Breaking News
2011 Tera National Championships
Proving that sailing in South Africa can still happen in our winter,
the RS Tera class pulled of a very successful regatta on Swartvlei in
June. Pine Lake Marina provided its facilities for this major event, which was held under the auspices of GLYC, who provided its
rescue boat and most of the rescue, bridge and admin personnel.
However, it was the Tera class, led by Cathy Avierinos, who put it all
together.
A big fleet of 36 boats entered the event, boosted slightly by entrants
normally sailing other classes. These came from GLYC, Mossel Bay, Cape
Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban. Nine races were held over 4 days.
Fortunately, wind conditions were favourable over this period. A strong
NW blew on day one, making it difficult for the novices of the fleet.
Two races were completed. On day 2, conditions were lighter and the
whole fleet could record finishes. Three races were held in a 8 - 12
knot wind, that started West and clocked later to S/W. On day 3, a race
was started in a light NE, which died and the race was abandoned. In
the afternoon, a light SE came up, permitting 2 races to be completed.
On the last day, a stronger North Wester picked up - 10 - 15 knots,
once again proving difficult for the back of the fleet. Two races were
completed before the 12:00 cutoff time.
In the 1st race, the clear winner was Jason Gray, who used his weight
and Dabchick skills to pull out a good lead from Optimist sailor Dylan
Long. In the 2nd race, with the wind a little lighter, it was the other
way round. On day two, Dylan won race 3, but then Jason went on to win
races 4 and 5. In these races, it was the turn of Georgou Divaris and
Nathan Page to record 2nds. On Day 3, the light conditions suited
Georgou Divaris, who won race 6 from the start and in race 7 took over
the lead half way thru' the race. He now had the confidence in the
stronger wind to win race 8 (from Jason Gray) and scored a 2nd in the
last race, behind Dylan Long. Good consistency was shown by Nathan
Page, who scored 3rds in races 6 to 9.
The overall winner of the 2011 Tera Sport National Championships was
Jason Gray, with Georgou Divaris in second place, Dylan Long getting
the bronze medal. Fourth place went to James Hellstrom. Nathan Page
ended in 7th place as a result of some bad placings in the earlier
races. Tammy Holden and Ashleigh Hellstrom tied on points, thus were
awarded joint 1st Girl title.
Eastern Cape Interschools / Kim Cup
Well done to the all-conquering Glenwood Preparatory team for adding
the Eastern Cape Primary School Trophy to their collection! Their fleet
of Tera, Optimists and Mirror were packed up and travelled to Redhouse
Y.C. to take on the other PE and S. Cape schools. Complications were
the loss of Nathan's Tera en route (everyone keep a lookout for a Tera
hull between here and Humansdorp) as well as some team members playing
hockey in Grahamstown. Nevertheless, the team was strong enough to be
able to cope with these problems. Now they have won the S. Cape, E.
Cape and W. Cape (subject to confirmation) Primary School Interschool
regattas.
Meanwhile, back at GLYC, the senior
fleet had good racing in a stiff south easter (10 - 18 knots). At stake
was the Kim
Cup. Alastair Fraser was there to defend his series lead and the
conditions were right up his street. In the first race, Malcolm Osborne
had to go to shore to install missing battens, leaving Alastair to do a
horizen job on the fleet. In the other two races, Alastair was closely
pursued by Malcom, but didn't make any mistakes.
Evelyn was doing well in the first race, but a mistake near the end let
Knud Jacobsen through. The juniors present were most amused at their
coach's capsizes in the second race - she got tired of righting the
Laser and retired.
Alwyn Rose on his Hobie14 Turbo was doing well in the first two races
to finish close behind the leaders but fatigue lead to mistakes in the
3rd
race.
Jayan (Dabchick) and John Marc (Laser 4.7) had private match racing
amongst the others in the fleet, with Jayan winning the first two
races. The Dabchick and Laser
4.7 have similar handicap ratings. There were 3 races - the exertions
resulted in an attrition on the number of boats
sailing. The last (shortened) race had only four boats competing.
