Wrap Up Point Yacht Club's Sangoma Cruise

Offshore: 26 - 30 December

A small fleet of adventurous yachties ventured offshore for the Sangoma Cruise hosted by Point Yacht Club.

The 80 nautical mile cruise had five keelboats entered to participate, with three of the yacht taking the first weather window on Boxing Day, the remaining two checked out to leave on 28 December to catch the South Westerly winds.

First to depart, Ocean Spirit helmed by Neville Bransby set the pace in the dying South Wester on Boxing Day. The enthusiastic team took 12 hours from Durban to Richards Bay. Hot on their heels, the spirited crew sailing on Therapy. And following them was the experienced skipper, Jon Marshall (Rear Commodore of Keelers for Point Yacht Club), on his yacht Majimoto. His crew was small catamaran sailor, Bart Fokkens who had never ventured beyond uMhlanga, clocking up his first overnight passage with the duo taking 18 hours to get into Richards Bay.

The second batch of boats kept an eye on the weather window, opting to wait for the 20 knots South Wester two days later. Round the World Clipper skipper, Craig Millar and his crew on Argo FY departed Durban at 9am. Keen sailor, Robin Hulley was due to sail with Millar on his yacht Mafuta, but as he was heading out the door at his home, his geyser burst, dampening his spirits and not allowing him to compete.

Argo FY had a gentle sail up to Richards Bay, having blown their kite shortly after getting out of the Harbour channel.

"We specifically chose the south Wester to sail up in as the whole team were keen to get offshore and fly the kite. A minute after we hoisted the spinnaker, it gently floated back down to the deck. We fished it back in, and after a debate onboard if our light weather kite would handle the conditions, we opted for the safer option of putting the gib out on the pole and goose winging it." Skipper, Millar said on his return.

From breakwater to breakwater, it took the Argo FY team 10.5 hours to get to Richards Bay, with only one gybe to enter the Harbour mouth as the sun was setting.

Both Therapy and Ocean Spirit had a quick turn around in Richards Bay, catching up on a bit of kip and then catching the North Easter back home before it switched to the South Wester that brought Argo FY up. Ocean Spirit sailed impressively with 11 hours on the clock back home, top speed reaching 17.4knots. The sleek Therapy notched up a top speed of 18knots.

Majimoto missed the window, waiting for Argo FY who were transporting their main sail, Marshall and Fokkens sadly damaged their main on the ride up. Both Argo FY and Majimoto had a day in Richards Bay to carry out a few running repairs before they took to the water on the second last day of the year.

At 6.30am, the two boats made their way offshore in a gentleman's race back to Durban. Argo FY surfed the entire way home, with Millar recording 21knots, pumping the tiller as he caught a swell and surfed his way to the impressive speed. The team made up of Millar, Ed de Lange, and Hannah and Rudi Fokkens made it back in 8 hours and 5 minutes.

"It was a great sail, the team are young, experienced and fantastic onboard. But what really was wonderful about this experience is all the chatter back on land that has been created. The more experienced guys have got the record books out, and have been reminiscing when they used to sail this route regularly. Loads of the guys have said that they are keen to participate in the next one. It is exhilarating to be offshore, and actually sailing somewhere, giving us an opportunity to stretch our legs." Millar stated.

The record set in October 1990 by Sun Tonic, a Royal Cape One Design was skippered by Peter Atkinson.

"And for the next cruise, we will most certainly fly our kite! And who knows, maybe we can get close to Atkinson's record?" Millar said.

Majimoto, with only the two sailors onboard came in sailing most of the way with only their jib up, but still managing to hit a few numbers over 15knots on the speedo. They got back into Durban a couple of hours after Argo FY just after 7:00pm, having been pummelled by the sea state in the howling North Easter.

The next big events this month at Point Yacht Club for the Keelers is the Sigma Series and then Bar Anniversary Pursuit Race for the dinghies.

For more info visit www.pyc.co.za or like the club's Facebook page.

Lipton Cup 2018

Point Yacht Club

Offshore Durban

Sailing in Durban received the generous news from the Royal Cape Yacht Club, the victorious 2017 Lipton Cup winners, with the offer to host the prestigious event in warmer waters.

In a letter presented to the Commodore of Point Yacht Club, Greg de Beyer, Commodore of the Royal Cape Yacht Club, Vitor Medina graciously offered the opportunity to host the respected event offshore of Durban mid-year in 2018.

In Medina’s letter, he referred to the 2013 event sailed offshore of Durban, where Point Yacht Club finished second to a boat that was subsequently found to have been illegally modified.

Medina stated, “While Point Yacht Club was earlier this year, formally declared the winner of the Lipton Cup in 2013, your club had of course been denied the opportunity of defending the Cup in 2014 on your home waters. This unfortunate situation can’t be fully rectified at this stage.

“Royal Cape Yacht Club, in recognition of this unfairness of your loss to a non-conforming boat in 2013, is prepared to forfeit our right to defend the Cup in Table Bay next year and offer the 2018 event to your Club to host during the week following the MSC Week.”

In response, a delighted Greg de Beyer, Commodore of Point Yacht Club enthusiastically accepted the offer. “This offer has been discussed by our General Committee as well as our Sailing Committees and I can confirm that the offer has been eagerly and unanimously accepted.

“Point Yacht Club is firmly committed to promoting our sport in conjunction with other sailing clubs and organisations throughout South Africa. Whilst we never doubted the goodwill and common goal of the Royal Cape Yacht Club, we welcome this gesture and will do our utmost to ensure that 2018 event is a success and is undertaken in the spirit in which the gift was given to our sport.”

