Smooth Sailing
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News By A Sailor For Sailors!
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This being the first issue of 2004 I would like to take this
opportunity to wish Smooth Sailing readers all the best for 2004. I trust that
you all had a good festive season and are looking forward to a new year that
will include lots of good sailing!
I am looking forward to another good year with Smooth Sailing. Last
year saw a fantastic increase in the number of subscribers to the newsletter
and users on the web site and I hope to see this trend continues throughout the
coming year.
As well as broadening our subscriber base I hope to broaden the view of
Smooth Sailing. Up to now we have been largely KZN and Durban focused. This
clearly hasn’t been a bad thing though. We have grown a long way with this
focus however I think that we will be able to grow even more and make Smooth
Sailing relevant to a broader spectrum of sailors across the country by being
focused on sailing in SA as a whole rather than any particular region. In part
this change has been brought about by necessity, as I will be relocating to
Port Elizabeth at the end of this month. This will have a large impact on the
events that I am able to take part in, and generally these are the ones that
get the most coverage in Smooth Sailing. While I will endeavour to make sure
that we get reports from all the major events around the country this doesn’t
mean that club and class news isn’t welcome and I look forward to carrying as
much of this as is sent to me.
Speaking of major events, there are a couple worth noting in the next
two months. Both the Round The Island Race
and the Henley Midmar Yacht Club 9-Hour Race take
place in February and attract diverse fleets competing on a handicap basis.
Both events cater equally well for both serious and social sailors and are
unique in their diversion from regular round the cans racing. Both are also
renowned for their outstanding parties! You will find the Notices of Race for both these events on our Notices of Race
web page.
South African Americas Cup Entry
Twenty-seven boats contested the 2003 Sprog Nationals that were sailed at the Henley Midmar
Yacht Club in KZN from the 27th to the 30th of December.
The dam wall at Midmar has been raised in the last year and the
surrounds of the dam have been prepared for the new heights that the water will
reach when the dam finally fills. Like many dams in South Africa at the moment
though Midmar remains woefully empty. With the water level at 30% only one is
faced with a long walk from the end of the slipways to the waters edge and
oversized dolly wheels are a necessity.
This year has been a quite one for the Sprog class and there wasn’t
quite the same buzz in the build up to the nationals that there has been in
recent years. It was therefore slightly surprising that the total number on
entries was only one down on last years when twenty-eight boats contested the
regatta. The standard of sailing this year was markedly higher though with
three top class crews contesting the title. The bunch once again featured an
interesting mix of the young and old with the likes of the experienced Harry
Ellens racing neck and neck with up and coming young sailors like Bridget and
Meagan Clayton.
Jonathan Heathcote and Maya Minkova have dominated the Sprog class
for the last four years with convincing wins in the nationals every year.
Sponsored this year by The Sharks they faced tough competition from Gautengers
Paul and Grame Willcox. The Willcox’s came to the regatta well prepared with
good boats, good sails and clearly having done a fair amount of practice. From
the outset it was clear that they had the pace to match The Sharks boat with
Jonathan perhaps having suffered from the lack of a good training partner and
any quality racing in Durban in the build up to the regatta.
Sprog crews often don’t have to do very much and a good skipper can
easily get away with a crew who knows only the basics. This has long been one
of the strong points for this class making it very couple friendly. Graeme
Wilcox cleverly brought with him one of the most talented young sailors in the
country, Bronwyn Klaas. Bronwyn is a good skipper in her own right and managed
some very good individual race results in last years nationals in an at best
ordinary boat. I suspect that she added a tactical edge that both Jonathan and
Paul lacked on their boats. Graeme was rarely in the wrong place on the water
and at the end of the twelve-race regatta had never finished out of the top
three. When the racing is as tight as it was in this regatta it can only be an
advantage to have a crew who can help to get the boat in the right place on the
course and perhaps being able to focus that little bit more on boat speed was
what gave Graeme the edge. Whenever has was down he was able to come back he
never ever looked slower than any of the other boats, both of whom went through
their bad patches.
A feature of the regatta were the closely contested starts. In fact
not once clean start was achieved under the P flag with the I and Black flags
being put to regular use. This could be put down to a number of factors,
shortish start lines, excessively biased start lines or an extremely
competitive fleet. Having looked at it closely, and I looked very closely as I
was the bridge officer for two days, I don’t think that it was any of these.