Alastair Fraser wins the Kim Cup by a clear margin from Evelyn, Ant
Parker (who was playing golf that day) and Jayan Smart.
Thanks go to Dave and Fay Jones for being Race Committee and to Rudy
Coertzen doing rescue duty.
2011 S.A. Sailing S. Cape Inter-Schools Regatta
Nine primary schools and six high schools were represented during an
inter-school sailing regatta hosted by the George Lakes Yacht Club on
Saturday and Sunday, February 26 and 27.
Inter-school regattas have two main divisions - a high school fleet and
a primary school fleet. A category for novice sailors is also held.
Regattas are held under the auspices of SA Sailing Southern Cape, which
comprises the sailing clubs in Knysna, Mossel Bay and George Lakes
(Sedgefield).
Race officer David Laing set four races on Saturday in a south easter
that freshened in the afternoon, producing testing conditions for the
lighter or less experienced sailors. On Sunday, there was once again a
south easter, but this proved to be much weaker in strength. Two races
were sailed this day.
Primary Schools
Eighteen boats, comprised Optimists, RS Tera and Mirror dinghies,
competed in the primary schools fleet. The faster Teras finished their
races first, but adjustment according to the Portsmouth rating system
generally gave the race wins to the leading Optimist sailor, Georgou
Divaris, sailing for Glenwood Prep.
His team mate, James Hellstrom, sailing a Tera Sport, won the first
race and was thereafter consistently in second place to finish second
overall. Tammy Holden, sailing a Tera Sport for Milkwood Primary
(Mossel Bay) won both of the light wind races on Sunday to finish third
overall. With Glenwood Prep's Nathan Page (Tera Sport) in fourth place,
this gave first place in the primary school competition to Glenwood
Preparatory. Second was Milkwood and Fraaisig Primary (Knysna) in third
place.
High Schools
In the high schools fleet, which also had 18 boats, several dinghy
classes competed, with the evergreen SA designed Dabchick being most
represented (seven). Then there were four Lasers, four Teras, two
Mirrors and a GP14. The Dabchick of Jayan Smart (York High) did well in
the stronger winds on Saturday, being first over the line in two races,
and first on handicap in race one. In the lighter wind on Sunday, John
Marc Olivier (Home School) excelled in the first race to be the clear
winner. However, overall it was the Teras of Point High (Mossel Bay)
which were consistently at the top of the leader board. In first place
was the Tera Sport of Andre Bredenkamp, with Moya Moorcroft second.
With support from Nelia Dannhauser (sixth), this was more enough to
secure the high schools trophy for Point High School. York High secured
second place, with Jayan Smart, Khaya Gould and Justin Stoker being
their highest placed participants. Cundell Statt, sailing for Knysna
High on a Mirror, was third overall but was the sole entry for that
school, thus falling out of the reckoning in the team stakes. Third
placed was Glenwood House.
Novices
A promising bunch of 14 novices took to the water and battled in the
wind on Saturday, but were much more comfortable in the gentle breeze
of Sunday. They sailed five races over both days. First was the
Optimist of Markos Divaris, sailing for Glenwood Preparatory. Glenwood
Preparatory also had Robyn Hellstrom on Tera and Pia Mariotti on
Optimist in second and third places to be first school in this division.
2010 / 2011 Sothebys GLYC Interclub Regatta
George Lakes Yacht Club hosted its annual interclub regatta in
February this year, instead of its traditional November weekend. A
total of 64 sailing dinghies and catamarans entered for this regatta
and enjoyed challenging conditions in generally light and sometimes
shifting winds. Visitors from KYC, MBYBC, RYC and ABYC boosted the good
support from GLYC sailors.