The helmsman for the Point Yacht Club’s Lipton entry, Richard Weddell, has had a somewhat dramatic Lipton campaign. Finishing a respectable fourth in his first attempt down in Simons Town in 2012, Weddell and his team then sailed magnificently offshore of Durban in 2013, finishing tie on points with False Bay Yacht Club, but due to a count back, they ended their regatta with the position of runner up.

“It is a bit of a bitter-sweet feeling, hearing this news. The guys and I worked so incredibly hard, leading up to the 2013 challenge, and the week of the challenge. We were honestly devastated at the result. It marred our enthusiasm in getting back on the water. The generosity shown by the Royal Cape guys is tremendously kind. This gentlemanly act certainly will inject a great deal of interest back into sailing, and specifically this historic event, and hopefully motivate many for the future.”

With this announcement, the Rear Commodore of Keelers is hard at work scheduling in trials to select the best suited team to challenge for the Royal Cape Yacht Club’s title.

Durban’s sailing community is abuzz with the gracious declaration from Royal Cape Yacht Club, offering the Point Yacht Club to host the 65^th Lipton Cup.

For more info visit www.pyc.co.za or like the Facebook page.

Flying Fifteen Nationals and Hobie 16 Regionals 2017

Point Yacht Club

Offshore Durban: 16 - 18 December

Mid - December, two classes will be heading offshore to compete in the Flying Fifteen Nationals and Hobie 16 Regionals hosted by Point Yacht Club from the 16 – 18 December.

Defending champs in the modern fleet of Flying Fifteens are Patrick Harris and Jeremy Kriek who keep raking in the awards, they will be back on the water in the hopes of being crowned yet again. In the hunt to topple them off the top spot on the podium are international specialist 505 sailors, brothers Thomas and Peter Funke. Other names to look out for will be Myles White and his regular crew member, Estelle Buys, they will be keen to perform as they start to focus on the Flying Fifteen World Champs in Ireland.

Campbell Alexander, who competed in the Laser World Masters in Split, Croatia recently, will be pairing up with Dr Stephanie Brown from England. The Brit sailor who is out here for a week long holiday, will be relishing the warmer weather out at sea and making a trip up to the berg. Brown was awarded a special seamanship award at the Charles Stanley Direct Cowes Classic Week this July. She was crewing on a Flying Fifteen Fram Freyr, holding second position when she witnessed a nearby collision. Giving up her second place, she assisted the concussed sailor injured in the collision. The injured crew member later received 24 stitches in his head at hospital.

Joining them on the water will be respected and highly competitive Greg Hurter, Hurter was victorious four years ago. Well known for his stealth mode, he is keeping his crew name under wraps in the build up to the event. Anthony McMillan will be hoping for a repeat performance in the first running of the Jonsson Cup, where he pipped Olympic sailor Dave Hibberd on the line. Both him and Hibberd didn’t sail the correct course, but it was a fabulous tight finish and McMillan will be concentrating on the race course card this regatta. Similarly, to Hurter, McMillan is not revealing who is crew member is. Nhlanhla Phakathi and Craig Campbell, who featured on the Bashboard for the Bart’s Bash and are keen to feature on the steps of the podium.

A strong family contingent will be gracing the course sailing on the magnificent classics. Newcomers to the fleet, brother and sister team of Rudi and Hannah Fokkens. Also, fairly newcomers, Father and son team of Dominic and Marco Collett venture offshore for the first time, having gleaned their experience sailing in the bay. Another father and son team, that of Rob and Iain Bowman will be back on the water after their superb craft got t-boned and had to get a bit of reconstructive surgery.

The Hobie 16 fleet is expected to have a number of hot shot sailors in town hoping to take to the water. Their challenge will be navigating the beachfront development currently taking place.

“The launching of the Hobies will be a bit of a challenge, but we are confident we will get the numbers on the water, and look forward to a colourful, fun-filled, competitive event.” Commodore for the Point Yacht Club, Greg de Beyer stated.

A number of big names will be taking to the water having competed internationally recently. Hoping to jet-propel his way to the front, Jethro Brophy-Tintinger has had a remarkable year, having competed in the Netherlands, topped the local log in the biggest sailing event in the world, Bart’s Bash and just touched down from being a part of the Volvo Round the World send-off down in Cape Town.

Joining him will be Garth Loudon with a young, new crew member. In the Durban offseason, Loudon represented SA in the prestigious Hobie World Cat in Germany. Loudon, together with Peter Hall took on the best of the best at the Hobie Multiworlds and Europeans 2017 held in the Netherlands. Hall will be sailing with his champ son, Matthew who has been turning heads in the Hobie 14 class.

For more info visit www.pyc.co.za or like the club’s Facebook page.

Inter-Varsity Match Racing Champs

Point Yacht Club

Inter-Varsity Match Racing Champs

Harbour: 1 – 3 July

Sailing into July, the Point Yacht Club will be hosting the inaugural Inter-Varsity Cup taking place in the harbour of Durban from 1 – 3 July.

Nine varsities will be taking to the water this weekend, with six of the teams entered shedding off their winter woollies and travelling from Western Province and Gauteng to compete in warm Durban waters.

Participating varsities are Rhodes University, University of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University, two teams from the University of Witwatersrand, Tuks with a combined team from the University of Johannesburg and University of Pretoria. The local teams comprise of University of Kwa-Zulu Natal Howard Campus and Durban University of Technology.

Match racing in sailing is when two teams go head-to-head against each other. The programme for events has been drawn with seven rounds of competition happening for the eight teams. Each round consists of four races. A famous example of match racing is the America’s Cup.