Rather I think that it can be put down to the large number of junior skippers
in the fleet. Juniors in SA tend to employ a vastly different starting
technique to those in the senior classes. Optimist sailors tend to reach down
the start line at speed shortly before the start, hardening up at the start
signal at full speed. This tends to work in junior fleets where there is a
clear hierarchy based on age and ability and it is easy to bully those of
lesser experience out of the way. Try doing that to Paul Willcox or Harry
Ellens though and see what happens. Without doubt what ensues is a verbal
blast, a big nudge to windward and a premature start. I was surprised to see
that the technique didn’t change during the regatta. This is something that our
junior coaches could do well to address and hopefully the next time our
Optimist team does badly at the worlds we wont be able to site the starts as
the reason why!
Once the starts were over the racing was extremely good. On the
whole the conditions were windier than one might have expected on Midmar. In
recent years this has been a light wind regatta but this year it certainly
wasn’t. What it was though was shifty.
Big shifts and variations in wind strength were a feature of this event. This
may have owed a lot to the low level of the water on the dam. Often the shifts
were predicable although it is a lot easier to keep track of the wind patterns
from the comfort of the committee boat than while hiking out trying to fend off
twenty-six other Sprogs. Certainly the conditions place a premium on tactics
and meant that being in the right place was often slightly more important than
being quicker than the opposition.
Around the racecourse it was invariably the fast three, Graham
Willcox and Bronwyn Klaas, Jonathan Heathcote and Maya Minkova and Paul Willcox
and Kim Lamont, who set the pace at the front. Few others made it into the
front three although Harry Ellens occasionally looked like he could upset the
apple cart. Rob Tarboton put in an outstanding performance in one of the
shiftier races to show what a sharp mind can do on the dam and Bridgett and
Meagan Clayton popped up towards the front a couple of times. The front three
fought hard and there was often little to choose between them. All three were
clearly sailing as hard as they could and the physical effort that they were
putting into making their boats go fast was something to see.
As the regatta progressed Graham managed to achieve a bit of an
ascendancy over Jonathan and Paul, both of who had their bad races along the
way. By the time the regatta ended with twelve races having been sailed Graham
had won six of them with Jonathan and Paul each having won three. While Jonathan slipped to a fifth in one
race Paul managed to keep himself in the top three throughout but after an
average points redress award for the ninth race Jonathan was able hold him off
by just three quarters of a point for the silver medal.
The margin of thirty-four points between Paul Willcox in third and
Harry Ellens in fourth highlighted the gap between the front three and the
chasing pack. The pace and intensity was just too much for the rest of the
fleet who all need to put in some practice and get some new sails if they want
to be in the mix next year. Some time in the gym wouldn’t go amiss either.
In fourth place overall Harry Ellens was the first master while
fifth placed Nick and Sarah Matter, who along with Harry were the only other
crew to record a top three finish in any race, won the family trophy. Finishing
in sixth place Bridget and Megan Clayton sailed well at times and showed that
they are not only talented young sailors but a force to be reckoned with in the
future. They have performed well at junior level recently and it was good to
see them being competitive in a senior fleet.
So once again the Sprog has proved to be an excellent boat
providing outstanding racing to a high quality fleet. The age of the boats
remains a concern with only two boats less than ten years old in the fleet.
Where the age of the boats is a cause for concern the age of the sailors is a
cause for enthusiasm. Seeing such a wide spread age group out on the water
sailing hard and having fun gives one hope for the future of our sport. After a
period of dominance by one crew it was also good to see that a good boat with
new sails sailed well can still win in the class. So, winning a Sprog Nationals
remains an attainable and desirable thing to do. Who will be challenging Graham
for his crown next year??
The top five places in the regatta were as follows:
|
1st |
Graham Willcox &
Bronwyn Klaas |
14 Points |
|
2nd |
Jonathan Heathcote &
Maya Minkova |
19.25 |
|
3rd |
Paul Willcox & Kim
Lamont |
20 |
|
4th |
Harry Ellens & Warren
Ostendorf |
54 |
|
5th |
Nick & Sarah Matter |
67 |
The following report on the Sonnet and Mirror Nationals was jointly written by Kuba
Miszewski and Martin Pollack:
“The Sonnet and
Mirror National Championships were hosted by the Theewater Sports Club from the
27th to the 30th of December in light to moderate
conditions. The Mirror’s joined forces with the Sonnet Class; this proved to be
a very successful combination. Both classes have a strong family following,
with 29 Mirror’s and 20 Sonnets we had 96 people racing, and having great fun.
