of it. Sometimes its best to put these thoughts in writing though, which is what Peter Vowles has done with the following article, Why The Active 15 Makes Sense. If you have any comments to add after reading it why not mail them to me at andrew@smoothsailing.co.za. For more information on the Active 15 go to www.activesportsboats.com.

“There is a new and exciting sailing dinghy about to make an entry on to the South African market. With the existing number of classes why should a South African take the initiative to produce yet another competitor?

A brief on the current problems and one way of making progress is discussed below.

In South Africa the sport of sailing is far from healthy if not in actual decline. This is in marked contrast to the situation in practically all other yachting countries. One of the major reasons for this is the staggeringly high purchase price of a new sailing dinghy that confronts any one wanting to come into the sport, or for that matter, for presently active yachties looking for a change of pace in their sailing. It can be hypothesised that we have an ageing and slowly diminishing national fleet.

There are obvious reasons for these frighteningly high prices.

Firstly, in basic business terms, the current local total market only numbers some 26,000-club members owning an estimated 4,000 keelboats, and 5,000 dinghies in all. This means that even with an overall growth of say 10% p.a., (in our dreams!) it would take many years for any particular segment (training, family sailing, high performance racing and inland and coastal requirements being different etc.,) to present an opportunity for volume production within an attractive retail price.

Secondly, the effect of our rate of exchange plus duties and shipping costs more than offset any saving that could be made from buying from overseas manufacturers whose domestic retail prices reflect the far superior economies of scale of their far larger domestic markets.

In passing it must be said that certain foreign classes have international status through the efforts of their manufacturers/marketing agents. These bodies rigorously implement marketing and promotional stratagems that at all times optimise on profit opportunities. This is understandably an integral part of the commercial world and unfortunately these practices inflate retail prices far beyond intrinsic values.

Surely the solution to lower new boat prices lies in our own recent sailing history – and many KHOB’s still actively sailing and racing will certainly agree.

In the post war years when sailing was flourishing (remember the huge multiclass Nationals at Allemanskraal, LM, Saldanha, Durban, Midmar, Knysna, Hermanus?) the vast majority of dinghies were home built in wood. This construction technique afforded would be owners to choose class types that best suited their requirements – in turn leading to a great variety of classes that all flourished in degrees that reflected local and national preferences and sailing conditions.

However, the advent of grp with its superior characteristics in terms of maintenance, often superior performance and quick ‘off-the-shelf’ launching heralded the demise of home building in wood. And because grp demanded commercial production the economies of scale inherent in mass manufacturer militated against catering for all classes in the highly fragmented relatively small market. Very quickly the range of classes that became commercially available was rationalised to only those few that promised financial sustainability. Naturally many experienced sailors were drawn to grp both in their own classes and away from those classes that were now only available in wood. Steadily loosing appeal, these abandoned classes sailed off into history. At the same time would be sailors were deterred by the now very limited range of existing classes from which to choose the one that best suited their invariably inexpert needs, even were they prepared to home build. Add to this the aging designs and the competition from new attractions such as cycling, boardsailing, etc., it is small wonder that we have a declined interest in the sport.

Finally the dramatic increase in the cost of grp materials in recent years has exacerbated the current situation. Apart from a few isolated ventures (manly in multihulls & boardsailing) the local dinghy industry is all but extinct.

This tedious narrative reveals a clear formula for the future health of South African dinghy sailing. Why not produce a single boat designed from the outset to give consistent performance whether built in wood or of grp at home or professionally? The boat should be versatile enough to suit all needs from basic training through to high performance racing, and above all offer the thrills of modern high speed sailing when it is wanted.

Its sweet modern lines show the Active 15 to be all of this and more.

History aside there is some proponents of the opinion that the solution instead lies in some or other established ‘international’ class because

This will save time in developing a suitable boat

We need to boost the chances of South Africans winning medals – justifiably based on the fact that continuously racing in one class is more likely to produce podium results than otherwise.

In the first instance what cannot be overlooked is the pedigree of the Active 15 and its unique primary design brief. Thorough research into the parameters that have kept exciting boats such as the International 14 in the forefront of development and what keeps sailors interested has resulted in a design to which no established class can lay claim.

