PYC Offshore Sailing

Point Yacht Club

Offshore Sailing

The Easter weekend was a busy patch for the more competitive sailors of Durban with three major events concluding around the country.

Down in Port Elizabeth, brothers Thomas and Peter Funke achieved their intentions of finishing in the top ten at the SAP 505 World Championships. Funke squared came eighth overall after eight races. They were the top South African finishers on the leaderboard, behind legends Mike Holt and Carl Smit from America who cleaned up with five first places.

The Robinson brothers, Ricky and Brennan representing the Royal Natal Yacht Club had a fantastic series, showing their dexterity on any sailing craft, finishing 13^th. Amanzimtoti’s Jay D’Engle sailing with Cape Townian Dewet Nel ended his regatta in 18^th.

In Durban, oodles of Hobie sailors took to the warm waters to compete in the Hobie Nationals. The bright and colourful fleet enjoyed superb conditions over four days. Race officer from Cape Town, Doug Allison got in eleven races. After a tense start to the regatta with three false starts in the opening race and a black flag being raised for the remainder of the day, the adrenaline junkies managed to roll in the results.

Taking honours in the main class, William and Lucinda Edwards from Knysna Yacht Club wrapped up with six first places and three second places concluding the four days as deserved winners. Iconic Hobie sailor and World Champion, Blaine Dodds competing with his gorgeous daughter Roxanne, tallied up four firsts and six seconds, settling for silver just two points behind the Edwards. Top local PYC members, Ewald and Ali Erasmus were in the top ten, with their seventh place overall.

Special mention goes to Aldino Gorlei, who recently celebrated his 80^th birthday, finished an impressive fifth in the Hobie 14 class.

Up in Richards Bay an impressive fleet of 14 large keelboats are safely moored after fantastic downwind sailing, they set sail from Inhaca Island in Mozambique on Good Friday in the long distance race to Zululand. Most of the entries used the event as practice for the upcoming gruelling 400 nautical mile Vasco da Gama to Port Elizabeth.

Taking line honours in the 25^th edition of the Inhaca Yacht Race, local entry from Zululand Yacht Club Zeus skippered by Don Voysey in a pacey 23 hours 16 minutes and 48 seconds followed by the Rear Commodore of Point Yacht Club, Jon Marshall sailing on Majimoto just half an hour behind Zeus. Marshall, sailing with his daughters and crewman Edrich ‘Lucky Eddie’ de Lange, were crowned handicap winners. Another PYC member, Greg Donkin helming Alkistis finished third in both handicap and across the line.

April continues to be a busy sailing season with the start of the Vasco da Gama Ocean Race on Saturday 25 April and the SA Laser Nationals taking place from Wednesday 29 April with close to 100 boats taking part.

For more info go to www.pyc.co.za.

Chatting to 505 Sailor Thomas Funke

Point Yacht Club

505 World Championships

Interview with Thomas Funke

Watching the sailing brothers Thomas and Peter Funke carve through the water offshore of Durban on their 505 is pure sporting artistry.

The young duo are about to tackle top international sailors at the 505 World Championships taking place towards the end of March in Port Elizabeth.  This will be their sixth outing to compete at a World Championship.

“Our Dad started us off young on his keelboat, when we were only a few months old at Hartbeespoort Dam. We grew up on the water. When I was old enough to sail solo, I jumped onto an Oppie for about a year and then moved to a Dabchick which I raced on until I was in matric.” older brother, Thomas shares.

At the turn of the 21^st century, the brothers joined forces to form a formidable crew racing in the 505 class. A 505 is a one-design high performance two-person monohull that is extremely exciting to sail as both crew members trapezes on a wire as they soar through the water.

“Racing 505s is a bit of an addiction at the start, and then you just keep going. The World Champs is like those big work conferences, it is just this group of crazy guys that meet all over the world every year for this event.”

“We last competed at the Worlds in Kiel, Germany last August. We struggled a bit, the average wind speeds were about 25knots for the whole regatta and the boat we were racing wasn’t set up for the winds we experienced. We finished OK, 47^th out of a 175 teams. We wanted a top 40 which we have done before but it was not to be. In Barbados, the year before, we almost cracked the top 30s but had a last bad day.” Funke explained.

With four national titles behind their name, Funke enthuses, “This year, we are feeling very good leading up to the regatta. We have just purchased a two year old boat that costs more than buying two cars but we won’t talk about that.” he states with a wry chuckle.

“We took the plunge because for us, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity that the Worlds is coming to South Africa, our home waters! The last time it was hosted here was in 2000 in Durban. It was a complete blow out and the organisers were very hesitant to host it here again.”

“We have managed to train a lot in PE; we competed in a regatta towards the end of last year. There were some visiting Germans who were here training and we managed to beat them in all the races which helped our confidence. We recently invested in a new set of sails, so the equipment is up to scratch now it is up to us. No more excuses!” he says laughing.

