SAILING MATTERS
by the Rear Commodore, Gregg Dobson

Trio Regatta
This event finishes tomorrow (Wednesday) with prize giving on the RNYC Lawns. The Garmin Duck we have the use of has been well received and used to its fullest capacity. Derek Wilkes and Speedy (Graham Rose) looked like old hands aboard. While entries were not what was expected, our RNYC Youth Team on B2G2 is leading the IRC Provincial Championships with Rob Samways on Cabriole hot on their Transom.
The Flying Fifteens are being led by Patrick Harris and Jeremy Kriek with Gregg Hurter and Andrew Tarboton second. With two more races there is still lots to fight for.

NEXT KEELBOAT RACE - Sunday 27 June
The next keelboat race is the race to Cooper Light and back. This is always a good race with different scenery as it heads down the coast unlike all our other races which head up the coast. Make a plan to ready your crew and be on the start line.

MSC REGATTA 5 - 9 July
This major Durban event starts on Monday 5 July and finishes on Friday 9 July. Let's see a big RNYC entry on the water. And don't forget to enter early.

CREW SERVICE
Struan Campbell has created a crew mix and match group on facebook for skippers who need crew and crew who need boats. It is open to anyone so if you need a person or a boat then put a wall post up advertising yourself. Hopefully we can start building fleets by making it easy for skippers and crew to connect. Put videos, photos - whatever you want - up there for all to see.

See the link at: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=112468105452262

Let's enjoy our sport safely! See you on the water.

SAILING MATTERS
by the Rear Commodore, Gregg Dobson

~Trio Regatta - 12; 13; 16 June
This exciting regatta begins on Saturday, so if you have not entered you had better do so now! It has the following components:
* IRC Provincials - for the serious racer
* SAS KRS - for any of the Wednesday night boats that would like to enjoy some fine offshore sailing.
* Flying 15 Nationals
Come and support your club and enjoy hopefully pleasant Durban winter conditions without having to take a day off work - Saturday 12; Sunday 13 and Wednesday 16 June.
If you have not entered yet, or cobbled a crew together, it's time to do that! There is a Melges 24 coming up from Cape Town for this regatta, and a bunch of Pacer 27s from the Vaal, and rumours of at least 6 clubs competing in the inter-club component. So it should be a great event.
Bronwyn will send you the info. Just call her on 031-301 5425 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

~Richards Bay to Durban Race
Many thanks to the Commodore and staff of ZYC for hosting the 3 yachts that participated in this year's Durban to Richards Bay and back events. Whilst no racing took place the 2 monos, Cape Smoke and Spindrift, got in some seatime. Cape Smoke reported stunning sailing conditions yesterday.
Zululand YC Secretary Fiona Strydom is a mine of useful information and has come up with the perfect way to file a flight plan. You simply complete the necessary documentation and once she is happy with it, Fiona sends it to Port Control. No more schlepping through the port to get revenue clearances. Thanks Fiona!
Zululand Yachts Club is a great place to visit. The laid back atmosphere and excellent facilities make this an ideal spot that is only 88nm up the coast.
At the time of writing Bandit was getting ready to leave Richards Bay for the return trip to Durban. Lets hope she can break the record!

~Crew Service
Struan Campbell has created a crew mix and match group on facebook for skippers who need crew and crew who need boats. It is open to anyone so if you need a person or a boat then put a wall post up advertising yourself. Hopefully we can start building fleets by making it easy for skippers and crew to connect. Put videos, photos - whatever you want - up there for all to see.

See the link at: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=112468105452262

~Durban International Boat Show
 On TV Coverage of the show and the Simply Sailing Regatta will be on Supersport as follows:
07/06/2010 12:00:00 SuperSport Six
07/06/2010 12:00:00 SuperSport Six Africa
08/06/2010 08:00:00 SuperSport One
08/06/2010 08:00:00 SuperSport One Africa
10/06/2010 11:00:00 SuperSport Six
10/06/2010 11:00:00 SuperSport Six Africa
11/06/2010 21:30:00 SuperSport Six
11/06/2010 21:30:00 SuperSport Six Africa
12/06/2010 13:30:00 SuperSport Five
12/06/2010 13:30:00 SuperSport Five Africa
15/06/2010 20:00:00 SuperSport Five
15/06/2010 20:00:00 SuperSport Five A

SAILING MATTERS
by the Rear Commodore, Gregg Dobson

NEWS FLASH: Lipton Cup
The L26 ‘Orion' has kindly been loaned to the club for this years Lipton Cup Regatta. A team to race in this prestigious event will be announced soon.

