SAILING MATTERS
by the Rear Commodore, Gregg Dobson

Memorial Weekend
This coming weekend sees the club holding the Memorial events. The dinghies will be racing three races in the bay on Saturday afternoon. The start is at 14h00 and the Race Officer is Derek Wilkes. Keelers will race a pursuit race offshore on Sunday starting at 11h00. There is a briefing on the lawns at 09h00. The Race Officer is Hemraj Gokal. A special prize giving will be held on the RNYC lawns on Sunday afternoon. Even if you do not sail, come along and join us on the lawns. There will be a board where you can put photos of your lost friends & family. There will be live entertainment & braai packs & salads will be sold. This is for ANYONE in the sailing community NOT just RNYC members. Please all come along and join us. It is a time to recall our happy memories of these special people! Seeing that it is Valentine's Day on Sunday, we challenge EVERYONE to dress in Red & White! And every boat entered will be entered into our lucky draw held by Phezulu Safari Park. The prize is one night's accommodation in our self catering cottage plus a romantic sunset game drive with complimentary sparkling wine. DON'T MISS OUT!!

Wednesday 3 February
A fine turnout of 39 boats sailed on Wednesday evening. The race was started in a 6-10 knot North-Easterly wind which swung to the South-West half-way through the race making for some interesting tactical decisions. Some boats opting to set spinnakers immediately on seeing the wind swing and others not. The competitive 'B' fleet saw Rob Samways and crew on 'Cabriole' back to his winning ways. The RNYC youth team on-board 'B2G2' helmed by Carl Zimmerman sailed well to lead the L26s home. Thanks to the Flying Fifteen team of Race Officer Patrick Harris, rescue driver Jeremy Kriek ably supported by Ryan and Mario for officiating and coping admirably with defective sound signalling devices (the quick thinking R/O using a life-jacket whistle), 180 degree wind shifts and a dredger in the middle of the course. It is worth noting that visual signals (flags) signify the start of a race and that the absence of a sound signal shall be disregarded.

Results
A Division
1 Skitzo
2 Phezulu DNF
B Division
1 Cabriole
2 Stoked
3 B2G2
4 Tequila Sunrise
5 Mayhem
6 Realty 1
7 Tioman
8 Container
9 Cartoon Deckwork
10 Fusion
11 Electron
12 Panache
14 Clipper
14 Donna Mia
C Division
1 Close Again
2 Legionaire
3 Chatur
4 Aquilla
5 Jennabee
6 Zap
D Division
1 Cape
2 Bellissima
3 Cracker Jack
4 Joie de Vie
56
Lady Lena
7 Nomvula
E Division
1 My Way
2 Valencia
3 Touchstone
4 African Rain
MMB
1 Nkosinathi
2 Magic Dragon

Dinghies - Saturday 6 February
Due to crews having various other commitments only three Flying 15s sailed on Saturday. Two races were sailed on the ditch (container depot) course in approx.12 - 15knots North-Easterly breeze. The team of Patrick Harris and Jeremy Kriek split up and each sailed with new junior crews, showing them the ropes. Patrick won with Jeremy overtaking Bob Dimond and Estelle Buys on the last beat to finish second.

Round The Island Race
Last weekend saw the annual Round The Island Race sailed out of Lake Deneys Yacht Club on Vaal Dam. Royal Natal was represented by Chris Frost sailing on his Flying Tiger, Prodigy 1V. After being judged to be over at the start and recalled by a rescue boat, Prodigy started last and then proceeded to reel in her competitors. After a long, light wind race, elapsed time 5h10m, she crossed the finish line third overall (behind two multi-hulls), second on corrected time and won the keelboat division. Out of over 300 starters only 26 managed to finish the race. Congratulations to the Commodore and crew for flying the flag high.

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