Saturday's sailing was the most enjoyable with a steady S.E. wind
around 10 knots during most of the racing. Two back-to-back races were
easily completed before a late break for lunch and then a further two
races before the wind began to die in the late afternoon. Sunday was
less satisfactory when a predicted 10 knot Southerly wind failed to
materialise and the sailors instead had to contend with a light South
Westerly wind, shifting steadily during the day towards the West.
However, three races were still fitted in before the regatta had to
come to a close to enable points to be calculated and visting craft
loaded onto trailers.
Competition in the racing was keen. Mossel Bay Mosquitoes dominated
the multi-hull division but in the Senior Fleet there were close
tussles between George Lakes Fireballs, Knysna Spearheads, a 420 from
Redhouse and a Finn from Knysna. Eventual winner in this absorbing
clash was the Fireball of Anthony and Di Parker. The Laser fleet had
its usual very close competition with the honours shared in order, by
George Lakes (Malcolm Osborne), Knysna (Alastair Fraser) and Redhouse
(Tim Jones).
In the Junior Division, it was the Optimists who managed to dominate
the growing Tera class. The top three position were shared in order by
Knysna (Jonathan Rees), George Lakes ( Georgou Divaris) and Redhouse (
Jesse Martin). Tammy Holden of Mossel Bay sailed very well to take 4th
place, top position among the Teras and first girl home.
GLYC made good use of its home water advantage to take both the
Senior and Junior Interclub Trophies by comfortable margins.
George Lakes Yacht Club extends its grateful thanks to its sponsors:
Sothebys International Realty; Raubenheimers Attorneys and Barnard,
Jacobs, Mellett Private Clients.
GLYC Sailors Shine At Mirror Worlds
Young Sedgefield sailor Rory Laing and
his skipper, Cundell Statt Jnr did South Africa proud when they came
5th in the Junior Fleet in the l4th International Mirror Class World
Championships, sailed in January at the Princess Royal Sailing Club
in Albany, Western Australia.
Cundell’s parents, Tracy and Cundell
Statt (Snr), all members of George Lakes Yacht Club, sailed in the
senior fleet, but had to be content with watching their son's transom
as he ended three places ahead of them in the overall results.
The Laing family said that the sailing
conditions in the Princess Royal Harbour were fantastic with strong
breezes most days. Fifteen races were sailed over five days, after a
gruelling three days of sailing the Australian Champs in very strong
winds. At the end of the regatta all 16 SA competitors were
exhausted!
The 61 boat fleet was highly
competitive with entries from Australia, the Philippines, UK, Ireland
and South Africa. The top five places went to the live nations
competing - Ireland in first position, followed by the Philippines,
the UK, South Africa and Australia. The best South African
performance was from "pocket rocket" Ryan Robinson (14 years
old) and his brother Ricky who earned 4th place overall,
including two wins in 15 races. Their other siblings, Brennan and
Michaela Robinson, who performed next best in the RSA team, came at
very respectable 16th. In the Youth fleet, Izivungu sailors Howard
Leoto and Ronaldo Mohale came 7th.
The full results and more info can be
obtained on the website –
www.mirrorworlds2011.com
Sothebys New Year Regatta / GP14 National Championships
30 December 2010 to 2 January 2011
A good fleet of 41 boats participated in a very enjoyable event.
Support by GLYC members as well as a few visitors from neighbouring
clubs and further afield (Cape Town) made for a successful event. The
juniors had the largest fleet, with 17 boats, comprised of Teras,
Optimists, a Dabchick and an Extra. The open senior fleet comprised 8
Lasers and 2 Sonnets. There was also a separate GP14 fleet competing
for National Championships - their fleet of 14 boats produced close
racing and competition for top places was close.
Four races were sailed on the first day in a gusty south easter. The
south easter was even stronger on day 2, producing many capsizes - the
rescue crews were kept busy. Another four races completed. New Year's
morning dawned windless - to the relief of many! Eventually by
lunchtime, a light breeze picked up from the SW. A race was completed,
but a second race had to be abandoned. On the last day, similar
conditions prevailed. A race (the 10th) was held just in time for the
scheduled cut off. This 10th race brought in the second discard, which
had an affect on some of the placings.