To boost South Africans chances of success we need to attract more South Africans into sailing and once there we have to keep them interested in the sport. More people means more competition and a broader base from which to select our champions. To achieve this we need to lower the cost of entry into our sport. This means a South African boat built in South Africa and a boat that is in every way as challenging and exciting to race as anything on the international market; such a boat is the Active 15.

Champions’ innate talents and skills are developed and honed by time on the water and by racing continuously against top competition irrespective of the class – the “class hoppers” demonstrate that. Talent abounds in this country but is diluted across the classes. The Active 15 provides an opportunity for this talent to develop through a common base into top competition. The champions will then be better prepared to take on the international competition in whatever boat is chosen.

This is why the Active 15 makes sense.”

The following are the details of an Appeal ruled on by the SAS Appeals Committee recently. The appeal stemmed from an incident during this year DAC Keelboat Week on the Vaal Dam. We are publishing the Appeal’s Committee’s findings not to incriminate any of the parties involved but rather as a means of educating yachtsmen and making them more aware of the rules and how they are applied.

“3 November 2003 - Appeal by Aquafox

Summary of the case:

During race 2 of the 2003 Keelboat Week on Vaaldam, organised by Deneysville Aquatic Club, Aquafox, a Holiday 23, rounded the leeward mark and hardened up to a close hauled course on port tack. She was clear ahead of African Fire, a Mount Gay 30 and her genoa was not yet fully hoisted. African Fire was travelling substantially faster and attempted to overtake to windward about one metre away. When African Fire had drawn slightly ahead of level with the leeward boat they made contact. The appellant maintains that contact first occurred between the masts of the vessels when Aquafox came upright due to the wind shadow of African Fire. Hull contact also occurred but which was first is not relevant to the case. The key fact is that there was contact. The mainsail of African Fire was torn by the collision and she retired. African Fire protested and the protest committee decided that African Fire was not given room to keep clear in terms of RRS 14 and granted her redress. Aquafox appealed this decision.

Finding:

Aquafox was the right of way boat and African Fire was obliged to keep clear in terms of RRS 11. The attempt by African Fire to pass to windward only one metre away was ill advised and to suggest that she was not given room to keep clear is to negate her obligation. The appeal is upheld. African Fire is disqualified from race two.

Comment:

Rule 11 requires a windward boat to keep clear of a leeward boat. The leeward boat is entitled to luff to prevent the windward boat from passing her but this right is limited by Rule 16. The Appeal Committee does not consider that Rule 16 was breached in this case and the bigger and faster African Fire was courting trouble in following the course that she did. The Protest Committee erred in granting redress without finding that a Rule of Part 2 had been breached (62.1 (b))”

Mike Robinson sent us the following report and results from the recent Boskop Annual Regatta.

“So, we had a 42 boat regatta at Boskop Yacht Club.

As you can see from the results, the largest class comprised lasers (it also being part of their Grand Prix series), but also a good open class.

To make things interesting, there were three starts. The Lasers, of course, were one start. The Cats, FD’s, Fireballs, 470, and so forth, another. Then the smaller boats including Mirrors, Sprog, GP14 and a Rebel, a small keel boat.

Once the Laser results were done, and the O class results were done, the whole lot was thrown back into the electronic melting pot, to come out with an overall result for the regatta. This amazing feat achieved by a remarkable bit of programming wizardry done by Nigel Trevarthen.

Not much wind, and the whole thing was a bit of a lottery, but with the right people coming out in front in the end. Lots of fun had by all.

There was an exceptionally nice crowd of people at the event, (some times rare at regattas) to the extent that it was even difficult to find candidates for the Dick of the Day Award.

All in keeping with the Boskop concept of "Sailing for the Lekkerkry!!"

The results of the regatta were as follows:

Scratch

1^st	Paul Willcox	Laser	9 Points
2^nd	Leon De Raay	Laser	9
3^rd	Peter Clayton	Laser	23

Handicap

1^st	Leon De Raay	Laser	23 Points
2^nd	Paul Willcox	Laser	24
3^rd	Lodewy Botha	Rebel	26

The Full Results are available on the Smooth Sailing Racing Reports web page.