We
had Willie Zevenster as our Race Officer, and Neville Norton in charge of the
bridge, to help Willie with local knowledge; popular consensus was that this
was one of the best bridges, with good co-ordination between mark-laying and
rescue, our classes have ever had. We
had great courses, set quickly, with a good spectator element for supporters on
the shore and also not too long, in keeping with what one would sail
internationally. Well done guys!
At
one point, the good nature of the bridge boat was apparent by the placement of
a chalk board on their stern with the words “YOU’RE LATE” at the start of the
fifth race which was delayed due to a number of competitors who were still
ashore.
Mirror
We
were pleased to have Mirrors from Natal, Eastern Cape and Gauteng making the
trip down. It was also heartening to
see that many locals lent their boats to keen crews who wanted to try their
hand at Mirrors.
Making
their mark on the regatta were three boats from the Izivungo Trust, from
Simonstown. They launched their new
boat at this regatta. The Mirror
Association gave the trust a kit, which they built themselves, and sailed very
well.
A
total of 12 races were sailed in ideal conditions, with the last race having
the strongest winds, but not above 20 knots.
Racing was extremely tight, with the first three boats each taking only
three wins, and boats up too sixth place taking wins. The eventual winners were
Waldo Zevenster sailing with Wayne Watkins from the Eastern Cape, in second
place Brennan Robinson sailing with Ricky Robinson from Gauteng and in third
place Craig Latigan, sailing with Tyran Kerford from Western Province. Western Province won the Team Trophy.
Sonnet
The
Sonnets sailed total of 10 races with tight competition at both ends of the
fleet. There was good representation from ZVYC, IYC and HYC. It was especially
encouraging to see growth and improved performance of many of the sailors with
Marco Tobin taking the Most Improved Skipper award and Rosco Cupido taking the
award for most improved crew.
Gold
medal winners were the Stephen du Toit / James Largier combination with fierce
competition between Martin Pollack/Rosco Cupido, Doug Smith/Sonja Smith and Ian
Ainslie/Kizzy Sokombe for second, third and fourth places respectively which
saw Martin and Rosco taking the Silver medals.
|
1 |
Steven
Du toit/James Largier |
ZVYC |
|
2 |
Martin
Pollack/Rosco Cupido |
IYC |
|
3 |
Doug
Smith/Sonya Smith |
HYC |
|
4 |
Ian
Ainslie/Kizzy Sokombe |
ZVYC |
|
5 |
Alan
Everett/Susan Fraser |
IYC |
|
6 |
Wayne
Anthony/Lyn Anthony |
IYC |
|
7 |
Charles
Thomas/Sukey Thomas, Kate Bosman |
HYC |
|
8 |
Greg
Wills/James Wills |
IYC |
|
9 |
Noon
Lloyd/Lizel Smith |
HYC |
|
10 |
Adam
Stafford/David Spaltman |
IYC |
This
regatta follows the culmination of three years of development and improvements
to the Sonnet and the finalisation of the class rules and measurement data with
great assistance from the SAS technical committee.
The
principal improvements are:
·
A redesigned Main Sail,
conducted by North Sails, sporting a larger roach and therefore a greater sail
area.
·
A lengthened
centre-board.
·
Freeing up of the
options of main and jib sheeting systems.
These
innovations have resulted in a marked improvement in the boat’s performance in
all conditions which will hopefully extend the popularity of the class
country-wide, considering that the original design was designed primarily for
Cape weather conditions.
It
has been very encouraging to see a marked increase in the attendance of
points-series regattas as well as an increase in numbers of new sailors and a
general improvement in the quality of the sailing in the Sonnet Class. The
class has also shown itself to be a very suitable family boat as can be seen by
the number of family members attending the various regattas. Crews are mixed in
terms of seniors and juniors which also suggests the suitability of the boat
for increased crew weights.
