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.

Durban Sailing Communities donate money to National Sea Rescue Institute Rescue 5

Point Yacht Club

NSRI Fundraiser

Donations from the Barrel Race 2014 were presented to the National Sea Rescue Institute Durban Station with the Durban sailing community raising a whopping R109,075 to the volunteer organisation.

The annual Barrel Race is an event hosted by Point Yacht Club and organised jointly with the Bluff Yacht Club, Island Sailing Club and Royal Natal Yacht Club.

Fundraising activities included a beach party at PYC’s Beach Site, a fine dining event at PYC, a party at Royal Natal Yacht Club and the main Barrel Day during which all clubs contributed and took part.

The fun-filled Barrel Day included a fun race in the harbour, where a number of the NSRI volunteers joined the sailors on their romp around the bay. After all the water based activities, the fun returned to the shore for the land-based festivities.

In addition to the events, the money raised was through various donations, including the generous contributions from Seaport Supply, Offshore Sailing Academy, Dockleveller Supplies, Decorland and Alexander, Cox Attorneys.

The Durban sailing community handed over a cheque to the value of R80,000 to the NSRI in 2013, growing their support by nearly R30,000. The money raised will go towards helping with their maintenance that is a constant drain on their finances as well as adding to their savings towards a new 12meter rescue boat that they are hoping to launch in Durban in 2015.

“Local support for Sea Rescue is critical. It is extremely expensive to run a NSRI station and having the support of local business, clubs and individuals helps us to afford to keep our equipment in tip top condition, make sure that we always have fuel, excellent Personal Protective equipment like wetsuits and lifejackets as well as carrying out general preventative maintenance.” affirmed Clifford Ireland, the Station Five Station Commander.

Ireland joined the NSRI in 1992 and soon became a Class 1 Coxswain, and then the Durban Station Commander in 2010. “Last year the NSRI nationally had 662 rescue responses, spent 3,992 hours on operations and 7,903 hours on training across all 35 stations. We rescued 1,131 people.” Ireland proudly explained.

The hard working Durban establishment is one of four in the KZN province and their team is constantly training for any instance that could happen in our coastal waters, “Training depends on the station, but a norm would be a crew meeting each week, often on Wednesdays and then training on one day of the weekend. Again this changes station to station. The smaller stations will have one crew who will be training each weekend and the bigger stations four crews who train one day a month on their weekend on duty.”

Looking ahead at the 2015 Barrel Race, Ireland commented, “Thank you to all who took part and to all who put so much time and effort into making the 2014 Barrel Race unforgettable. Monies raised in this year’s event will be used to replace wetsuits and life-jackets. And of course towards the big one, our new rescue boat that will cost in the region of R13 million!

This year the Barrel Race hosted by all of the Durban yacht clubs will be held on Sunday 28 June

For more info visit the yacht clubs websites.

2015 SA Laser Nationals

SA Laser Nationals

Durban: 30 April – 3 May

 The 2015 edition of the SA Laser Nationals will unfold offshore off Durban over the May Day weekend kicking off on 30 April until 3 May.

The Laser is the most popular single-handed sailing dinghy in the world and the annual event is hoping that close to 80 boats from around the country will hit the water to compete. Top South African sailors along with a handful of international competitors will take to the Indian Ocean in the hope of being crowned national champion.

Lining up at the start to defend their titles that they won last year in the Western Cape will be local lads, Rudy McNeil and Sam Lombard together with the rose of Durban’s Laser community, Frances van Breda. Van Breda recently competed in the 2014 Audi Laser Master World Championships in France, with the lessons learnt in Europe, she promises to be a feisty competitor in her home conditions.

Another big name is the 2012 winner from when it was last held in Durban; Stefano Marcia from Cape Town has been doing loads of training in Spain and more recently in Australia in his campaign to compete in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Australian Grand Master, Colin Dibb confirmed that he would be travelling to his place of birth to compete. With a string of world champion titles to his name, he will be returning to his old hunting ground to show his class. Dibb came third overall in the 2012 Laser Nationals and was the recipient of the Grand Master or ‘Greybeard’ Trophy.

Top local lads, Rudy McNeil and Sam Lombard will be back to defend their titles, along with top national and international sailors. McNeil is hoping that 2015 will be a better year for him having been plagued by injuries last year. The young Lombard recently competed in Japan, not doing as well as he had hoped, finishing 21st in the silver fleet but claims that he hopes to improve on his performance in years to come.

Joining them are other locals Michael McNeil who placed third in his class last year; Campbell Alexander; Trent Bingham; and Richard Bates. Doing well on the club circuit, Henri Frencken will also be hitting the water.

Flying the flag for the Western Cape contingent along with Marcia are Alan Keen, Ken Holiday, Lance Burger, Ralph Thomas and Alistair Keytel. Keen is preparing for the Laser Worlds in Kingston, Canada taking place in July.

  

Rudolph Holm and Shellee Nel will be leading a contingent of young sailors from Gauteng.

Campbell Alexander stated, “This is the second time in many years that we are hosting the Laser Nationals in our home waters. Durban in May is at its best with the beach, the sun, the great sea swells and good breeze – and when the breeze picks up fantastic wave riding. I am sure that everyone competing will love our “Durban, the warmest place to be” conditions.”

  

Leading up to the Nationals, Richards Bay will host the KZN Provincials offshore. A fleet of sailors will use this opportunity to get in some much needed time on the water before the big event.

Laser – a swell boat to sail, the South African Laser Nationals will be taking place in Durban from 30 April to 3 May.

For more info visit: http://www.laser.org.za/, https://salasernationals.wordpress.com or like the Facebook page.

Point Yacht Club Caney Series Day Two

11 boats ventured out for a gentle sail for race two of Point Yacht Club’s Caney Series held offshore of Durban on Sunday.

