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

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.

Wrap up for day one of Bay and Offshore Dingy Series

Point Yacht Club

Bay and Offshore Dinghy Series

Offshore: Saturday 28 March

Ahead of all the major regattas happening around the country, the Point Yacht Club opted to give their sailors some training offshore for the Bay and Offshore Dinghy Series on Saturday.

12 small crafts met Race Officer Kevin Bingham off Addington Beach in magnificent sailing South-Westerly conditions with long rolling swells and flat seas welcoming the three classes.

As the team set up the race track, the small fleet of dinghies relished the 10knot winds carving through the swells in anticipation of a good afternoon of sailing. The number two pennant was flown, indicating a triangle sausage course first up and promptly at 2.00pm racing got under way. First to go were the two Laser Radials and two Flying Fifteens followed by eight Hobies five minutes later in their own start sequence.

Young Sam Lombaard kept his nose in the front ahead of more experienced Rob Goulden in the Laser fleet, with Lombaard claiming two firsts. Despite their late arrival, Patrick Harris and Jeremy Kriek charged to the front ahead of Myles White and David Curtiss in the Flying Fifteen class. White and Curtiss often caught up to Harris and Kriek on the beat but lost momentum on the run flying their spinnaker.

In the Hobie 14 class, Peter Hall notched up two first places ahead of Greg de Beyer and Richard Gorlei. Gorlei retired from the racing after his impressive second place and de Beyer scored a third and second place in his two races.

In the larger Hobies, the Hobie 16 of Andrew Heathcote and Sean Hurter took the honours competing in all the races.  Their scorecard had a fourth and two firsts on it, while Clint du Toit partnering with young Dylan Albert got two second places along with a Did Not Start for the final race of the day. Justin Butler racing with Laser sailor, Anthony Arbuthnot took the line honours in the first race but had a disappointing second race retiring mid-race and heading back to the beach.

In the final race, Bingham adjusted the course to a windward leeward course. The majority of the fleet retired leaving only four boats to race. Lombaard on his Radial took comfort on the bridge boat due to damage to his main sheet, tying his boat off at the back of the bridge. While the rest of the fleet made their way back to the beach site.

During the course of the afternoon, the wind kept switching and dropping off. At one stage, the South-Westerly changed by 60degrees keeping Bingham and his team busy adjusting the race track as ominous rainy squalls continued to roll across the horizon.

The continuing tussle between Harris and White went down to the wire, fifteen seconds separated the two Flying Fifteens with Harris and Kriek getting a lift as they charged to the finish. The two remaining Hobie 16s got in some good training with Heathcote and Hurter claiming first and CJ Miln accompanied by Braeden Royal crossing the line 90seconds after them.

April is a busy month for the dinghies offshore of Durban, first up is the colourful Hobie Nationals taking place this weekend with around 40 Hobies taking part, then the return of the SA Laser Nationals taking place at the end of the month with an expected fleet of 80 boats.

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

Results

Offshore and Bay Dinghy Series

Offshore: Saturday 28 March

B Fleet

1 Sam Lombaard (Laser Radial) 2pts, 2 Rob Goulden (Laser Radial) 4pts

C Fleet

1 Patrick Harris / Jeremy Kriek (Flying Fifteen) 2pts, 2 Myles White / David Curtiss (Flying Fifteen)

D Class

1 Peter Hall (Hobie 14) 2pts, 2= Andrew Heathcote / Sean Huter (Hobie 16) 5pts, 2= Greg de Beyer (Hobie 14) 5pts, 4 Garth Louden (Hobie 14) 7pts, 5 CJ Miln / Braeden Royal (Hobie 16) 8pts, 6= Richard Gorlei (Hobie 14) 11pts, 6= Clint du Toit / Dylan Albert (Hobie 16) 14pts

A few questions with catamaran sailor, Wayne Smith

Wayne Smith is one of Durban’s most enthusiastic and accomplished Hobie sailors. He sails with his girlfriend, Kate Bains and the duo will be competing in the Hobie Nationals over the Easter weekend sailing offshore of Durban. He has competed in the Hobie 16 World championships in Port Elizabeth and the Hobie Tiger World Champs in Langebaan. He also sailed his Hobie 16 in the World Masters games in Sydney in 2009. He picked up his interest in sailing from his father who was a competitive sailor in the 60's and 70's.