The
Sonnet class always welcomes new members and anyone who wishes to find out more
or try out some Sonnet Sailing is encouraged to contact the Sonnet Class
secretary (Martin Pollack ) at 083 638
0242 or the Class Chairman (Adam Stafford) at 082 4917884. Pre-owned Sonnets
are available or full sets of plans are available for those wishing to build
their own boat. Several commercial boat builders are also offering a quality
product for well under R30 000.00. Your Sonnet Class Association committee will
be happy to advise.”
The following story about a South African America’s Cup Entry has generated a lot of interest around
the place. It has certainly got many tongues wagging in yacht club bars and has
resulted in a good number of e-mails in my inbox. I cant say that I know any
more than the story below contains but will certainly let you know if I come up
with any more details.
“Salvatore
Sarno, general manager of the "Mediterranean Shipping Company"
bought ITA80 to train a South African team for the 2007 AC. Salvatore Sarno,
head of the Cruising firm "Mediterranean Shipping
Company" is a native Italian (he's from Rione Casolla) who lives in South
Africa. He's putting together a team down there, with people he's used to sail
with. He purchased ITA-80 for €uro 525,000. They don't want to go to Valencia
"only to be the most friendly team," but they definitely want to
"beat the French, the Spanish, the three or four Italian teams, and the
pair of American teams which might show up." They want "to prove
there are other good sailors than Australian and New Zealanders". They
won't sail with Roy Heiner (Heiner is a dual citizen, Dutch and South African
and trained Oracle for 2003 LVC) (Translator's note : After last Volvo, Heiner
was rumored to discuss with South African businessmen for a 2007 AC challenge)
Francisco de Angelis will stay (for free) with the South African team for
a month. Source: 2007AC.com website: http://tinyurl.com/yte6e.”
The Sailing
On TV Schedule for the
next week is as follows:
|
Tuesday 6 January |
Watersports World |
Supersport 2 |
00:30 |
|
Tuesday 6 January |
Watersports World |
Supersport 3 |
05:00 |
|
Tuesday 6 January |
Watersports World |
Supersport 1 |
14:10 |
|
Wednesday 7 January |
Watersports World |
Supersport 2 |
01:00 |
|
Thursday 8 January |
Watersports World |
Supersport 2 |
06:00 |
|
Thursday 8 January |
Watersports World |
Supersport 1 |
21:00 |
|
Monday 12 January |
Watersports World |
Supersport 1 |
21:00 |
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 |
|
Point, Royal Natal & Zululand
Yacht Clubs and Club Naval, Maputo |
December 2003 to July 2004 |
|
|
Pretoria Sailing Club |
24 & 25 January |
|
|
Pretoria Sailing Club |
24 & 25 January |
|
|
Denysville Aquatic Club |
24 & 25 January |
|
|
Port Owen Yacht Club |
25 January |
|
|
Lake Denys Yacht Club |
30 January to 1 February 2004 |
|
|
Glendee Yacht Club |
1 & 2 February |
|
|
Mykonos Regatta |
Club Mykonos, Langebaan |
13 & 14 February |
|
Henley Midmar Yacht Club |
21 February |
|
|
Milnerton Aquatic Club |
28 & 29 February |
|
|
Point Yacht Club |
20 to 22 March |
|
|
Hoedjiesbaai Beach, Saldahna Bay |
9 to 12 April |
|
|
Algoa Bay Yacht Club |
24 to 30 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
In racing trim for sale.
Condition excellent, made by Stephen du Toit.
Kept permanently indoors and seldom sailed in past few
years.
R9500
Includes spare sails, dolly and cover.
Contact: John Sibbald
Work Phone: 021-762 5067
Home Phone: 021-786 3012
Cell: 082 658 2490
Glass hull
Recently resprayed.
2 mainsails,4 jibs all in fair condition.
With boatcover and
dolly
On roadtrailer
In good condition
R5 500-00 neg.
Cell: 083 277 4763
Phone: 031-313 4500
E-Mail: fernleigh@telkomsa.net
Needs a good home.
Cheapest price of all.
Contact: Julian
Cell: 082 891 7118
Very good condition
With cover, mast base, carbon fin and
centreboard.
In Port Elizabeth.
Contact Michael
Cell: 082 726 2417 in Port
Elizabeth.
WANTED
In good condition
Full set of sails,
tender, trailer, motor etc
+-R20 000-00
Cell: 083 277 4763
Phone: 031-313 4500
E-Mail: fernleigh@telkomsa.net
Andrew Heathcote
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 783 8805
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