Andrew Dolloway sailing on his trimaran, Ladybird was the first boat to finish the long figure of 8 course sneaking across the line in under two and a half hours. He started towards the back of the fleet but made the early break with a starboard tack which paid off well for the pacey trimaran. 

 

Rounding the fairway marker with a comfortable lead, he confidently flew his kite down to the first mark set off Moses Mabhida Stadium, but had to gybe twice losing a bit of time as he neared land. Having a better line to the bottom mark, Crazy Diamond’s Wayne Smith managed to gain some ground on Ladybird as he went around the second mark but wasn’t able to keep up with Dolloway on the remaining beat to Virginia Beach and run to the finish near the harbour mouth. Smith and his crew crossed the line seven minutes behind Dolloway.

Bandit with Sean Jones on the stick had a quiet day on the water finishing in third place, quite a way behind his rival Crazy Diamond. Adrenaline junkie, Sean Jones usually ventures out when the breeze  blows more than 10knots decided to enjoy the tranquil conditions.

Rear Commodore for Keelers, Jon Marshall helming Majimoto, who topped the leader board after the first race of the series in December, was again the first monohull across the line. He was followed by Stuart Ritchie sailing the sleek So Basic with the Commodore of the Royal Natal Yacht Club’s Graham Rose on Zap coming across in third.

Point Yacht Club’s Honorary Commodore, Vernon Goss skippering Bellissima had a disappointing day on the water taking the wrong line to the first mark which cost him dearly, and Goss and his crew found themselves right at the back of the fleet. After the scenic beat up to the fairway mark, the crew opted to call it a day, not finishing the race. At the start of the race, Zap were in third place overall on the leader board behind Bellissima but now with Bellissima not finishing, Zap will climb the board into second place behind Marshall.

The much smaller Hobies joined the race to get in some much needed water time leading up to their Nationals taking place in April. Recent birthday boy, 80 year old Al Gorlei trekked out to the fairway mark but called it a day after rounding the mark on the horizon slowly making his way back to the beach site. Two of the Hobies opted to only sail the first triangle, cutting their race short in the calm conditions.

The only sailors on their Hobie to determinedly finish the full figure of 8 were Justin and James Butler, gliding across the line shortly after Majimoto.

Light easterly winds of about 3knots greeted the seven keel boats and four Hobies as they made their way through the start line. Gradually the consistent easterly built to 7knots giving the boats a bit more umph as they completed the long winding course.

This Sunday will be the third race in the Caney Series held offshore. For more info visit www.pyc.org.za or like their Facebook page.

Overall Results

A Division

1 Majimoto (Jon Marshall) 2points, 2 Zap (Graham Rose) 5pts, 3 Vernon Goss (Bellissima) 9pts, 4 So Basic (Stuart Ritchie) 10ts, 5 Container World (Brendan Humphries) 11pts, 6 Bellatrix (Gregg Hurter) 14pts

Multihulls

1 Crazy Diamond (Wayne Smith) 2pts, 2 Bandit (Sean Jones) 4pts, 3 Ladybird (Andrew Dolloway) 7pts

Race Two Results

A Division

1 Majimoto (Jon Marshall), 2 So Basic (Stuart Ritchie), 3 Zap (Graham Rose), DNF Bellissima (Vernon Goss)

Multihulls

1 Ladybird (Andrew Dolloway), 2 Crazy Diamond (Wayne Smtih), 3 Bandit (Sean Jones)

Battle of Trafalgar Pursuit Race

Royal Natal Yacht Club

Battle of Trafalgar

Offshore of Durban: Sunday 16 November

The second attempt to chase the French Flag will take place offshore of Durban on Sunday 16 November after inclement weather forced the postponement of the Battle of Trafalgar Pursuit Race hosted by the Royal Natal Yacht Club.

The Battle of Trafalgar was raced in big seas last year with Morningside’s Gregg Hurter sailing Bellatrix taking honours. Hurter and his crew have entered and are hoping to defend their title as they hunt down the French Flag.

The Trafalgar race is a pursuit race; the slowest boat will head through the start line first and usually flies a French Flag at the back. The rest of the fleet heads off through the start line at intervals at a specific time depending on their handicap and the fastest boat heads off last. They then chase after the slowest boat, in the hopes of capturing the flag and the title.

“If the conditions play along, then the finish is really exciting with all the boats converging on the line on-mass.” the Rear Commodore of the Royal Natal Yacht Club, Rob Samways explained. “The start is quite technical with the boats heading off in batches at a specific time. It is like racing an everyday car versus a Formula One beast, you of course are going to give the slower car a head start.”

10 yachts headed off on Sunday 19 October to compete in the age old annual event, including defending champion, Hurter. As the small fleet exited the harbour, they were greeted by huge running swells with a few rogue waves breaking off in the distance.

Race Officer for the day, Rob Samways tried valiantly to get the race underway dropping a start line off of Addington Beach but conditions was too hazardous for the yachts. Light winds would not have been able to power the yachts over the rising swell with the tail end of the set having white horses on them.

“We watched as a heavily laden ship departed Durban and saw how the conditions were knocking it about. It was tilting at about 40degrees as it got hammered by the waves.” Samways stated when he was safely back on land.

“About 70 guys are really looking forward to the race, we have a competitive fleet entered, including newcomers to Durban sailing, Ray of Light skippered by Heidi Kavanagh from Port Shepstone, formerly from Cape Town.” The Rear Commodore concluded.

The hunt for the blue, white and red flag is on as the Durban sailors head offshore to compete in the Battle of Trafalgar on Sunday 16 November.

For more info visit www.rnyc.org.za or contact Kearin on 031 301 5425.