Richard's Bay to Durban Race
The return race was postponed last weekend and will now take place this weekend. Let's hope that those competing will have a fast and safe passage.

Sunday 4 June
That's this Sunday! Keelboat club racing offshore will be hosted by the PYC. Start at 11h00 and enjoy Durban's warm winter offshore sailing or use the day as a warm-up for the Trio Interclub Regatta.

Trio Regatta - 12; 13; 16 June
This is the next BIG regatta that the RNYC will be staging - and it caters for all tastes in sailing from the really competitive types to those who enjoy a low-key race in comfort and style.

* IRC Provincials - for the serious racer
* SAS KRS - for any of the Wednesday night boats that would like to enjoy some fine offshore sailing.
* Flying 15 Nationals

Come and support your club and enjoy hopefully pleasant Durban winter conditions without having to take a day off work - Saturday 12; Sunday 13 and Wednesday 16 June. If you have not entered yet, or cobbled a crew together, it's time to do that! The Trio Regatta incorporates the IRC Provincials and Flying Fifteen Nationals. A SASKRS class will be open to Wednesday night boats.
There is a Melges 24 coming up from Cape Town for this regatta, and a bunch of Pacer 27s from the Vaal, and rumours of at least 6 clubs competing in the inter-club component. So it should be a great event.
Bronwyn will send you the info. Just call her on 031-301 5425 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Dennis Conner International Yacht Club Challenge
The Manhattan Yacht has invited Yacht Clubs to submit entries to the 4th Dennis Conner International Yacht Club Challenge Regatta which will be sailed in J24's. It starts on 22 August. Interested members should contact Brian Plumpton (082 807 5117) or Bronwyn in the Sailing Office (031-301 5425; This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

The Jester Challenge
Now this is the king of sailing that we should encourage in South Africa. The legendary RCOD fits the bill perfectly! There are still a number of these fine craft being sailed out of Durban, Cape Town and Knysna. Unless we are talking diamonds, bigger is not better; and more importantly, bigger is not always safer. Small and tough like a Gurka is infinitely better than big and soft like a Blue Bull front rower!
The following is reproduced from the Scuttlebutt e-mail newsletter:
Think the Mini Transat is extreme? The Jester Challenge knocks it into a cocked hat. The Jester Challenge is a solo event (one mustn't say race) across the Atlantic to Newport. This staunchly amateur venture is unique in that it has a size range of 20-30ft, a start date and ports of departure and arrival but not much else. What it positively does not have is a race organisation, a notice of race or an entry fee. So although there are 89 boats and skippers on the list of entrants, no-one knows until the skippers' briefing on Friday how many will turn up or take part. It could be 40 or 60 or more. Former Royal Marine and Yachtsman of the Year Ewen Southby-Tailyour founded the Jester Challenge for small boat sailors who had been squeezed out of the big races.
When the OSTAR disallowed boats of under 30ft it effectively disenfranchised the small boats that had begun the event - four of the five boats in 1960 were 26ft or under. Southby-Tailyour's motivation was to "give back a race to boats under 30ft." So what you have is the diametric opposite of almost every oceanic race anywhere else in the world. Most of the boats are simple and low cost and their skippers disinterested in publicity. But word has got round, and since the last transatlantic Jester Challenge in 2006, some sailors have actually bought a suitable nutshell in order to take part. "I think," says Southby-Tailyour, "small boats are chosen by people as much because of the concept as the cost, although some people can't afford anything else." Now that's novel!

Crew Service
Struan Campbell has created a crew mix and match group on facebook for skippers who need crew and crew who need boats. It is open to anyone so if you need a person or a boat then put a wall post up advertising yourself. Hopefully we can start building fleets by making it easy for skippers and crew to connect. Put videos, photos - whatever you want - up there for all to see.

See the link at: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=112468105452262

Let's enjoy our sport safely! See you on the water.

SAILING MATTERS
by the Rear Commodore, Gregg Dobson

Richard's Bay to Durban RaceThis race starts on Saturday in Richard's Bay. Just 3 boats managed to get there two weeks ago. But for those with a sense of adventure and a desire to get in sea time, you can still sail up and race back. There's talk of some of the ‘big boys' having a crack at the race record - now that'll add some excitement.

