So, Whose Line is it anyway?

Point Yacht Club

Whose Line is it Anyway

Harbour: Saturday 5 December

A small group of sailors ventured out in overcast conditions on Saturday to compete in the fun So, Whose Line is it Anyway? hosted by Point Yacht Club that took place in the bay.

Getting three races in, race officer Lucy de Freitas set a short windward / leeward course with the start and finish line midway down the sausage course. Four classes participated in the racing, with 6 Lasers and two Finns making up the first fleet, five Flying Fifteens and a 29er that swopped and shared crew made up the second fleet, and two multi-hulls and two Oppies completed the fleets on the water.

Having recently returned from work in Madagascar, Laser sailor Gregg Dobson dominated the Laser fleet, showing his prowess in the class with wins in all three races.  The long-time partners, Patrick Harris and Jeremy Kriek enjoyed topping the log in the Flying Fifteen class, with a tussle between husband and wife team, Michael and Heidi Kavanagh and Myles White and Estelle Buys for second place. One point separated them, with the Kavanaghs settling into second. Sneaking into fourth, only one point off of third place was Howick’s Anthony McMillan sailing with young Cameron Booth.

Getting in training ahead of the youth world champs, 29er sailors Benji Daniel and Chad Stevenson enjoyed themselves on the water, mixing it up with Daniel jumping onto Sam Lombaard’s Laser Radial and sailing single handed for a bit while Stevenson paired up with Lombaard on the 29er. The Michaelhouse school lad took the challenge of driving the fast dinghy and Stevenson taking up his usual role at the sharp end of the boat.

Having just returned from the NKA Hobie Tiger Spinnaker Provincials up at the Vaal Dam, Hillcrest’s Murray May teamed up with adrenaline junkie, Michael Dickenson to power their Hobie Tiger around the course. They snuck ahead of Bill Ellens sailing on his Halcat, having taken the win in the first race, Ellens retired after the second, giving the young Tiger team the edge to get ahead on the scoreboard.

The juniors of the fleets, the Optimists had two sailors heading around the course getting in training ahead of the Youth Nationals that will be taking place this weekend at Wiggleswade Dam. Callum Gaughran showed what he had learnt in Poland, taking the win ahead of versatile sailor, Iain Bowman.

This weekend, competitors can expect a long distance race with Race Officer, Lucy de Freitas sending all the sailors off on one start, with the boats stretching their legs adventuring around a bay. Then next week sailors will be heading offshore to compete in the much anticipated Flying Fifteen Nationals that Point Yacht Club will be jointly hosting with Royal Natal Yacht Club.

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

Fleet B

1 Gregg Dobson (Laser Standard) 3pts, 2= Richard Bates (Laser Standard) 8pts, 2= Denny Moffatt (Laser Standard) 8pts, 4 Sam Lombaard (Laser Radial) 17pts, 5 Keith Gregory (Finn) 18pts, 6= Denmar Nel (Laser Standard) 19pts, 6= Dave Booth (Finn) 19pts, 8 Benji Daniel (Laser Radial) 21pts

Fleet C

1 Patrick Harris / Jeremy Kriek (Flying Fifteen) 3pts, 2 Heidi Kavanagh / Michael Kavanagh (Flying Fifteen) 8pts, 3 Myles White / Estelle Buys (Flying Fifteen) 9pts, 4 Antony McMillan / Cameron Booth (Flying Fifteen) 10pts, 5 Clinton Hendrie / Patricia Kilburn (Flying Fifteen) 18pts, 6= Benji Daniel / Chad Stevenson (29er) 22pts, 6= Sam Lombaard / Chad Stevenson (29er) 22pts

Fleet D

1 Murray May / Michael Dickenson (Hobie Tiger) 3pts, 2 Bill Ellens (Halcat) 4pts

Fleet E

1 Callum Gaughran (Oppie) 4pts, 2 Iain Bowman (Oppie) 5pts

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/

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

RNYC Dinghy Series and Umhloti Mayor's Race

Royal Natal Yacht Club

Dinghy Series and Umhloti Mayor’s Race

Harbour: Saturday 24 January

Offshore: Sunday 25 January

Two days of blue sky sailing hosted by the Royal Natal Yacht Club for a variety of Durban sailors took place offshore and in the harbour over the weekend.