Competing on the same class of boat, each team consists of six sailors racing on an L26.  The course set by Race Officer, Kevin Bingham will be an upwind, downwind course with the possibility of either one or two laps. The start finish line will be set below the bottom turning mark, extending the first beat and final run to the line.

Team captains are Peter Marsh from UCT, Jonas Vijerberg from Rhodes, Alexander Ham from Stellenbosch, Kyle Boman for the combined team of UJ and Tuks, DUT will be led by Thokozani ‘DeaJay’ Latha, UKZN by Florence Marshall and Alison Bradfield and Ryan Robinson for the two Wits teams.

Officiating will be South African sailors, Ricky Robinson and Trent Bingham.

The Inter-Varsity Match Racing Champs is the precursor to the annual MSC Week, hosted by the Point Yacht Club, that takes place from 4 – 8 July offshore of Durban.

For more info visit www.pyc.co.za or contact the club on 031 301 4787.

The 2016 edition of the MSC Week

Point Yacht Club

MSC Week

Offshore Durban: 4 – 8 July

South Africa’s premier winter regatta, the week-long annual MSC Regatta now in its 40^th year hosted by Point Yacht Club kicks off offshore of Durban on Monday 4 July.

On the back of the highly successful Hobie 16 and Flying Fifteen Provincials, the much-anticipated sailing event incorporates the L26, IRC and Hunter Provincials along with the Micro-Multihull Challenge, and the MSC Racing Class.

Race Officer, Dave Rushton will have a busy time offshore organising the various classes. A maximum of 12 races will be held for the IRC and Multihull fleets and a maximum of 15 races will be held for the L26, Hunter and Club racing classes and only five races for the MSC Racing fleet. A minimum of four races for all but the MSC Racing Fleet will need to take place to constitute a regatta.

Confirmed entries are Container World in the L26 class. Tony Cockerill from Henley-Midmar and Dave Martinson from Witbank will be competing in the Hunter class. In the IRC Class, the lightning quick Southern Storm will be dusting herself off to participate under her new owner, Warren Clark. In the sports boats class we have the Fluid 180, PhattAss entered, together with Cabriole, a Beneteau First Class 8 and a Pacer 27 with youngster, Michaela Robinson driving.

In the micro multihulls old rivals, Bandit skippered by Sean Jones and Ladybird skippered by Andrew Dolloway are entered. Representing the Bluff Yacht Club, Andrew Murray sailing on Liquid Blue will be taking to the water in the MSC Racing Fleet.

Regatta Convenor Ron Pet stated, “The regatta is always a hit, both on and off the water. Teams travel from around the country to participate. A number of the teams use this as a tune up race ahead of the prestigious Lipton Challenge Cup that will be taking place in Cape Town later this month.”

“Loads of sailors have indicated their intent to compete, so we are eagerly awaiting their entries. Just in the IRC alone, we have Gregg Hurter racing Vasco finisher, Bellatrix and also the brand newcomer to the Durban fleet, the majestic CFM owned by Stuart Ritchie promises to be on the water. Wayne Smith, helming the multihull Crazy Diamond has had her out of the water and been modifying her bows, so it will be good to see her go up against Bandit and Ladybird.”

Durban truly is the place to be this winter, with three back-to-back sailing events of national proportion, the MSC Week concludes ten days of winter-bliss on local waters.

For more info visit www.pyc.co.za or contact the club on 031 301 4787.

Wrap up with Andrew Tarboton

Point Yacht Club

Interview with Andrew Tarboton

Wrap-up 49er World Championships: 16 – 21 November

Settling back home in Hamble, near Southampton in the UK, Andrew Tarboton is recovering from one of the toughest regattas he, and his sailing partner Graeme Willcox have ever had the honour of competing in.

The only South African representatives took on the worlds’ best in this year’s 49er World Championships in San Isidro, a province just north of Buenos Aires. The six day regatta hosted by Club Nautico was their best hope for qualifying for the Rio Olympics.

With only three slots in the 49er class for Rio up for grabs, the hopeful Safa sailors were in for a long shot, “The regatta was a fiercely fought spectacle of the world’s best sailors, with all the top teams’ present gunning for the three spots available. As it turned out, those three places were taken by teams finishing in the top 10 overall, showing just how tough it was.”

“Buenos Aires is a really challenging sailing venue due to many factors including the brown water making it difficult to read the wind, the shallow water making the chop really short and steep, and the storms...” emphasising, Tarboton regales.

“And none more so than the fourth day of the regatta, the first day of the finals. We missed out on Gold fleet and so the race committee had sent us out first for the day.  There were many storms swirling around the area, affecting the wind and conditions dramatically. We got off to a decent start with good boat speed and were picking off those in front of us well.”

“We rounded the bottom mark in the top 10 and decided initially that the left hand side would pay and thus picked off a few more places. We noticed a big right hand shift near the top of the course and decided to go to the right on the downwind leg. The five boats that rounded the top mark in front of us decided to go left downwind, but we stuck to our game plan and pushed right into the new wind and building pressure.”

“This paid off and the boats that had gone left were far behind near the bottom of the course. The downwind was really tricky as the big wind quickly built the chop, but we managed to keep the boat going well and hold off the other boats right to the victorious gun at the finish. This was a huge relief and a sense of real achievement set in with that race win.” stated an obviously chuffed Tarboton.

Talking about the conditions and courses, Pietermaritzburg’s Tarboton said, “We sailed windward-leeward courses - starting at the bottom of the course, making our way into the wind, back downwind, into the wind again, and finally downwind to the finish, generally a two lap race.”

“The wind was generally light and switchy, with very little pressure behind it. In the three weeks we were there, there were only two windy days which suited us more.”

