Chatting to sailor, Myles White

Pictured here is Myles White before he competed in the recent Bart’s Bash, the biggest sailing event in the world.

Pic by Chris Clark

Point Yacht Club

Interview with Rear Commodore of Dinghies: Myles White

Perhaps one of the most passionate dinghy sailors in Durban, Myles White from Pinetown has recently been elected as Point Yacht Club’s Rear Commodore of Dinghies.

White’s romance with the sea began when he was nine years old. He first jumped on a wooden optimist, launching off the public slipway. Two years later, White together with his older brother, Tony joined the Point Yacht Club and started racing one of the 13 club Cadet dinghies. “I still remember the sail number, it was 6219 and the boat was called Ritchie. I crewed from my brother for four or five seasons, our hard work was rewarded with us winning the Club Class Championships and then being invited to the World Championships in Trieste in Italy.”

Due to a combination of problems, their opportunity to represent South Africa didn’t materialise but the fledgling sailor continued to impress on the water. He stepped up to helming, learning on an Optimist before acquiring a Dabchick. In his first ever Junior Provincials at Albert Falls, he scored a third overall. In years to follow the charming lad quietly began notching up results in a variety of classes with bronze and gold Provincial medals as well as bronze and gold National medals, also winning the prestigious Jonsson Cup.

With only two long distances races under his belt, the skilled sailor claims that the experience was enough to put him off distance racing for life. “I used to crew on a yacht, Reaction which still features regularly as a winner of the Cape Town to St Helena Race. My first long haul ride was a Durban to Amatikulu and back overnight race in a thumping North-Easter, while the second was a Richards Bay to Durban drifter.”

“I get enormous satisfaction from an afternoon of hard racing around the cans, followed by a hot shower, and a few cold beers – in that order.

After getting married, his sailing was curtailed from relishing being on the water all weekend racing on dinghies and keelers, to jumping on a boat whenever a busy family life allowed, “Sadly neither of my children enjoyed the sport and preferred land based activities. For about ten years I sailed sporadically, mostly on an old Laser I bought. “

I met John Marshall, and did a fair bit of sailing in the Hobie 16 class before he purchased the magnificent Majimoto. I became a regular feature as mainsheet trimmer, specialising in Wednesday night racing.”

“It was through my son meeting a regular face on the water, Chris Kloppenborg that I ended up being introduced to Estelle Buys who needed a skipper for her Flying Fifteen. And so in 2012, I moved back to dinghies and fell in love with these ‘old man’s boats’. “

“We immediately exceeded Estelle’s wildest expectations by winning both the Provincials and National divisions for the older classic boats, and with the sailing bug having bitten me properly again I started buying a new suit of sails, and then one of the newer Flying Fifteens which was never being sailed. These days I am like a dog with two tails, I am so enjoying my dinghy racing again!”

His long time crew member, Estelle Buys complimented him by saying, “Myles is forever the gentleman on the water, showing the utmost patience towards everyone on the water. He has taught me how to be kind and patient towards all our competition. He always offers a helping hand. A wonderful lesson that both he and sailing has taught me is to commit and finish a job, regardless of the result.”

Concluding, the Rear Commodore enthused, “After something like 40 years of membership I have now completed my first year on any Club Committee, and I am looking forward to applying some of the lessons I learned through Round Table and hopefully building on the recent success achieved in dinghy sailing at PYC. My objective is to get more boats on the water more regularly, and for people to have so much fun doing it that they keep coming back for more.”

White, together with Buys, is on the water, training hard for the upcoming Flying Fifteen Provincials hosted by the Point Yacht Club that take place in Mid-December.

For more info visit www.pyc.co.za or contact Amanda on 031 301 4784.