The conclusion of the Dinghy Series hosted by the Royal Natal Yacht Club on Saturday saw Campbell Alexander and Chris Clark take the honours in the Flying Fifteens, Rob Samways and Jared Quinn on their Dart and Henri Frencken in the Laser class.

Race officer Jennifer Weyer only managed to get in two races for the 11 boats on Saturday. The conditions were near perfect with blue skies and 13 – 15 knots of wind powering the dinghies. Setting a long windward leeward course on the far side of the bay, the fleet took off punctually. Just as the boats neared the finish line, the first race was abandoned due to a large vessel being moved near the course. Racing eventually got under way.

There were two starts with the Flying Fifteens and Lasers sharing a start sequence and the two Darts and one Halcat going off in the second. Graham Weyer and Neil Wadsworth got off to a cracker of a start in both races, camping near the line and timing the start magnificently.

After the race, Neil Wadsworth stated, “My body is broken! But what a thrill being on the Dart, it carves through the water.”

Newcomers to the Flying Fifteen fleet, Struan Campbell and Richard Weddle worked hard and pushed the more experienced Flying Fifteens. The duo managed to take the second race after a fantastic race.

Offshore on Sunday 13 yachts started in the Umhloti Mayor’s Race in light winds and lumpy seas. The long distance race took the fleet north a nautical mile beyond the uMhlanga lighthouse. The Bill Piddington Trophy was won by Rick Parker, the trophy is awarded to the first over 60 year old helmsman. Rick Parker was at the wheel of second placed Bellatrix.

Ray of Light helmed by Heidi Kavanagh streaked ahead straight out of the starting blocks. The team seemed to have a comfortable lead as they neared the weather mark offshore of uMhlanga. Warren Clark skippering Pallucci had a cracker of a beat having opted to go offshore and out of sight while the rest of the fleet stayed inshore, Clark rounded the buoy moments after Ray of Light.

On the finish, Ray of Light showed her prowess crossing the line first with Bellatrix having a marvellous run, finishing six minutes behind of Kavanagh’s crew. There was a long wait until the third boat with the committee boating waiting just over an hour. Pallucci had a disappointing run claiming third in line honours with Jon Marshall at the wheel of Majimoto finishing five seconds behind Clark.

Another tussle took place in the multihulls between Bill Ellens on his trimaran Magic Dragon and Sean Jones on his catamaran Bandit. Ellens had a little more puff thad Jones, crossing the line two minutes ahead.

The Commodore of the Royal Natal Yacht Club, Graham Rose armed with his secret weapon, top hot shot sailor who is competing internationally, Jared Quinn; were unable to complete the race in the allocated 5hours and 15minutes for the race.

Of the 13 yachts that started only seven managed to finish, five retired from the race and Zap unfortunately not making the cut off time.

“I only have one word for that race,” Gavin Wadsworth, skipper of Therapy said back at the club house, “Frustration! There were loads of holes where we stalled. We had a decent beat, lying second at one stage but often lost boat speed in patches were there was no wind.”

This weekend sees the Point Yacht Club Class Champs on Saturday and the Royal Natal Yacht Club Waterfront Catamaran Series resumes.

For more info visit www.rnyc.org.za or like their Facebook page.

Wrap up for Jonsson Cup Pursuit Race

Point Yacht Club

Jonsson Cup Pursuit Race

A zig-zag course in the bay had a fleet of 53 dinghies travelling to all corners of the harbour on Saturday with Jon Marshall from Westville claiming the honours in Point Yacht Club’s Jonsson Cup Pursuit Race.

Marshall, the Rear Commodore for Keelers at Point Yacht Club traded in his larger, more familiar chariot for a much smaller Laser. The race that got underway just beyond the Durban Marina saw the large mixed fleet head off in light conditions towards the harbour mouth.

“It was a bit of an obstacle course dodging the busy afternoon shipping movements. On our first beat up we encountered our first challenge, a massive container ship arriving with a bevy of tugs around her. We had a few more large vessels we had to quickly get out the way of.” Marshall said when back on land.

“It was a fantastic race, long and hard work but great to be out there with all the guys. I am delighted with the win and just managed to take Gregg (Dobson) as we made our way down to the finish.” an elated Marshall said.