In the GP14 Nationals, previous champions, Richard Parker and Anthony
Parker had tough competition from some youth sailors - Jason Gray and
Paul Vivian. Anthony was able to establish a lead as the regatta
progressed, while Vivian and Gray fought it out for 2nd place. Vivian
finished ahead of Gray in the last race to clinch 2nd place.
Alastair Fraser was uncontested at the head of the senior open fleet,
with Australian visitor Rijk Batley in 2nd place. Joppie Naude of
Mossel Bay filled 3rd place (all on Laser).
Combined with the junior fleet, the new Tera class fielded sufficient
boats (11) to qualify for S.A. Sailing S. Cape regional championship
status. Oveall, Jonathan Rees (Optimist) was consistly ahead on
handicap to win the junior open division. James Hellstrom on Tera Sport
was second, but was first in Tera Regional Championships. Third overall
was Georgou Divaris (Optimist), Second in Tera was John Marc Olivier
with Nathan Page third.
Ashore, a good social vibe existed, assisted by `Happy Hour' and fun
presentations organised by Di Turner and Jeannie Taljard. A well
attended spit braai on New Years Eve brought 2010 to a fitting close.
George Lakes Yacht Club wishes to thank its sponsors - Lew Geffen /
Sothebys International Realty, Barnard Jacobs Mellet and Raubenheimers
Attorneys for their generous sponsorhip.
Verhagen / Ken Harding Races
A brisk south easter prevailed at George Lakes Yacht Club for the
Verhagen and Ken Harding races.
Wind speeds between 25 and 28 knots, with a peak gust measured at 34
knots produced challenging conditions. Some boats went out for the
first race, only to return, declaring conditions to be `survival'.
Nevertheless, the race was started, with Alastair Fraser (Laser) and
Deryk & Barbara Eckersley (Sonnet) coping well in the conditions.
David and Rory Laing (Fireball) started this race, but had to retire
after several capsizes. Alastair was first over the line, but Deryk
came out as the winner of this race (for the Verhagen Trophy) on
corrected time. Rescue was busy - Cundell P Statt (Laser 4.7) broke a
mast and Cundell (sen) & Tracey Statt (Mirror) broke a rudder.
For the second race, the fleet was joined by Malcolm Osborne on a Laser
4.7 (after previously attempting a GP14 with Di Parker) and David Laing
went out on Fireball again but with Ferdinand Holm as crew. The
Fireball proceeded to pull out a good lead, but a perhaps unwise
decision to fly a spinnaker caused a lengthy capsize. The Eckersley
Sonnet also had a rare capsize as a result of a jibe. Alastair was once
again first over the line, followed by Malcolm, Deryk and David.
Corrected times according to Portsmouth ratings gave the win (and Ken
Harding Cup) to Malcolm.
There were no juniors sailing – several have gone to compete in the
Youth National Championships being held on Vaal Dam. Jayan Smart is
there on Dabchick, the Hellstroms and Oliviers are on RS Tera and
Georgou Divaris and Jonathan Rees are there on Optimist. We wish them
great success.
Club Championships
A good south wester blew for the second round of Club Championships.
After some intervention by Alastair, a triangle course was set from
Gorge to Serpentine, with Caravan as the jibe mark. Some strong gusts
came through to catch the unwary - many Lasers capsized. Helet and
Chandre on rescue were kept busy monitoring these, but did not have to
provide assistance.
With the Fireballs away at Theewaters, the Lasers of Alastair and
Malcolm fought it out at the front of the senior fleet, with Alastair
getting through on the last beat of race 1 to claim line honours. It
was the Laser 4.7 of Cundell P Statt who won this race on handicap,
however. Race 2 was won over the line and on handicap by Malcolm and
race 3 by Alastair. The Mirror of Cundell & Tracy Statt picked up
to 3rd on handicap in race 3, pipping Cundell junior. Alastair now
leads the senior Club Championship series from Malcolm and Dave Jones.