I attended Athlone Primary School and Maritzburg College High School in Pietermaritzburg and went on to study a BSc in Building Science at the University of KZN-Durban. I have travelled and worked in the builders industry in several places around the world but always gravitate back to good ol' Durbs. Currently in a relationship with a fantastic lady, Kate Bain, who manages the care of orphans in Northern KZN and I try dedicate some of my time supporting her in her endeavour. I am currently involved in developing some residential units in Westville and spend much of my free time involved in sailing through Point Yacht Club. Either trying to promote it or participating in events.

  

What do you love about your town and province?

Mainly...it’s home. And what makes it home is the friends and family here. Of course the climate, landscape and sea just add the finishing touches. Durban is very multi-cultural which adds to the flavour, enchantment and excitement of the city.

What is your favourite destination in the province if you want to take some time out?

The Drakensburg. The backdrop of majestic mountains against the silent starry sky is soul-stuff. The tranquillity contrasts to the hustle and bustle of Durban city life.

Sports & Hobbies?

All through school and varsity I did gymnastics and carried on to do diving, mountain biking, white water kayaking, climbing, water skiing ... but now days anything with a sail is my preference. I began windsurfing at high school and still enjoy the sport although now days I sail Hobie catamarans and micro multi hulls more often. I even have a remote controlled yacht just to show my age!!!

Favourite food and drinks; any place(s) you want to recommend to people?

Almost everything my girlfriend cooks, not only cos she has cooked it GF but she is a damn good cook. I love a medium steak with lots of garlic, my favourite place for the best meat meal in the world is Joops' Place....mmmmmm. I am not impartial to tequila when the party's on but beer especially the growing number of craft beers available make for good after action socialising. Red wine has its place but I am not too up myself enough to think life can’t go on without a good (expensive) red.

Favourite vacation place outside KZN?

Langebaan in summer. A taste of Mediterranean Europe in Africa....lots of foreigners and of course the wind blows.

Any gems you found in the province?

Yes, the bum slide in the gorge near Wonder Cave in the Central Berg and Karlkloof canopy tours, it’s exciting and the location is beautiful.

How do you manage work and home life?

Awfully by all accounts but that depends on who you asking, currently its more squewed to 'life' than 'work'....

What is the best part of your job?

Self Employed so having work is always a good thing but also meeting a variety of people that the industry offers is exciting and challenging...also the boss is very reasonable at times and allows time off for good work / life balance.

What is the worst part of your job? 

Not having work and the boss can be difficult sometimes...

What is the one thing about your to town/province that you think everybody should know?

Its location for outdoor activities is one of the best in the world. Local government needs to understand this and support and develop this potential.

"If I had all the money in the world I would ...

Overthrow the government, ensure my girlfriend’s foundation, Izulu Orphan Projects, became financially secure and self-sustaining (as they get absolutely no Government assistance)....oh yes and of course buy a 60ft catamaran and cruise the Mediterranean."

Hobie Epic

Point Yacht Club

Hobie Epic

Thursday 19 February

A small fleet of adrenaline driven sailors set to embark on the annual Point Yacht Club’s Hobie Epic, racing between Durban to Richards Bay.

This is the sixth epic race, with the small catamarans launching from the Point Yacht Club’s Beachsite or at the Zululand Yacht Club and trek all the way along the coast. The fleet are hoping to set off on Thursday, but will need to wait for a good weather opportunity and could be on standby until Sunday 22 February.

Hobie Representative, Peter Hall explained, “If the conditions are a North Easterly wind then the race is a Richards Bay to Durban race, and if the winds happen to be a South Westerly then it is done in reverse from Durban to Richards Bay. The last two years a front has come through on the weekend of the race and a South Westerly has blown launching us at 6:00am racing to Richards Bay.”

The rules are easy, launch at one of the yacht clubs site and sail non-stop up or down to the finish at either the Richards Bay Harbour mouth or at the beach landing at Vetch’s. All boats are fitted with a tracking device to keep an eye on them, with race support shadowing them as they sail along the coastline.

“We are hoping that eight boats will be lining up for this year’s event. The weather window unfortunately clashes with the other sailing endurance event, the well-attended 9 Hour event in Midmar, so we are expecting fewer boats on the water this year.” Hall stated.

Hall has won the event five times on his Hobie 16, and fellow sailor Mark Wijtenburg has dominated the event in the Hobie Tiger division. “It usually takes the Tigers six to eight hours to get to Richards Bay and the Hobie 16s a couple of hours longer.”