“Our performance is already showing signs of improvement, this boat that we are using now is a full carbon boat and you can feel the difference between our previous old reliable boat to this one. Every wave the old boat used to give a bit and the new one doesn’t give at all.”

Training together for the Funkes requires a lot of travelling. Thomas has been residing in Ballito for almost five years now and Peter lives up in Gauteng. “We usually meet half way at Sterkfontein Dam in the Free State. We plan on training in PE, in Johannesburg, all around the country really before the event. We try and make a plan to meet up every free weekend. Otherwise rely on general cardio to keep fit.”

“Being brothers, we’ve had our challenges. We used to swop helming after every race but then we almost got protested out because you had to keep the same driver for the entire regatta. Then we started alternating after every regatta.”

“Campaigning in Europe and doing so many worlds, it wasn’t feasible to change all the time. After the Worlds in La Rochelle, France where I skippered, we decided to concentrate and perfect one role. Also with the last worlds so soon before this one, we decided it best for Peter to helm and build on the teamwork that we have been doing.”

“Peter is four years younger.” he states, “It is interesting, a lot of the 505 teams are family, either father and son or brothers.”

Asked what his most memorable moment is on the water, he “There are many great moments, either flying across the dam or offshore. One that comes to mind was in 2010 in P.E., it was blowing about 35knots and they canned the racing. We decided to get some video footage so we went out, put the bag up and absolutely screamed towards Bird Island. This motor boat with the film crew couldn’t keep up. That was on the edge.” a reminiscing Funke claims.

The Funke brothers together with a handful of Durban lads will be off to Port Elizabeth to compete in the 505 World Championships, returning back to the scene of one of his epic moments on the water with his brother, and hoping that this is the year that they score big in the results.

Royal Natal Yacht Club Christmas Regatta

Royal Natal Yacht Club

Christmas Regatta incorporating Flying Fifteen Nationals and 505 Championships

Offshore: Saturday 13 – Tuesday 16 December

A small competitive fleet participated in the Christmas Regatta hosted by Royal Natal Yacht Club over the long weekend in Durban leading up to the festive season.

Race officer Rob Samways managed to get in nine races over the three days of competition with eight races counting and one race being a discard. Newcomers to the fleet Paul Changuion and crew member Tim Duguid were crowned champions in the Flying Fifteen fleet.

Changuion and Duguid have recently made a move from racing in the Hunter class to the Flying Fifteens. The sailors who have had the honour of competing in events such as the Lipton Challenge Cup and other big National and International events worked hard in preparation for the National Regatta. Their determined hard work paid off toppling defending champions Patrick Harris and Jeremy Kriek. They earned three first places, three second places, a third and fourth to end the regatta with 16points. Their discard was a race that they didn’t compete in, the final race on day two.

In the 505 class there was a tie on points at the conclusion for the overall leaderboard. Brothers Thomas and Peter Funke were in a demanding position claiming the top spot in the first four races. On the second day the brothers opted not to compete but rather to get in some training ahead of the 505 World Championships, the conditions offshore were testing with winds in the low 20knots and the 4m swell rising in quick concession. The talented duo spent five hours offshore flying across the water and as racing concluded disappointedly damaged a fixture on their rudder and were unable to race on the final day. Sharing the points with the Funke brothers were Ulrich and Marius Fourie who, like the Funke brothers only got on the water for two days. They both ended on a respectable 16 points.

Samways stated, “It is a treat for the Flying Fifteens to race offshore and the conditions were somewhat trying. The first day was perfect racing with a small running swell and winds just over 10knots. Nine boats joined us that day. The numbers dropped drastically for day two but the conditions were extremely challenging for everyone out on the water. Myles was telling me that he clocked a boat speed of 14knots with only his mainsail powering them. Massive swells with winds consistently in the high teens and early twenties. Day three was overcast and drizzly but seven boats joined us which was fantastic.”

Continuing he said, “Only two 505s participated which was disappointing as the World Championship is around the corner but well done to the guys that did come out. They got some really good training with the variety of conditions.”

Flying Fifteen Nationals

1 Paul Changuion / Tim Duguid 16pts, 2 Campbell Alexander / Chris Clark 18pts, 3 Mike Wright / Jon Marshall 32pts, 4 = Patrick Harris / Jeremy Kriek 40pts, 4 = Gregg Hurter / Jeff Rose 40pts, 6 Myles White / David Curtis 50pts, 7 Craig Campbell / Ian Hogg 55pts, 8 Edrich de Lange / Charlotte Marshall 68pts, 9 Nqoba Mswazi / Thokozani Latha 78pts, 10 Neil Yelland / Michael Surgeson 88pts

505 Provincials

1 = Peter Funke / Thomas Funke 16pts, 1 = Ulrich Fourie / Marius Fourie 16pts