“Our final result was 52 out of 61 boats. We were aiming for top 50, but just missed that goal. Fifteen races were completed over the six days, and in those races we scored a first, an eighth and a few results in the teens, so we are walking away with a few positives.”

“Many of the big names were in the Silver fleet with us – we were up against a Chilean, Swiss and Uruguay team; the second Austrian, Belgian, German, Italian and French teams; two British and Korean teams; a few teams from New Zealand and Argentina; all of the Swedish and American teams and the top Brazilian, Indian and Canadian teams.  Among these teams were well-known competitors and teams ranked in the top 25 in the world. Due to the strength of the 49er fleet no one is guaranteed qualification into gold fleet.”

Chatting about what they learnt while they were in Argentina, Tarboton recounts, “The weather was very kind to us, providing warm temperatures and very challenging sailing. Frequent storms meant the wind direction was never really settled, and the wind strength was generally light.  We found ourselves struggling for straight line boat speed through the chop and due to lack of time training in those conditions, so we have learned a lot about boat setup for power, and how to keep the boat driving in such tricky conditions. We have learned also that the work we have put in this year with our starts and boat handling is paying off and we are moving up the fleet.”

Looking ahead, Tarboton mentions, “We now have a week or so to gather our thoughts from the regatta and formulate a strategy moving forward into the winter training months here in the UK. We hope to get some coaching from one of the top guys in the class and build up to our next event, the Princess Sofia Trophy in Palma in April 2016.”

But for now, the dream of racing at Rio 2016 is not to be!

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.

The Bashboard has been tallied for Bart's Bash 2015

IMG_6423.jpg: Benji Daniel and Chad Stevenson racing on their 29er during the Bart’s Bash – The Second Sail held in Durban hosted by Point Yacht Club, this image appeared on the front page of the Yachts and Yachting Souvenir Programme in the United Kingdom.

IMG_6493.jpg: Jethro Brophy-Tintinger sailing on the Hobie 14 and Luke Wagner helming Southern Storm, both sailors appeared on the Bashboard of this year’s Bart’s Bash – The Second Sail that took place in the bay hosted by Point Yacht Club.

Pic by Sophie Thompson

Point Yacht Club

Bart’s Bash Results

Harbour: Sunday 20 September

The Bashboard has been tallied and Durban sailing and Point Yacht Club feature six times on the leader board on the biggest global sailing event, Bart’s Bash – The Second Sail that took place on Sunday 20 September.

South Africa had the second largest turn out on the water on the day out of 62 countries that took part, the United Kingdom walked away with first place. 365 South African sailors ventured out onto the water on the day, and doing the country proud, the South African team of Alex Schon and Marc Hiles were crowned overall winners of Bart’s Bash – the second ever edition of this event.

Competing on their Nacra F20 under the Lake Deneys Burgee, Schon commented, “This year we had winds of 35knots and with a short, sharp chop this made for a wild ride, with our Nacra 20 at times launching itself right out of the water. We had a fantastic ride and took a somewhat conservative approach. With only Marc out on the wire, we managed to keep our beast upright. I think that the tough conditions prevented more people from attending, but I really believe that this event needs to grow and that the great work that is being done needs to spread throughout the world, in particular throughout Africa.”

Most venues around the country reporting strong winds on the day preventing the youth to come out in force on the day. Despite the strong conditions, Point Yacht Club’s Jethro Brophy-Tintinger from Umbilo who took top honours on the day, came sixth overall in the category of winds over 18knots, with Gavin Wadsworth from Durban North placed tenth. Brophy-Tintinger placed 39^th overall.

Luke Wagner from Hilton got a top ten finish with his eighth place in the category of Adult Skipper and Tim Wickham helming Ithebe finished seventh in the category Buddy Sailor. Point Yacht Club scored an impressive ninth worldwide, the top finishing South African yacht club, in the category of Biggest Fleets with 123 competitors.

A total of 14,357 sailors participated this year globally, with 472 venues hosting the event. On the day 7,578 boats were on the water in the 62 countries.

Commodore for the Point Yacht Club and Clipper Round the World skipper, Craig Millar stated, “The figures, although down from last year’s phenomenal feat and Guinness World Record, are still absolutely mind-boggling! A total amount of 38,266,938 meters were sailed, which is almost the equivalent of sailing around the world once. Sailing around the world took me a year, but it was achieved in a day by over 14 thousand sailors! Out of the 7,000 boats, there were a total of 624 classes competing. But, what for me is the most fascinating stat is that a total time of 486 days was sailed on the day; that is a long time to be on the water.”

The dates for the third Bart’s Bash were launched this week with sailors around the world diarising Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 September 2016.

For more info visit www.bartsbash.co.uk or www.pyc.co.za

Results

Keel and Dinghy

1 Catalyst (Jethro Brophy Tintinger - Hobie 14), 2 Therapy (Gavin Wadsworth), 3 Zing (Gavin Smith), 4 Southern Storm (Luke Wagner), 5 So Basic (Stuart Ritchie), 6 Skitzo (Nigel Milln), 7 Caversham Caprice (Jimmy Melville), 8 Bandit (Sean Jones), 9 Neptune’s Nymph (Phil Downing), 10 Bellissima (Vernon Goss), 11 Container World (Brenden Humphreys), 12 Alkistis (Greg Donkin), 13 PYC Challenger (Florence Marshall), 14 Crazy Diamond (Wayne Smith), 15 Shiloh (Tracy Bowman), 16 Deo Volente (Neville Bransbury), 17 Ithebe (Tim Wickham), 18 Mafuta (Robin Hulley), 19 Big Blue (Rory Simpson), 20 Vent de Cap (Andrew Pavid), 21 Hobbit (Sean Koegh) 22 Sea Witch (Vikus), 23 Magenta (Ricky Piper), 24 PGMT Clipper (Bernard Bussy)