This gruelling event takes the small crafts along some of the most treacherous coastline in the world, “The guys get off the water and are exhausted, both physically and mentally drained. But the experience is well worth the demands of the adventure. In a word it is epic!” Hall concluded.

Richards Bay or Durban awaits the arrival of a handful of Hobie sailors as they compete in the Point Yacht Club’s Hobie Epic.

To follow the race, go to www.pyc.co.za or like the clubs Facebook page.

Day Five for Point Yacht Club's Dinghy Class Champs

Point Yacht Club

Dinghy Class Champs Day Five

Harbour: Saturday 7 February

A splendid fleet of 24 dinghies participated in the fifth day of the Point Yacht Club’s Dinghy Class Champs held in the harbour on Saturday.

Returning after a long absence, Patrick Harris and Jeremy Kriek returned to the water in their brand new, glisteningly beautiful, carbon hull Flying Fifteen, Ffigjam. The highly decorated sailors showed their class as they powered to the front in their division, with a comfortable lead in all three races. 

In the Laser class, Gregg Dobson returning home from work in Madagascar loved being back on the water. He took the line honours in the first race, but got jammed up at the start in the second race, finishing in seventh and then a fifth in the final race. Trent Bingham also returned from a long absence from sailing, claiming the honours in the second race, but was forced to retire from the third race due to his kicker breaking. Another long-time absent sailor made his welcome return. Rowen Clark from Pennington took to the water after a number of years. It didn’t take him long to get back into the swing of things, finishing in seventh in his first race. He managed to up a gear and finished in fourth in the second race, then improved some more in the final race finishing third.

The only lady in the fleet, Frances Van Breda showed up a number of the blokes with a fine tally of a fourth, a sixth and a third in her three races.

A colourful fleet of Hobies also came out to compete to get in some water time ahead of their Nationals, the upcoming Hobie Epic to Richards Bay and the 9 Hour at Midmar. The entire fleet opted to retire from the first race, all camping out on the sand bank in the middle of the bay due to the winds dropping off.

Peter Hall sailing one up on his Hobie 14 came first in the second and third race with a tussle for second place occurring between Michael Dickinson and Hannah Fokkens on their Hobie 16 and 14 year old Dylan Alberts racing on his Hobie 14. Dickinson helming the Hobie 16 took second place in the second race, meanwhile Alberts snuck in ahead of the larger Hobie in the final race, much to his verbal elation at beating the older and more accomplished Dickinson.

The multi-coloured and multi-class fleet of 24 dinghies consisted of a Mirror, a Dabchick, Hobies, Lasers, Flying Fifteens, RS Teras, a 29er and an RS Feva.

After the first race, the breeze shifted from an Easterly, moving around to a South Easterly, causing the Race Officer, Kevin Bingham to make a course adjustment. Bingham managed to get in three windward leeward races in near the T-Jetty. As the afternoon drew on, the 8knot breeze dropped to a gentle 5knots, forcing Bingham to shorten the final race.

This weekend sees two events hosted by Point Yacht Club, the conclusion to the Dinghy Class Champs and the first in the Jockey Series offshore of Durban. Race Officer Ron Pet has organised a tactical sausage course for the keelboats, ensuring lots of action as the bigger boats are required to carve through a set of ‘gates’ in the centre of the course and will have two options to round at the bottom mark.

For more info visit www.pyc.co.za or like the Point Yacht Club’s 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)

The Captain's Challenge

Point Yacht Club

The Captain’s Challenge

Sunday 30 November

Point Yacht Club’s Aldino Gorlei celebrated a personal milestone, enjoying his 80^th birthday doing what he enjoys most – sailing.

Close on 50 boats came out for the momentous occasion relishing not only the festivities but also the conditions offshore of Durban on Sunday.

The first boat out of the starting blocks was the birthday boy himself, he set off with a handful of junior sailors on a windward leeward course in a gentle 12knots South Easterly wind. Gorlei sailing on his Hobie 14 was second to finish, being overtaken by the extremely quick 49er helmed by former Olympic athlete Alec Lanham-Love.

Once concluding the fun race, Gorlei turned around and carried on sailing. He was joined by a number of Hobies all setting off for a second ‘unofficial’ run.

Over half the fleet was made up of Gorlei’s Hobie buddies, making for a wonderful, colourful display in front of Durban. Four starts set by Race Officer Ron Pet saw the youngest and oldest of the crowd set off first, followed by the monohull dinghies with the biggest class setting off third. Finally the bigger keelboats made their way on the short course, with the buoy set off Moses Mabhida Stadium.

