Rupert Ellis Brown Dinghy Series and Protea Cup Keelers

Royal Natal Yacht Club

Rupert Ellis Brown Dinghy Series and Protea Cup Keelers

Harbour: Saturday 10 November and Offshore Durban: Sunday 11 November

Durban sailors ventured out in gorgeous sunshine to compete in two events over the weekend, the smaller crafts sailed in the Rupert Ellis Brown Regatta in the harbour on Saturday and the keelboats went offshore in the annual Protea Cup Keelers on Sunday.

The annual dinghy series held on Saturday afternoons over the month of November had 28 boats compete in the second racing day. Race officer, Graham Rose set a triangular course in the bay starting the Flying Fifteens off first on a triangle sausage track and the remainder of the fleet on a sausage triangle course with the hope that the fleet would finish relatively close together.

The dinghies competed in four races in a steady breeze with brothers Miles and Tony White topping the Flying Fifteen leader board and Richard Bates from La Lucia taking the honours in the Lasers. Sam Lombard, the up-and-coming youngster kept a clean sheet in the Oppie class. Jethro Brophy Tintinger led the Laser Pico class and the experienced Trevor Gibb won the Mirror class.

Sunday’s Protea Cup saw the fleet of keelboats head down south along the Bluff coastline in a ‘There and Back’ race, turning around offshore of the Coopers Lighthouse. The bold sailors were greeted by lumpy seas in glorious sunshine as they sailed out of the harbour and conditions worsened as they turned around the corner with swells of over 3m pounding the yachts. The race officer Hemraj Gopaul placed two buoys, the first was offshore of the water tower on the Bluff for the cruising class and the second was further down the coast, offshore of Coopers Lighthouse for the racing class.

The yachts surfed the swells with a brisk 20knot breeze behind them as they ventured down the coast. As they turned around the buoys, the yachts zigzagged their way back with wave after wave crashing onto the bow. The tough sailors all returned a bit bruised and battered but loved the challenge of the big swells and high winds.

Sean Jones on his fast paced multihull Bandit sped through the course, rounding the buoy first ahead of the monohulls and beating his way to the finish, keeping close to the shore for majority of the return trip.

In the racing class Gregg Hurter on the majestic Bellatrix managed to keep ahead of the French sailing yacht, Choose Life High Performance Sailing Team Incognito after turning around the can behind them. In the cruising class, Vernon Goss helmed his glorious yacht Choose Life High Performance Sailing Team Bellissima to a clear win ahead of the rest of the class.

If anyone would like to get involved in sailing, the Royal Natal Yacht Club invites you to join them on Wednesday night for their Twilight sailing, if you are interested to participate get in touch with Gayle on 031 301 5425.