Offshore: Sunday 20 September

Kitesurfers

1 James Lea, 2 Byron Watt, 3 Rossco Walters, 4 Alec Lanham-Love, 5 Bruce Gayham, 6 Craig Allsopp,

7 Leighton Moody, 8 Tim Green, 9 Neil Bell, 10 Ian Ferguson, 11 Cameron Carey, 12 Cameron Townsend, 13 Alex Jordaan, =14 Saleem Jonke, =14 Rob Chrystal, 16 Daryl Massey

Chatting to Andrew Tarboton - Olympic Hopeful

Pictured competing on Lake Garda, Graeme Wilcox and Andrew Tarboton glide through a tack as they compete on the European circuit recently. The team are competing in the 49er World Championships in the hope of qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Pic by Elena Giolai

Point Yacht Club

Interview with Andrew Tarboton

Currently competing in the biggest regatta of their lives, two South African’s are racing in the 2015 49er World Championships on the waters of Club Nautico in San Isidro, a province just north of Buenos Aires.

Graeme Willcox and home-grown talent, Andrew Tarboton, hope that over the remainder of this week, their dream of competing at the Rio 2016 will be realised. This is a tough ask, with only 20 teams getting the chance to compete in the 49er class at the Olympics, so far half of that allocation has been filled with two teams from Oceania and eight teams from Europe already qualifying in the 2014 World Champs.

The pair of Willcox and Tarboton has been campaigning for three years, “I personally have been trying for over five years, and after one failed partnering, I teamed up with Graeme to give it another go!” explained Pietermaritzburg’s Tarboton.

Continuing, “We started with a national ranking regatta in the UK, just for fun, we both felt we did fairly well, so I asked Graeme if he was keen to campaign. We have done more of the circuit each year and have competed at regattas in Spain, France, Italy, Holland, Germay, UK, Portugual, and now in Argentina.”

Having grown up on the waters at the Henley Midmar Yacht Club, 2015 is proving to be quite an auspicious year for Tarboton, having just recently gotten engaged to Lizzie Shawcroft, 2015 also marked him celebrating his 30^th birthday, with the conclusion to his year - sailing his heart out in South America in the hopes of representing South Africa next year at the Olympics.

“We have always been pushing the main pack, but due to our lack of time on the water, we generally fall just behind the pack by the finish. Our sailing has come a long way but the competition is relentless! To give you an idea of the competitiveness here, the London 2012 Gold medalists Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen didn’t make the medal race last week in the tune-up race.”

“The South American Champs gave us a chance to begin tuning the boat we have chartered and getting used to it, as well as learning the local conditions, so we were trying a lot of new things and experimenting with strategies and techniques. We finished 49^th out of 53 boats.”

“In the second day of racing at the Worlds, we notched up an eighth and 22^nd today so we are hoping to build on that, stretch our legs and move up the leaderboard. We pulled up to 46^th overall out of 61 teams, a good day on the water.”

Asked what is the most difficult thing about campaigning for Rio 2016; Tarboton states, “Lack of resources! We are competing at an amateur level in a professional world, many of the regattas we do, we are the only team without a coach, and have the least practice time of anyone there!”

“And the best thing about campaigning for Rio 2016 is that we have sailed in some amazing venues all over the world. Sailing with Graeme, when we really have the boat in the groove and going well, sailing is very addictive! Graeme is calm on the helm, always in good spirits, we make a formidable team.”

“I have always loved skiff sailing and have known since I was a boy, sailing on Midmar that I wanted to sail 49ers. Carving it up in 15-18knots of breeze, in big rolling swells on a 49er, the sort of conditions we experienced in Porto is what dreams are made of. I am most at peace in life when I am on the water; sailing is a fantastic experience for all your senses, so pure and so free!”

“When we were really young, my dad Rob would race his fireball at Midmar, and in the afternoon after racing, he would come back and take my brother, my mom and I out for a sail. These memories certainly moulded my life path. I was fortunate enough to sail the 2005 29er World Champs with my dad in San Francisco Bay and we won a race. And now a decade later here I am, striving towards competing at the Olympics.”

Residing in Hamble, near Southampton in the UK, Tarboton moved to England to be close to the competitive sailing circuit, “There are some stunning venues to go sailing in Europe, and you basically choose the conditions you want to sail in and there is a venue that provides those exact conditions! It is really easy to get anywhere in Europe, and the level of sailing is always high.”

The former Maritzburg College lad states, “If I had to give advice to anyone, I would really emphasise to follow your dreams and never give up! I have embarked on this campaign because I don’t want any regrets later in life, I want to look back and say that I gave it everything I had. I changed career, moved halfway around the world and took up the challenge I presented myself with. If I were to look at the challenge now, knowing what I have learned from it, I would be more hesitant, but ignorance is bliss and so plunge head first into your dreams and work it out as you go!”

The upbeat and optimistic character enthused, “After this it is back to winter training back in the UK, before heading out to Palma, Spain, in April for the opening event of the 2016 Summer Season. Lizzie and I will get a bit of downtime which typically allows us to explore with our puppy, Roxy. We love seeing new places and learning about people, past, present and future.”

