Wrap Up for Point Yacht Club Flying Fifteen Nationals and Hobie 16 Regionals

Offshore Durban: 16 - 18 December

Three days of adverse conditions tested two small, competitive fleets of sailors competing in the Flying Fifteen Nationals and Hobie 16 Provincials hosted by Point Yacht Club.

In the Flying Fifteen Nationals - No strangers to being at the front of the pack in the magnificent Flying Fifteen class, Patrick Harris and Jeremy Kriek led throughout the regatta, impressively taking top honours in seven out of the nine races, finding it heavy going in the light winds on the final day and finishing second behind Anthony McMillan and Danish sailor, Lauritz Walsøe. Pushing Harris and Kriek throughout the regatta, Campbell Alexander sailing with visiting crew, Dr Stephanie Brown from the UK who scored six seconds, a third and a fourth notching up a second behind Harris and Kriek.

In the Hobie 16 Provincials, the father and son team of Peter and Matthew Hall dominated on the water. The Hall team won all but two races in their eight race regatta. They were chased by inland sailors, brothers Kyle and Justin Lambie.

The Flying Fifteens had the biggest fleet on the water in recent memory, with 11 boats on the water. For the regatta to constitute as a South African Sailing event, they needed 10 boats to start and finish two races. The class was agonisingly close, but it wasn’t meant to be. On day one newcomers to the fleet, Father and son team of Dominic and Marco Collett thought they had enough clearance but hit the sand bank. On the second day offshore, the heavy weather took its toll with Campbell Alexander taking a bite out of Greg Hurters boat, and Hurter and his crew, Michael Surgeson had to limp home. Collett squared took to the ocean for the first time, bravely flying their spinnaker but as luck would have it, a rogue Hobie 16 pitch-poled directly in-front of them, with the mast crashing down onto them, knocking Dominic on the head and into the water, earning him five stitches and sadly destroying their chances of completing a race.

Brown, who sails for Rutland Sailing Club in the British Midlands said, “The sailing was great fun and we were lucky to have lots of wind Saturday and Sunday. Campbell was a fantastic helm to crew for and the fleet was a high level of competition but very welcoming. It was lovely to see such strong support for the newer sailors. The warm waters and big waves were a wonderful change. Thanks to you all for a great trip!”

“Sailing was amazing, a tough race since I had close to no prior experience with FF15 and symmetrical spinnakers. Since I usually sail Lasers the whole event was one big learning curve. The fleet is strong but we had some good races!” enthused Danish sailor, Lauritz Walsøe.

The first day of racing was held in the bay, with conditions being hazardous offshore, with a short, sharp swell and high winds deterring Race Officer extraordinaire, Kevin Bingham. Four races were run in a blustery North Easter course. The second day, racing went offshore with the winds consistently around 15knots and over adding into the mix a bit of a running swell. Bingham got in another four races on Sunday. The entire fleet of Flying Fifteens however, disappeared early from the race track, leaving only the Hobies to sail in the final race on Sunday. On Monday, keeping an eye on the inclement weather enroute, the Hobies didn’t venture onto the water with a depleted fleet of Flying Fifteens gathering ahead of the spectacular midday storm. A strict Bingham gave both fleets a wounding results for not being on the start line, but fortunately with discards, the top sailors results didn’t take a huge knock.

Hobie hero, Garth Loudon only sailed the one race, with his brand-new crew member, his daughter Kristin. A delighted dad said, “Kristin finally showed interest in sailing, so we had a quick lesson on Sunday morning and entered one of the races. It was great to be back on the water again! We managed a second place in good winds. Peter and Matthew were sailing very well, was good to see!”

The next event for the enthusiastic fleet is the upcoming Bar Anniversary Pursuit Race that will be sailed in the harbour at the end of the month.

Results

Flying Fifteen Nationals

1 Patrick Harris / Jeremy Kriek 9pts, 2 Campbell Alexander / Steph Brown 19pts, 3 Anthony McMillan / Lauritz Walsøe 32pts. 4 Craig Campbell / Nhlanhla Phakathi 36pts, 5 Myles White / Estelle Buys 38pts, 6 Thomas Funke / Peter Funke 51pts, 7 Hannah Fokkens / Rudi Fokkens 64pts, 8 Greg Hurter / Mike Surgeson 65pts, 9 Iain Bowman / Jan Larkens 80pts, 10 Chris Coxen / Michael Boorman 82pts, 11 Dominic Collett / Marco Collett 96pts

Hobie 16 Provincials

1 Peter Hall / Matthew Hall 8pts, 2 Kyle Lambie / Justin Lambie 26pts, 3 Andrew Heathcote / Blake Davidson 26pts, 4 Mike Goodyer / Jennifer Goodyer 36pts, 5 Jethro Brophy Tintinger / Stephanie Goodyer 36pts, 6 Dylan Albert / Chad Stevenson 49pts, 7 Justin Butler / James Butler 49pts, 8 Wayne Smith / Kate Bain 59pts, 9 Dylan Lambie / Cameron Booth 64pts, 10 Garth Loudon / Kristin Loudon 68pts, 11Ruddi Rogge / Sven Paton 81pts

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.