The Electronic Specialities Radio Controlled Laser National Championships attracted an entry of 23 boats at the Durban Radio Boat Club last weekend. Despite a late start on Saturday 15 races were sailed with in largely fresh condition. Saturday produced a good easterly that was fairly fresh to being with but died as the day went on while Sunday was definitely a small sail day with a howling westerly keeping everyone on their toes. The competitors were kept honest by some vociferous judging by Ed Page and Alec Lanham-Love. Having the rules experts on the spot meant that penalties were done on the spot and less chances were taken, something that can only be good for this sort of racing. Des Fairbank won the regatta which, I think, makes him the holder of every Radio Sailing National Title at the moment, quite an achievement! Des was clearly in a class of his own winning 9 of the races and finishing a comfortable 31 points ahead of the next boat. Jimmy Melville flew the flag for the proper sailors finishing in second place on a tie-break with Norrie Taylor. The top five places were as follows:

1^st	Des Fairbank	15 Points
2^nd	Jimmy Melville	46
3^rd	Norrie Taylor	46
4^th	Terry Flynn	49
5^th	Sheldone McGlone	65

For the full results go to www.rclaser.co.za.

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 29^th 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 viable locally.

The schedule of Sailing on TV for the next few days is as follows:

Watersports World	Supersport 2	21:00	Monday 17^th
Watersports World	Supersport 1	19:00	Tuesday 18^th
Watersports World	Supersport 1	14:00	Tuesday 18^th
Watersports World	Supersport 2	05:00	Wednesday 19^th

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
NNYU 3-Star Challenge	Albert Falls Yacht Club	Changed to 15 & 16 November
Radio Controlled Laser Nationals	Durban Radio Boat Club	8 & 9 November
Development & Open Dinghy Regatta	Hout Bay Yacht Club	15 & 16 November
Vaal Cat Champs	Lake Denys Yacht Club	15 & 16 November
Bay to Bay Race	FBYC & HBYC	22 November
DAC Pursuit Race	Denysville Aquatic Club	23 November
South Star One/Two Short Handed Race	Hout Bay to St Helena Island	29 November 2003
VLC Laser Highveld Trophy Regatta	Victoria Lake Club	29 & 30 November 2003
Sailing KZN Blue Water Challenge 2003/2004	Point, Royal Natal & Zululand Yacht Clubs and Club Naval, Maputo	December 2003 to July 2004
NNYU Interclub Challenge Leg 3	Spionkop Boating Club	6 & 7 December
Royal Natal Yacht Club Christmas Regatta - Flying Fifteen Nationals & Hobie KZN Champs	Royal Natal Yacht Club	13 to 16 December
Dart 18 Northvaal Champs	Stillbaai Yacht Club	13 to 16 December
Table Bay International Sailing Week	Royal Cape Yacht Club	13 to 17 December
Junior Nationals	Stutterheim Aquatic Club	13 to 20 December
Hunter KZN Champs	Henley Midmar Yacht Club	13 to 16 December
Sprog Nationals	Henley Midmar Yacht Club	27 to 30 December
Round The Island Race	Lake Denys Yacht Club	30 January to 1 February 2004
NNYU Interclub Challenge Leg 4	Glendee Yacht Club	1 & 2 February 2004
L26 & Flying Fifteen KZN Champs	Point Yacht Club	20 to 22 March
Western Province Dinghy Champs	Hoedjiesbaai Beach, Saldahna Bay	9 to 12 April

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

Hunter 19

Sail No 735.

Lying at Manten Marina.

Full set of sails including spinnaker and pole.

Interior in mint condition,

3.9 HP Volvo Penta outboard sail motor included (Good running condition).

All sheets new. Various safety equipment.

R19 000-00

Cell: 082 876 8366

Phone: 01- 868 5355

E-mail : markc@mdm-eng.co.za

Laser

Barely used

R15 000-00

Contact: Neil Burnett

Cell: 082 552 6436

E-Mail: neil@speakersofnote.co.za

Andrew Heathcote

andrew@smooothsailing.co.za

www.smoothsailing.co.za

Mobile: +27 (0) 83 783 8805

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