Gregg Dobson who has recently returned to Durban couldn’t wait to participate. The experienced yachite led for most of the race on his Laser, with Marshall just off his shoulder as they tackled the winding course designed to last two hours. As the duo neared the finish, Dobson opted for the more sheltered inland approach as Marshall didn’t go so near to land.

The finish line was set off in the shadow of the Bluff which gave the fleet their final challenge as the light winds dropped and then filled in making the final push to the line somewhat agonising for most. Marshall managed to crawl across the line as his nearest competitor, Dobson stalled with the wind taking ages to give him a lift, and in those vital moments, the duo racing on a Flying Fifteen, Paul Changion and Tim Duiguid slipped across the line having taken the open water approach to the line catching the ocean breeze before it got to the stranded Dobson.

Marshall was in one of the larger fleets with 11 full rig Lasers on the water and a couple of smaller Lasers getting in some water time as well. The Flying Fifteens were the next best represented class with eight crafts taking up the challenge. There were a few larger ‘dinghies’ as well with a few youngsters getting in some training on the L26 Container World and two other keel boats participating.

The first junior to cross the line was Alex Thorpe helming a classic little Gypsey with his Dad, Ralph. The easy to sail Gypsey is a South African designed two person boat that is ideal for learning to sail in. The Thorpes finished 21^st overall.

The long hard slog for the 53 small boats ended with Jon Marshall crossing the line in just under two hours in Point Yacht Club’s Jonsson Cup Pursuit Race on Saturday.

Results

1 Jon Marshal (Laser), 2 Paul Changuion / Tim Duguid (FF15), 3 Gregg Dobson (Laser), 4 Martin Zimmerman / Carl Zimmerman (FF15), 5 Rudy McNeill (Laser), 6 Andrew Walford (Laser), 7 Campbell Alexander / Chris Clark (FF15), 8 Anthony MacMillan (Laser), 9 Patrick Harris / Jeremy Kriek (FF15), 10 Gregg Hurter / Nic Albert (FF15), 11 Myles White (FF15), 12 Henri Frencken (Laser), 13 Rob Goulden (Laser), 14 Trent Bingham (Laser), 15 Heidi Kavanagh, Michael Kavanagh (FF15), 16 Bill Evans (Dragonfly), 17 Ricky Robinson (Sprog), 18 Anthony Arbuthnot (Laser), 19 Alec Lanham-Love / Greg de Beyer (49er), 20 Rob Tarboton / Michael Dickinson (29er), 21 Alex Thorpe / Ralph Thorpe (Gypsey), 22 Denmar Nel (Laser), 23 Dylan Albert (Dabchick), 24 David Curtis (Rebel), 25 Tony Alison / Pam Zarnack (Rebel), 26 Jacky Barnard / Clynton de Finn (Mistral), 27 Jethro Brophy – Tintinger / Eli Brophy – Tintinger (420), 28 CJ Miln (Laser), 29 Peter Hall (Hobie 14), 30 Bart Fokkens / Hannah Fokkens (Halcat), 31 Paul Ridsdale (Hobie 16), 32 John Banfield / John Banfield Jnr (FF15), 33 Simon Musgrave (Laser), 34 Liam Fennessy / Tristan Hancock (Hobie 16), 35 Justin Butler / Murray May (Hobie 16), 36 Sean Hurter / Benji Daniels (29er), 37 Wayne Smith (Hobie 14), 38 Richard Potgieter (Halcat), 39 Nic Koekemoer (Halcat), 40 Bruce Edward (Paper Tiger), 41 Hannah Tiedt (Laser 4.7), 42 Colin Fleming (Hobie 14 Turbo), 43 Brendan Humphries (L26), 44 Cameron Parle (RS Tera Sport), 45 Sven Paton (RS Tera Pro) 46 Matthew Hall / Chad Stevenson (Hobie Dragon), DNF James Butler (RS Tera Pro), DNF Braeden Royal / Yashir Seetal (RS Feva), DNF Trevor Gibb / Jessica Fennesy (Mirror), DNF Straun Campbell / Janet Campbell (Argie 15), DNF Richard Bates (Laser), DNF Andrew Butler (Extra), DNS Ayanda Idube (Tera)