The junior fleet was marked by John Marc Olivier on Tera Pro trying to
stay sufficiently ahead of James Hellstrom on Tera Sport to be able to
win on handicap. He succeeeded in races 1 and 3, but race 2 went to
James. John Marc leads the junior Club Championship series from James
and Nathan Page, who sailed some races in Optimist and the others in
Tera Sport.
For the report and photos by our PRO, Jeannie Taljard, published in the
Knysna Plett Herald and George Herald, click
here.
Meanwhile, at Theewaters Sports Club, venue of a round of the W. Cape
points series, the Fireball class was won by Anthony Parker and
Ferdinand Holm, with David & Rory Laing in third place (Rick Nankin
was second). There were 7 Fireballs sailing. Jayan Smart got 11th in
the Dabchick fleet of 20 boats. Jonathan Rees got 4th place in
Optimists, with Georgou Divaris 17th (fleet of 21). Full results -
click
here.
KYC Centenary Regatta
George Lakes sent a good contingent of its sailors and boats to Knysna
to compete in the Interclub regatta, comprising GP14's, Lasers, a
Hobie14 and a Sonnet for the seniors and a Dabchick, Mirror and Teras
for the juniors. A strong S/W wind blew on Saturday morning, causing
the racing to be postponed till after lunch. Then four short races were
held in an almost as strong wind, which did abate somewhat later in the
afternoon. On Sunday, a strong S/E wind blew - over 20knots, with even
stronger gusts past Thesens. Two races were held, with only a small
fleet going out for the last race.
In the Senior fleet, the KYC Finns of Brett Gething and Dudley Isaac
and the Lasers of Alastair Fraser and Rosie Finn proved to be strong
enough to take the senior interclub trophy. Redhouse had a strong team
, with Trevor Kitson, Frank Collier and Tim Jones in Laser and the
Vivier brothers on 420 high up in the placings to take 2nd place. GLYC
had to settle for third place, with Malcolm Osborne, Anthony Parker,
Ferdinand Holm, Dave Jones and David Laing being its leading sailors.
Despite it once again not being announced at the prizegiving, it was
the junior team who made George Lakes proud. Jayan Smart on Dabchick,
John Marc Olivieir on Tera Pro and James Hellstrom on Tera Sport sailed
well at the front of the fleet to enable GLYC to win the junior
interclub trophy. They were supported by Ashleigh and Robyn Hellstrom,
Seth Young / James Koelenberg and Sarah Young - even though they didn't
sail in those conditions, they were there for the team. Jonathan Rees,
sailing for KYC, was the leading junior.
Presidents Trophy / Junior Championships
Challenging Sailing on Island Lake
One of the first summer south easters blew on Sunday, producing
excellent sailing conditions on Island Lake.
Anthony Parker had his inaugural sail on home waters on his new
Fireball, the one he bought to sail in the Fireball Worlds in Barbados
earlier this year. Setting it up took longer than expected - he was
late for the first race. David Laing & Cundell Statt went on to win
this race, both on elapsed time as well as on corrected time. The
Lasers of Malcolm and Evelyn Osborne took the next places. Anthony
Parker with Ferdinand Holm cleaned up in the second race, while David
Laing had a couple of capsizes to end up third. Malcolm was once again
second. In the third race, it was Anthony's turn to capsize - race win
went to Malcolm Osborne from David and Anthony. Overall, after three
races for the President's Trophy, Malcolm Osborne is in first place,
with David Laing second and Anthony third.
