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SAILING MATTERS
by the Rear Commodore, Gregg Dobson
Sportsmanship
It has been brought to my attention that a number of competitors have not been adhering to the RRS and RNYC Wednesday Sailing Instructions. It may be worthwhile to remember a quote from the highly respected Danish sailor, Paul Elvstrom. "You haven't won the race if in winning the race you have lost the respect of your competitors"
Seamanship
Thanks to William Crockett and Leighton Samways aboard Caversham Caprice who, abiding by Rule 1.1 (RRS), applied good seamanship and went to the aid of the Flying Fifteen 'Freya' in the two-handed offshore race held on Sunday. William and Leighton were lying in first position in bumpy conditions when the call for help came. Well done lads! That was responsible seamanship at it's best.
Youth Nationals
Congratulations to new member Siyanda Vato on his 3rd place in the standard Laser Youth Nationals held at Midmar in mid December. Mirror Nationals - RNYC Youth Victorious
20 Mirror dinghys competed in the Mirror National championships held at Gariep Dam from 27 - 31 December. Ten races were held in light, shifty Karoo breezes. Club members Ricky and Brennan Robinson sailed with their siblings, country members Ryan and Michaela respectfully. Ryan (helming) and Ricky won the regatta with Brennan and Michaela being runners-up, third was Kundell Statt from Knysna and fourth was the Isivungu development team from the Cape (who were the top RSA team at the last World Championships). Well done to our latest RNYC national dinghy champions Ryan and Ricky.
SAS coaches clinic
Two Youth members, Carl Zimmerman and Siya Vato along with Ricky and Brennan Robinson attended a coaching and sailing clinic held at the beginning of January. The Polish Yachting Association's Director of Racing, Tomasz Chamera ran the clinic. The guys attended lectures on most aspects of High performance sailing and sailed 420s and Lasers in the Bay. Thanks to SAS and Tomasz for helping to prepare our youth for their next step in their chosen sport.
Wednesday night sailing
A good fleet of 40 boats had a pleasant evening's race on the 6 January. The first beat saw some quick tacking (with one or two crash tacks) in the gusty 15 knot North-Easterly wind. The club lawns were overflowing with competitors for the welcome after race beverages. Thanks to Horst Keil and his Realty-1 team for doing race officer and rescue duties.
Results - Wednesday 6 January
A Div
1 Prodigy IV
2 Plumb Crazy
3 PheZulu
4 Wynleigh
6 Sway
B Division
1 PGMT (S/A)
2 B2G2
3 Stoked
4 Container World
5 Tequilla Sunrise
6 BNR (S/A)
7 Tioman
8 Fusion
9 Scoundrel
10 Clipper (S/A)
11 Electron
12 Cartoon Deckwork
R1 - C Div
1 Close Again
2 Chatur
3 Aquilla
4 Zap
5 Thermopylae
6 Jennabee
7 Schatzi
8 Legionaire
D Div
1 Bellissima
2 Cracker Jack
3 Revelation
4 Sundance
5 Cape Smoke
6 Stormaway
7 Rocinante
8 Nomvula
9 Joie de Vie
10 De Clem in Die Kaak
11 Cuxhaven
E Div
1 African Rain
R1 - MM Div
1 Bandit
2 Lady Bird
MMB Div
1 Nkosinathi
Saturday Bay Dinghy racing
A fleet of Flying-Fifteens, Lasers, Mirrors and Optimists enjoyed 4 races in a pleasant 10 knot North-Easterly. Thanks To Derek Wilkes and his efficient team for officiating
Results
Flying Fifteen
RSA 3870 G Hurter 1
RSA 2913 Yelland 2
RSA 3207 E Buys 3
RSA 2915 Hendrie 4
Laser
184821 D Moffat 1
122769 Musgrave 2
160018 Bingham 3
R Goulden 4
183461 C Schwegman 5
160030 Walford 6
Mirror
70414 1
6952 T Gibb 2
50704 3
Optimist
1389 Bronner 1
1297 Gaughran 2
1166 Ross Guaghran 3
Two-Handed Race
Despite only 6 boats indicating that they would enter the race, 14 started last Sunday. The 'beasterly easterly' appeared exactly as forecasted. Despite the forecast, skippers who attended the briefing voted unanimously to sail. This was heartening as the only way that we can prepare ourselves and boats for heavy weather is to get out there and 'do the time'. What was even more encouraging was the number of youth on the water. Carl Zimmerman and Ashley Nel sailing the RNYC youth development L26 took the conditions in their stride and came home a very credible third overall. Well done to our youth. Due to having to attend to a craft in difficulty and worsening conditions in the position of the start (taking green water over the bow of Galaxy when at anchor was slightly unnerving) , the RO moved the finish line into deeper water. Although this was announced on VHF, many boats did not hear the transmission. Food for thought is how difficult it is to spot a boat in these conditions. One competitor passed 3 cables ahead of us and reported that, despite trying to locate Galaxy visually, they could not see us.
Special thanks go Wayne ( skrik vir niks! ) and Catherine Naude and crew who took The King up to Umhlanga. Their time sailing an RCOD prepared them well for the wet and bumpy ride. Instead of laying a mark they held station, as trying to recover a mark in these conditions would have been risky.
Kudos to William Crockett and crew for suspending racing to assist Freija, which became swamped. By all accounts William had Caversham Caprice going like a train and was in contention for a win before making the seamanlike decision to assist Freja.
Results
The finish was very close with the first 3 boats finishing within less than a minute of each other. The fact that the first 5 finishers are L26s bears testimony to what a fantastic boat this is.
1) Container World - Ron Pett and Dylan Evans ( despite breaking the front half of the tiller off ).
2) Electron - Lex Brockbank ( would have been first but Captain Ron spotted the change in the position of the finish line first ).
3) B2G2 - Ashley Nel & Carl Zimmerman
4) PMGT Clipper - Luke Wagner
5) Fusion - Andy Rossell ( started late due to port movements ).
6) Chatur - Nick Koekemoer and Greg Challis ( started late as they assisted the RO with some technical issues. Great site of Chartur surfing over the finish line. Good advert for the services of the Marinero who cleans the bottom, it is as clean as a whistle ).
Next Dinghy Event
Island sailing club monohull regatta Jan 16-17. All welcome. This will be sailed at the ISLAND SAILING YACHT CLUB In conjunction with PYC and RNYC. The NOR & SI is available on request at RNYC reception.
Next offshore keelboat event
RNYC Umhlanga Mayor, There and Back. Sunday 24th January.
Let's enjoy our sport safely!
See you on the water.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT RACE OFFICER DUTIES
Wednesday 20 January Prodigy
Wednesday 3 February Flying Fifteens
Wednesday 17 February Panache
Wednesday 3 March Zap
Wednesday 17 March Aquilla
Please Note: You are not expected to perform the duty yourself unless you wish to do so but to arrange a suitable race officer who can. Should you choose to do the duty yourself your boat will be awarded 3 points towards the Wednesday night leader board. Thank you for your co-operation
Rear Commodore/Sailing Committee
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