Endeavouring in the present, the determined team of Graeme Willcox and Andrew Tarboton are pushing hard in day three of the 2015 49er World Championships taking place in Argentina where they hope to reach their ultimate goal of being qualifying and competing in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

For more info, visit http://49er.org/willcoxtarboton/ or https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/RSA49er

Q&A With Flying Fifteen sailor, Estelle Buys

Point Yacht Club

Q&A with Flying Fifteen Sailor – Estelle Buys

One of only a handful of experienced women sailors, Estelle Buys makes a welcome return to the water after taking a year’s sabbatical where she took up studying Nature Conservationism. Her first appearances of many this year was at the Opening Cruise hosted by Point Yacht Club. Every time the gorgeous young lady competes, you hear her joyful laughter and gleeful shouts a mile off, her bountiful passion evident both on and off the water.

My name is Estelle Buys

I was born on the pavement! Seriously.

I completed my schooling at the Afrikaans Hoërskool Kroonstad

I am a qualified Physiotherapist specialising in the treatment and rehabilitation of people with disabilities.

I got into sailing in 2006 when I was treating a principal sailing instructor from a sailing school and we had to figure out what he needed to be able to get back onto yachts. Afterwards he asked if I wanted to sail on dinghies, my answer was, “Why not?”. And a few years later I was having a beer on the lawn at the yacht club with the guys and I was asked if I wanted to buy a boat and my answer was,  “Why not!” and the rest is like they say - history.

Currently I live in Pinetown.

I am afraid of, actually I am yet to find something that I am afraid of.

My character is very interesting.

I have a weakness for nice tight bums and red wine.

My goal is to put a smile on people’s faces.

I am driven by my passion.

The one word I used the most: You have to ask Myles that!! I sail with him, and he hears it all.

If I could give one piece of advice to a large group of people, it would be to do something that scares you every day.

My favourite jokes is probably one where everybody is laughing at me being my silly self again.

What do you most enjoy about sailing Every moment out there! Even on a bad day it beats a good day indoors.

The best moment on the water was when I was sailing with Rick on my old classic lady Fe-Fi-Fo-Fum who is roughly 30 years old and we beat the hotshots, Patrick Harris and Jeremy Kriek on their new Foxxof!

Footnote from Myles White - I guess that there are several things that Stel says often, and some of those are unprintable! But, she loves to greet all and sundry, even on the water, with an enthusiastic ‘Hello hello hello!!’

Bart's Bash Durban

Point Yacht Club

Bart’s Bash

Harbour: Sunday 20 September

The second epic Bart’s Bash, Bart’s Bash 2 – ‘The Second Sail’ will be held in the Durban port on Sunday 20 September to open up the 2015/2016 sailing season.

The largest international sailing event coincides with the colourful formalities of Point Yacht Club’s annual Opening Cruise where all the yachts parade past the dignitary’s boat, donning their caps and saluting to all on-board. The boats will then head down to the start line in preparation of attempting to break the Guinness World Record set last year.

The global event invites sailing boats of all shapes and sizes to embrace the idea of getting on the water, racing, having fun and celebrating everything Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson stood for. The event, held in honour of Simpson recorded a phenomenal 30,734 sailors participating in the 2014 event and 16,870 boats. Over 500 venues hosted the 2014 worldwide race, with a total of 87,228,403 meters being sailed, which roughly equates to sailing twice around the world. In January this year, the inaugural Bart’s Bash entered the Guinness World Record books for the Largest Sailing Race in 24 Hours (multiple venues).

Simpson, an Olympic sailor, tragically died in a training accident for the America’s Cup in 2013. Bart’s Bash was created both as a fundraiser for various sailing academies around the world and of course to remember the inspirational sailor.

Initially Bart’s Bash organisers had hoped for 50 clubs to sign up for the inaugural day, with possibly 2,000 participants in the United Kingdom. The 2015 event appears to be gathering momentum as race day approaches.

Commodore for the Point Yacht Club, Craig Millar considers, “Entries are already over 320 yacht clubs and 45 countries participating and we are delighted to be one of those clubs. Last year we had 96 boats and over 200 sailors participating, the most we have had on the water in sometime. It was a phenomenal start to our busy season and was heartening to see so many sailors dusting off their kit and join in on this amazing event.”

Each race venue sets the course with the only specifications to be part of the Guinness World Record set by the race organisers, Bart’s Bash is for the course needing to be over 1km and sailed for more than 15minutes.

This exciting international event coincides with the opening of Durban’s summer sailing season, where Point Yacht Club will be hosting the Opening Cruise in the Durban Harbour on Sunday 20 September.

For more info visit www.pyc.co.za or http://www.bartsbash.com/

Wrap up for Bart's Bash 2015

Point Yacht Club

Bart’s Bash and Opening Season

Harbour: Sunday 20 September

The rain gods were kind to the Durban sailing community offering clear blue skies for the opening of the Summer Sailing Season and Bart’s Bash – ‘The Second Sail’ that took place on Sunday (20 September) in the harbour.

Over 50 boats gathered near the T-Jetty in the bay for the colourful formal procession hosted by Point Yacht Club. First in line and leading the sail past was the Life President of Point Yacht Club, Vernon Goss, he was followed by a magnificent fleet of all different shapes and sizes of boats. Gliding alongside the dignitaries’ boat in single file, every member of the crew donned their hats and gave three cheers to the Commodores with the greeting and well wishes being returned in the traditional opening for the sailing season.

After the last boat tipped their hat, the majority of yachts moved across to the race track to participate in the fun Bart’s Bash – ‘The Second Sail’. As the Rear Commodore of Keelers, Ron Pet, placed the last mark down, the predicted big winds picked up and quickly levelled out at 22knots. With the arrival of the Beasterly Easterly; the chop picked up making it a rather splashy affair. The anemometer reflected numbers in the low 30s as the gusts challenged a few of the helmsman, with some boats heeling over rather dramatically.