Trio Regatta - 12; 13; 16 June
This is the next BIG regatta that the RNYC will be staging. If you have not entered yet, or cobbled a crew together, it's time to do that!
The Trio Regatta incorporates the IRC Provincials and Flying Fifteen Nationals. A SASKRS class will be open to Wednesday night boats. There are some Melges 24s coming up from Cape Town for this regatta, and a bunch of Pacer 27s from the Vaal, and rumours of at least 6 clubs competing in the inter-club component. So it should be a great event. Bronwyn will send you the info. Just call her on 031-301 5425 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
 

Racing Rules
By Ken Allas (your "Rule xpert")
Let's assume that you made a "cracking" good start on time at and on the line, missed the Committee Boat and fellow competitors, and sailed the first beat in relatively clear wind! Let us also assume you handled all boat on boat situations well and the rounding of the 1st mark, being the windward mark, is imminent with you in a good position within your fleet! I assume the direction of rounding of this mark has already been thought through by you, long before getting there? You have thought out your approach strategy based on the conditions of the day, and you have made allowances for tactical considerations that may need to be employed as you implement your grand overall strategy, of winning, or at least doing well in this race!? Or have you?!!
Perhaps I can throw in a couple of things that need to be considered: In the majority of racing situations, you will be rounding marks of the course to port, but this may be Durban Wednesday Night harbour racing and different course configurations are employed. In general, for Wednesday Night racing, if the course signalled to be sailed is either a NE or SE Course, all laid mark roundings will be to Starboard and only the SW course will have laid marks for rounding to Port. So now, we will as briefly as possible, mention rules that apply and what would be the best way of negotiating the 1st mark, and in this instance, a port rounding, assuming that there are other boats ahead and with you intending to do the very same.
Below, we will as simply as possible, discuss the rounding of the windward mark more specifically for a port rounding. As we are discussing the rounding of the windward mark, the following rules apply, simplified as:
1. The same basic right of way rules apply before you reach the "zone". Port tack yielding to starboard, windward boat keep clear, boat tacking shall keep clear, when tacking into a right of way position you shall give the other boat room and opportunity to keep clear, and avoiding contact.
2. At 3 boat lengths (of the longer boat) approaching a mark you are described as being in the "zone". (About to round the mark). The "zone" is described as a 3 boat length imaginary circle around the mark.
3. When yachts are overlapped on same tack at entering the zone, boats on the outside of the turn (windward boats) into the mark shall give boats, those on the inside of the turn (leeward boats) "mark room" to round the mark in a seamanlike manner.
4. An overlap occurs when any part of your boat, between your most forward and most aft part of your boat, in their normal/proper positions, intersects the same imaginary perpendicular lines extending outwards from the bow and stern, of another boat. You now have an overlap on another boat, and he on you, regardless of the positions of the boats in relationship to each other. (As the inside boat your bow could "just" be overlapped on the stern of the windward boat and vice versa, regardless of lateral separation.)
5. It is always a good idea to discuss with boats nearest to you whether you have an overlap prior to and as you, or the forward most overlapped boat, enter "the zone". The proper thing to do is to state "I have an inside overlap on your boat at the "zone", please give me mark room." If you happen to be the outside boat that must give room, the gentlemanly thing to do is acknowledge the overlap, and tell the other boat you have mark room" and give him the required room to round the mark whilst simultaneously avoiding contact, as hopefully, he promptly and in a seamanlike manner, executes a mark rounding to sail the course for the next mark.
6. What you should not do when making your approach to the windward mark, is to approach on port tack in "the zone" (the 3 boat length circle around the mark), and then attempt to tack below or immediately ahead of a starboard tack boats on the starboard layline making the mark. If the starboard tack boat has to sail above close hauled, i.e. luff, to avoid contact with you, you have infringed him and are required to sail clear and immediately do a penalty turn/s. Thinking ahead of your approach to a mark, will enable you to make the best choices in any situation (boat on boat) developing. A well thought out approach will ensure a quicker and more hassle free mark rounding, minimizing time spent in turbulent air and water. This result will be potential podium finishing positions, with a quicker return to your moorings, where you can enjoy a couple of beers whilst reminiscing on the highlights of your race! Next week, we will deal with the starboard rounding of the windward mark!

Crew Service
Struan Campbell has created a crew mix and match group on facebook for skippers who need crew and crew who need boats. It is open to anyone so if you need a person or a boat then put a wall post up advertising yourself. Hopefully we can start building fleets by making it easy for skippers and crew to connect. Put videos, photos - whatever you want - up there for all to see.
See the link at: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=112468105452262

Let's enjoy our sport safely! See you on the water.