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.

Chatting to seasoned Laser sailor, Anthony Arbuthnot

Point Yacht Club

SA Laser Nationals

Interview with Anthony Arbuthnot

A regular face on the water most Saturdays, the quietly keen Anthony Arbuthnot is gearing up for the upcoming SA Laser Nationals at the end of the month.

Arbuthnot has been a regular competitor in the Durban sailing community over a number of years, “I’ve loved sailing from a young age, sailing Dabchicks at PYC. I wore my Dad down nagging, who eventually bought me a Tack. I designed and built an 8ft catamaran, at aged 11, called the Titchcat, which I sailed extensively in the Midlands, on Punch Barlow’s farm which is now Boschhoek. The scene of some spectacular capsizes.” he admits with a chuckle.

“I have also had the honour to cruise a bit of the world. A fond memory was when we sailed to America from Durban in 1982, and arrived at night in Fernando de Noronha, an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. The first time we hoisted our spinnaker on our Leopard 40 in the Caribbean with my whole family on board, to the sounds of Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack; that was a pretty surreal, fun moment.”

“Sailing is truly magical. The people involved make it so. The Laser sailors come from all walks of life and a huge spread of ages, and there is huge camaraderie amongst the men and women.”

“Besides being magical, it also teaches you valuable life lessons! Laser sailing especially teaches you great humility and that it’s no one’s fault but your own when you’re upside down, at the back of the fleet.”

Asked how he would describe himself in one word, he laughs stating, “Old!”

  

The Vause Road resident is completely entrenched in his neighbourhood, “I grew up in Vause Road, spending 20 years in our family home until I was 22years old. The last 20 years I have been happily married living in the house next door to my family home.”

“My beautiful wife of 27 years, Nicole understands and encourages my passion for the sea. I have three kids, oldest son James is 25, my daughter Alexandra is 19 and youngest, Guy has just turned 18. All of them sail on our Catamaran but none sail dinghies with me. Nicole used to crew for me on a Sprog, in the 80’s.”

Off the water, the seasoned sailor has a diverse range of activities, “Flying, I am lucky enough to have two aeroplanes and fly whenever I get the chance. And diving and the odd mountain and road bike ride. Oh yes, and cooking. I can cook up a storm.” he admits enthusiastically.

Chatting about his aquatic achievements, the eager yachtsmen said, “I have dabbled on Dabchicks, Mirrors, Tacks, Sprogs, Paper Tigers, Hobie 14 & 16s, Lasers and Flying Fifteens. Raced extensively on L26s then L 34s! Participated in a few RCOD speed attempts in the Vasco and from Richards Bay. Closest we came was on an Adrenalin, 43 Foot Cat, sailing 3 up at 28 knots average till we were hit by a Westerly off the Northern Breakwater.”

His role model in sailing is respected Henri Hiddes, “The most revered bowman in the Whitbread fleet, and the most fun guy I’ve ever has the privilege of sailing with! But in everyday life, I look up to my Dad.”

  

“I can proudly say my greatest achievement is that I am content. I am eternally blessed to have such a wonderful wife and kids, and I have the best friends a man could ask for. Hope the future years is as much fun as the last 50.”

Over the May Day weekend, let’s hope that the content Arbuthnot’s experience holds him in good stead as he takes on top national and international sailors offshore of Durban.

Point Yacht Club Dinghy Class Champs and Royal Natal Yacht Club North South Race

Point Yacht Club / Royal Natal Yacht Club

Dinghy Class Champs Day Six

North South Race

Harbour: Saturday 28 February

Offshore: Sunday 1 March

Yachts big and small came out to participate in light winds for two events over the weekend.

The conclusion to the Point Yacht Club’s Dinghy Class Champs day six had a fleet of 25 yachts working hard to find the winds in the harbour on Saturday.

Overall winners were Dylan Alberts in the Hobie Fleet; Myles White and Charlotte Marshall in the Flying Fifteens; Trevor Gibb sailing on his Mirror in the Open Class; Richard Bates in the Laser class; Rob Samways and Jared Quinn in the Dart division and young Sven Paton racing on his RS Tera Pro.

It was contradicting weather for the racing of day six, two weeks ago racing was abandoned on the day due to heavy winds. The postponed racing got underway with a slight breeze but as the afternoon drew on, the winds completely disappeared at times.

Shifty winds made it relatively tough for the race officer and sailors. During the three races, Kevin Bingham adjusted the course three times to accommodate the change in wind direction.