Overall numbers of boats and participants were down from the massive turn out last year, but the brave yachtsmen and women who came out had a blast as they whizzed around the bay in the fun opening cruise. “I think everyone who came out for the opening cruise had a blast on the water. A few boats got into the spirit of things and started water fights with each other.” said the new Commodore for the Point Yacht Club, Craig Millar.

Continuing, Millar said, “If the race reaches the same numbers as last year, it will be magnificent and cementing the fact that it is the biggest sailing event in the world. It takes the organisers in the UK a few months to tally all the numbers so we won’t know for a while if we got anywhere near the Guinness World Record. I know that when I left the club yesterday (Sunday) the total meters sailed so far around the world was currently standing at 460,333 across 62 countries.”

Taking line honours on the day was young Berea’s Jethro Tintinger-Brophy who was sailing solo on his Hobie 14. He finished the 2.2NM race in a time of 24.37, just ahead of Hilton’s Luke Wagner sailing the Pacer 375, Southern Storm. Only 24 boats finished the short course in the bay, the gusty conditions making it unfavourable and dangerous for the smaller boats and younger sailors that all participated last year.

Happening simultaneously, a handful of kitesurfers also took to the water offshore, as they couldn’t sail in the harbour due to port restrictions. They opted for a 12km course that was a direct line. The crew of kitesurfers recorded a maximum gust of 34knots, James Lea handled the blustery conditions perfectly and was the overall winner with a time of 1hour and 20minutes.

The next event for the Point Yacht Club is the Transnet Port to Port race that starts on World Maritime Day on Wednesday 23 September.  R35,000 is up for grabs in this inaugural race from Durban to Richard’s Bay.

For more info visit www.pyc.co.za

Results

Point Yacht Club

Bart’s Bash and Opening Season

Harbour: Sunday 20 September

Provisional Results

1 Catalyst (Jethro Brophy Tintinger - Hobie 14), 2 Therapy (Gavin Wadsworth), 3 Zing (Gavin Smith), 4 Southern Storm (Luke Wagner), 5 So Basic (Stuart Ritchie), 6 Skitzo (Nigel Milln), 7 Caversham Caprice (Jimmy Melville), 8 Bandit (Sean Jones), 9 Neptune’s Nymph (Phil Downing), 10 Bellissima (Vernon Goss), 11 Container World (Brenden Humphreys), 12 Alkistis (Greg Donkin), 13 PYC Challenger (Florence Marshall), 14 Crazy Diamond (Wayne Smith), 15 Shiloh (Tracy Bowman), 16 Deo Volente (Neville Bransbury), 17 Ithebe (Tim Wickham), 18 Mafuta (Robin Hulley), 19 Big Blue (Rory Simpson), 20 Vent de Cap (Andrew Pavid), 21 Hobbit (Sean Koegh) 22 Sea Witch (Vikus), 23 Magenta (Ricky Piper), 24 PGMT Clipper (Bernard Bussy)

Offshore: Sunday 20 September

Kitesurfers

1 James Lea, 2 Byron Watt, 3 Rossco Walters, 4 Alec Lanham-Love, 5 Bruce Gayham, 6 Craig Allsopp,

7 Leighton Moody

ENDS

Point Yacht Club elects their Flag Officers

Point Yacht Club

Flag Officers

Durban: Tuesday 7 September

The Point Yacht Club has a new helmsman, Round the World sailor; Craig Millar has been elected as the new Commodore for the Durban based yacht club.

With an extensive competitive sailing CV; Millar has numerous awards, both in South Africa and internationally competing in Hunters, J22 and Solings. His most triumphant sailing achievement would be when he was the skipper for the Durban entry in the 2005/2006 Clipper Round the World yacht race, where together with his crew they came second overall.

“It is a great honour to be bestowed with the title of Commodore. I sincerely hope to share and grow the phenomenal sport of sailing, and encourage more people to come and be a part of it.” encouraged, Millar.

Second in Command, Kevin Bingham will fill the role of Vice Commodore, Millar’s right hand man. Bingham has earned his stripes being a frequent Race Officer for dinghy racing most Saturday afternoons either in the bay or offshore. His CV boasts SASCOC Protea Colours for Sailing Management, Optimist World Champs team manager when they travelled to New Zealand in 2011; Past Chairman for SAS KZN and Past President for the SA Optimist Sailing Class and to round it off; he is a recognised SAS Provincial Race Officer as well.

“I am extremely lucky to be supported by a man of Kevin’s calibre as well as the experienced and highly competent team of Rear Commodores.” concluded Millar.

Joining him will be Myles White, who is in charge of the smaller boats and takes the role of Dinghy Rear Commodore. White has over 4 decades experience sailing in Durban, preferring the exhilaration of racing in his Flying Fifteen. White has experience in all aspects of sailing, having competed in long distance racing, round the cans racing, and more recently favouring dinghy racing.

“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.” enthused an optimistic White at the announcement.

Ron Pet will be looking after the larger yachts with his title of Keeler Rear Commodore; Pet’s love for the bigger yachts is evident with the amount of time he puts in as race officer on Wednesday night’s Twilight Racing and weekend offshore racing. Pet also is the hardworking man behind the scenes for the hugely popular MSC Week.

Retaining his position, Nik Albert stays on as the Youth Rear Commodore. Albert is a keen competitor himself in both the Hobie and Flying Fifteen classes. The keen Durban sailor has had a successful term with a number of youngsters coming up through the ranks, representing both Point Yacht Club and South Africa at a variety of events and Albert hopes to grow this.

Point Yacht Club has a fine team at the helm for the next cycle, with the recently elected Flag Officers starting to get into the groove of growing the sport of sailing in Durban.