Commodore for the Point Yacht Club, Trevor Donald sailing on an L26, Counter Point said afterwards, “What a way to celebrate such a significant day. I know that Al loved his time on the water and was overwhelmed by all who came to support him. I was really impressed with the turn out on a busy weekend. Thank you one and all who made the effort to celebrate Al’s day with him.”

This coming weekend, the Point Yacht Club will have the conclusion of the Club Class Championships in the bay on Saturday along with the Caney Offshore Series on Sunday. Off the water, the club also has its Christmas Lunch where the Durban City Orchestra will be performing.

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

Point Yacht Club Dinghy Class Champs Day One

Point Yacht Club

Dinghy Class Champs

Harbour: Saturday 22 November

32 dinghies came out to enjoy the champagne sailing conditions for the Point Yacht Club’s Dinghy Class Champs held in the bay on Saturday 22 November.

 A consistent 10 knot breeze with fairly flat waters enticed the sailors as they took on a course where they had to round the harbour marks with the start / finish line being set just off the sugar terminals. There were three starts for each race with the faster boats doing two laps of the course. The juniors and the single Mirror in the fleet only did one lap. The large fleet were split into five divisions.

Three Flying Fifteens are all sitting on 4 points after two races. Reigning KZN Flying Fifteen Champions, Patrick Harris and Jeremy Kriek has a decent day on the water with two seconds. Jostling at the front, Paul Changuion and Tim Duguid took the honours in the second race and third in the first with Campbell Alexander and Chris Clark finishing third in the second and winning in the first race.

Hillcrest’s Henri Frenkin is leading the Laser class with two wins out of two. Durban North’s Frances van Breda is lying second. One of only two ladies out on the water, van Breda showed off great form having just returned from competing in France. This form was evident after her disastrous first start with major rudder problems leading up to the hooter but still managing to finish second in both races.

Two fast flying 29ers pushed each other hard around the course but experience paid off with Rob Tarboton from Pietermaritzburg and his able crewman Michael Dickinson edging out Benji Daniels and Euan Hurter.

A confused keeler also joined the festivities on the water with the much smaller vessels, Denmar Nel and his crew taking the PYC Challenger, an L26, out for spin. They didn’t manage to finish the first race but came in first in their class in the second race.

The next race in the series is this coming Saturday and the conclusion in early December. Another big event for Point Yacht Club is the Captains Challenge on Sunday 30 November where they are hoping to get 80 boats on the water for Hobie sailor, Aldino Gorlei.

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

Results

Division F

1 Paul Changuion / Tim Duguid (Flying Fifteen), 2 Campbell Alexander / Chris Clark (Flying Fifteen), 3 Patrick Harris / Jeremy Kriek (Flying Fifteen), 4 Gregg Hurter / Nik Albert (Flying Fifteen), 5 Michael Boorman / Joel Walker (Flying Fifteen), 6 Craig Campbell / Ian Hogg (Flying Fifteen), 7 Heidi Kavanagh / Michael Kavanagh (Flying Fifteen), 8 Sean Hurter (Dabchick)

Division H

1 Dylan Albert (Hobie 14), 2 Bill Ellens (Paper Tiger), 3 Wayne Smith / Kate Ellens (Hobie 16), 4 Murray May / Clint de Toit (Hobie 16, 5 Justin Butler (Hobie 16), 6 Clynton de Fin / Jackie Barnard (Halcat 2up), 7 David van Niekerk (Hobie 14)

Division L

1 Henri Frenkin (Laser), 2 Frances van Breda (Laser Radial), 3 Richard Bates (Laser), 4 Robbie Gouldin (Laser), 5 Denny Moffat (Laser), 6 Anthony Arbounath (Laser), 7 Chad Stevenson (Laser Radial)

Division O

1 Trevor Gibb /Jessica Fennessy (Mirror), 2 Rob Tarboton / Michael Dickenson (29er), 3 Benji Daniels / Euan Hurter (29er), 4 PYC Challenger / Denmar Nel (L26), 5 Jetrho Brophy Tintinger / Eli Brophy Tintinger (420), 6 David Curtiss (Rebel), 7

Division T

1 Cameron Parle (RSTera), 2 Sven Paton (RSTera Pro), 3 Liam Fennessy (RSTera), 4 James Butler (RSTera Pro)