On Sunday 9 big keelers made their way offshore to compete in the Royal Natal Yacht Club’s North South Race with Gregg Hurter helming Bellatrix took the line and handicap honours.

Race Officer, Rob Samways got the boats underway directly off of Addington Beach, the small fleet had a short beat up to a buoy set off the north breakwater of the harbour. The boats had a port rounding before heading out to the fairway marker on the horizon. Here the yachts had a starboard rounding and made their way to another buoy set off the old Whaling Station on the Bluff before returning back to the finish line.

Bellatrix finished the 11 Nautical Mile race in just under two hours, finishing ten minutes ahead of second placed Majimoto skippered by Jon Marshall. Having rounded first, Bellatrix turned on the gas and opened the gap between themselves and Majimoto as they made their way out to the Fairway Mark. Majimoto made the mistake of not flying their spinnaker directly but waited till they were clear of the wind shadow caused by the Bluff. Hurter and his crew continued to build on their lead all the way to the finish.

In third place, Gavin Wadsworth on Therapy managed to stay in front of Brad Rayson on Flyer the entire race. The tail end of the fleet had a momentous tussle between the only two L26s racing. Brendan Humphries on the stick of Container World managed to edge out Denmar Nel helming PYC Challenger. One second separated the two as Container World surged forward on a swell pipping Nel at the post.

Results

Point Yacht Club

Dinghy Class Champs Day Six

Harbour: Saturday 28 February

Hobie Class

1 Dylan Alberts (Hobie 14), 2 Justin Butler (Hobie 14), 3 Wayne Smith / Kate Bains (Hobie 16), 4 Peter Hall (Hobie 14) 5 Michael Dickinson (Hobie 16), 6 Justin Butler (Hobie 16), 7 Murray May (Hobie 16), 8 CJ Miln (Hobie 16), 9 Chad Stevenson (Hobie 16), 10 Nathan Constant (Hobie 14), 11 Sean Fennessy (Hobie 14), 12 Matthew Hall (Hobie Dragoon), 13 David van Niekerk (Hobie 14)

Flying Fifteens

1 Myles White / Charlotte Marshall, 2 Patrick Harris / Jeremy Kriek, 3 Campbell Alexander / Chris Clark, 4 Gregg Hurter / Nik Albert, 5 Paul Changuion / Tim Duguid, 6 Simon Musgrove, 7 Craig Campbell / Ian Hogg, 8 Rick Parker, 9 Florence Marshall / Edrich de Lange, 10 Vincent Tiedt, 11 Heidi Kavanagh / Michael Kavanagh, 12 Carl Zimmerman / Simone Yelland

Open Class

1 Trevor Gibb (Mirror), 2 Benji Daniels / Euan Hurter (29er), 3 Denmar Nel (L26 PYC Challenger), 4 Rob Tarboton / Michael Dickinson (29er), 5 My Way (Clynton de Fyn), 6 Sean Hurter (Dabchick), 7 Euan Hurter (Dabchick), 8 Chad Stevenson (Dabchick), 9 Rudi Fokkens (RS Feva), 10 Thokozani Latha (L26 Lindiwe), 11 Jethro Brophy Tintinger / Eli Brophy Tintinger (420), 12 David Curtis (Rebel)

Laser

1 Richard Bates, 2 Frances van Breda, 3 Henri Frencken, 4 Anthony Arbuthnot, 5 Denny Moffatt, 6 Andrew Walford, 7 Rob Goulden, 8 Gregg Dobson, 9 Anthony MacMillan, 10 Campbell Alexander, 11 Rowen Clark, 12 Trent Bingham, 13 Murray May, 14 Jethro Brophy Tintinger (Radial), 15 Chad Stevenson (Radial), 16 Simon Musgrove

Open Class Cats

1 Rob Samways (Dart), 2 Bill Ellens (Paper Tiger), 3 Coert Grobbelaar (Halcat), 4 Clynton de Fyn / Jackie Barnard (Halcat), 5 Jethro Brophy Tintinger / Eli Brophy Tintinger (Halcat), 6 Neil Wadsworth (Halcat), 7 Richard Potgieter (Halcat), 8 Andile Zulu (Halcat)

RS Tera

1 Sven Paton (Pro), 2 Cameron Paarle (Sport), 3 James Butler (Pro), 4 Liam Fennessy (Sport), 5 Chad Stevenson (Pro)

Royal Natal Yacht Club

North South Race

Offshore: Sunday 1 March

1 Bellatrix (Gregg Hurter), 2 Majimoto (Jon Marshall), 3 Therapy (Gavin Wadsworth), 4 Flyer (Brad Rayson), 5 Container World (Brendan Humphries), 6 PYC Challenger (Denmar Nel), 7 Bellissima (Vernon Goss), 8 Candi (Theuns Nel), RTD Thermopylae (Frank Edwards)

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.

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.