For more info visit www.pyc.co.za

Chatting to budding new talent, Benji Daniel

Point Yacht Club

Interview with Benji Daniel

Durban has a budding new talent in the sailing fraternity, that of 14 year old Benji Daniel who hails from Hillcrest.

The youngster has just returned from the coastal town of Pwllheli in the north of Wales where he and his team mate Euan Hurter, competed in the Zhik 29er World Championships Regatta, finishing in an impressive and highly respectable fourth in the silver fleet.

Daniel was the youngest skipper competing out of 193 boats, “I enjoyed the challenge of being one of the younger skippers, a lot of the more experienced guys that were double or triple my age thought we were a joke and we managed to prove them wrong. But saying that, I learnt a tremendous amount being there, giving a gutsy performance and competing against the older guys!”

Asked how he would describe himself, the energetic water enthusiast claims it would be determined.  Currently finishing Grade 9 at Thomas More College, Daniel’s impressive international sailing CV continues to grow with each event he participates in.

“I think that Euan and I have both sailed enough in big fleets to get to grips a bit more on what to focus on. In a big fleet it is vital that you sail the fleet not a particular person, you also have to really focus the whole time because every mistake you make is punished which is good for gaining places but you lose out very quickly if you don't focus.”

Originally from Guildford in the south-east of London, the budding sailor compares, “Sailing in the UK is very structured, you learn to sail on an optimists, then you move up to RS Fevas and then on to 29ers where as in South Africa you do a bit of everything which in my opinion is just as good because you become a more rounded sailor capable of sailing anything.”

Having resided in South Africa for just over two years, he talks about the conditions when returning back to compete in his birth country, “Worlds was hard because of the venue, there were many land features that you had to know about but this was only for certain wind directions. Generally it was a pumping South-Wester which brought huge chop; that was the biggest challenge keeping the boat upright in those conditions.”

Chatting about a moment that stands out for him, he enthuses, “The moment that stands out for me most is when we got a second in the 8^th race. We had a good start but had lost out on the first upwind then came the downwind. We gybed off early and just sent it. We gained a lot of places, and on the next upwind we worked hard and sailed over the fleet followed by a consistent downwind led us to that result. Another moment would be the first day of the UK nationals coming off the water to find out we were eleventh overall. We didn't expect that!” reports the smiling lad.

At the recent Point Yacht Club’s Prize-Giving, Daniel cleaned up in both the youth and dinghy awards, raking in certificates, plaques, clocks and a trophy for PYC Youth Sailor of the Year that will take pride-and-place in his trophy cabinet at home.

His next challenge is that of training up his new team mate, Chad Stevenson. “I think in a year’s time Chad and I will be ready to take on the big names at the next worlds. It is in Long Beach, California in 2017; I would really like to go but for now the hard work starts so we can achieve this dream.”

But for now, the hard-working scholar returns to his books and concentrates on the final term of Grade 9, while getting as much sailing in on the weekends with his new sailing buddy. The next big event for him will be the start of the Point Yacht Club’s Dinghy Series at the end of October.

For more info visit www.pyc.co.za or join the Facebook group.

Brothers Rudy and Michael head off to compete in Canada

Point Yacht Club

Kingston Laser Worlds Standard Mens

Kingston, Canada: 2 – 8 July

Brothers, Rudy and Mike McNeill prepare to pack their bags as they head off to the Kingston Laser Worlds Standards Mens in Canada from 2 – 8 July.

On the back of the SA Laser Nationals held in Durban at the beginning of May, the sailing duo have had a good build up to this massive event where only 158 sailors are being allowed to compete. The competitors will be split into different fleets with roughly 50 boats lining up at the start.

Rudy (24) has an notable CV in the Laser class, having travelled to all parts of the world representing South Africa. Last year was not a good year for the young sailor, “I was out for most of last year with injuries, so it was a welcome return being back on the water and able to perform. I was happy with the rehabilitation of my injured knees and ankle. Leading up to the KZN Champs and Nationals, Mike and I worked hard to improve, pushing each other which helped to build up both of our confidences quite a lot.”

This is the one and only opportunity the two lads representing the Point Yacht Club have to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympics.

“There were times I had to dig deep at the Nationals. It wasn’t all easy, I got two sixes but fortunately I won the other races on those days. I kept telling myself to get over the previous race, focus on the new one. My mantra became ‘You are Rudy McNeill, do what you do, don’t worry! Enjoy it.’ It worked wonders.”

He admitted, “If you look at the starboard side of my mast, I wrote my name there to remind myself of where I have come from and where I want to go! If ever I doubted myself, I would just look at that, know that I am experienced and build from there.”

Older brother Rudy has had the good fortune of competing in Kingston before, having competed at the ISAF Youth Worlds when he was 16. “I have been lucky enough to compete in Kingston before, so it isn’t completely foreign to me. But big fleet racing is always challenging especially the start, the huge jostle on the line with everyone trying to get into a good position. The starts can make or break your race.”

20 year old Michael has just moved up to the full rig which has a bigger sail. Big brother Rudy boasted, “Mike is still 10kg to light for the full rig. If he puts on a bit more weight he is going to go much faster. In the recent nationals, he was only three points off experienced sailor, Campbell Alexander, so he did quite well. In the light winds, he cooks but he needs a bit more confidence in the stronger winds.”

Canada in July is glorious, and the waters off Kingston offer some of the best fresh-water sailing in the world. Having previously hosted the 1976 Olympics at the Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, it seems fitting for the McNeill brothers as they tackle a week of epic sailing in the hopes of qualifying for the Olympics.

For more info visit www.pyc.co.za