In the Junior fleet, race wins on the water (line honours) in all three
races went to the Tera Sport, sailed by James Hellstrom. Application of
class handicap however, gave the overall wins in all three races to the
Optimist sailed by Jonathan Rees, with James being second. The battle
for third place was between the Optimists of Nathan Page and Georgou
Divaris. Georgou scored two thirds and a fourth against Nathan's one
third and two fourths to end up one point ahead in third place overall.
These results are the first races in the GLYC Junior Championships
series.
The preceding week saw an intensive International Sailing course for
Assistant Coaches, presented by Evelyn Osborne. Cundell P. Statt, Jayan
Smart and Khaya Gould attended this course. As well as learning the
theory of coaching, they were able to carry out practical training on a
group of novice sailors, just starting to learn to sail. The week
culminated in a mini practice regatta for the novices, under the
guidance of the assistant coaches and Evelyn as club coach. This
regatta was also attended by some novices from Cundell Statt's sailing
centre at Crabs Creek in Knysna.
E. Cape Championships / Laser & Fireball Nationals
Most of GLYC's active sailors supported this event in Mossel Bay
and achieved some success. The most notabale achievement was the team
of
Anthony Parker & Ferdinand Holm,
who
won
in
the
Fireball
National
Championships.
David
&
Mandy
Laing
got
6th
place.
Jonathan
Rees
got
5th
in
the
large
(31)
Optimist fleet,
with Georgou Divaris 14th. James Hellstrom got 4th in the Tera Sport
fleet. John Marc Olivier was there on his Tera Pro, but was the only
one of that type. Cundell Statt & Rory Laing got 3rd in the Mirror
class, with Seth Young & James Koegelenberg at 6th. Evelyn &
Malcolm Osborne and Alastair Fraser sailed in the Laser Nationals,
while Jayan Smart and Maggie Kruger sailed in the Dabchick fleet.
Two races were held in a fading wind on Friday. Saturday was pretty
windless, but one slow race got completed on the separate E. Cape
course. A race for the Fireballs was started after lunch on the
Nationals course but was then abandoned when the light breeze shifted
and faded. Wind returned with force on Sunday and four races were
completed on both courses - near 20 knots with 30 knot gusts. The many
rescue boats were kept busy! A total of 6 races were sailed by the
Lasers and Fireballs, while the classes in the E. Cape Championships
completed 7 races in total.
Thank you to Alwyn Rose and John Young for being part of the
rescue team and to Diane Parker and Jeremy Dee for being on the
race committee.
Ma Wyatt / Farrell Trophy
Sailing at George Lakes Yacht Club comprised races for seniors
competing for the Ma Wyatt Trophy, while the juniors competed for the
Farrell Trophy. There was only a very light south westerly wind for the
first two races but while boats were finishing the 2nd race, conditions
improved. After tea, a third race was held in a much more acceptable 8
knots.
With the Fireball and Laser Nationals taking place at Mossel Bay over
the long weekend next week, the club fleet was reduced, with our top
Fireballs going there to practice on the sea. The senior fleet was
headed by the Laser of Malcolm Osborne, who was first over the line in
all three races. Application of class handicaps gave race wins to the
Mirror of Cundell Statt & Rory Laing in the 2nd race and, in the
third race, to the Sonnet of Deryck & Barbara Eckersley.
Overall in the Ma Wyatt series, Malcolm Osborne is the current leader,
with the GP14 of Diane Parker / Evelyn Osborne in 2nd place. The
Eckersley Sonnet is 3rd overall, a point ahead of the Dabchick of Jayan
Smart
The small junior fleet comprised a Tera Pro, a Mirror and an Optimist
The Tera Pro of James Hellstrom led this fleet in all three races, but
the Optimist's handicap gained Georgou Divaris a race win in the
stronger conditions of the 3rd race.
There is no racing at GLYC over the long weekend while our sailors are
at Mossel Bay competing in the Eastern Cape Championships, including
the Laser and Fireball National Championships.
Millenium / Toppies Trophy
Sunday 12 September was an Open Day for GLYC, where families from
Glenwood House School were invited to the club, following from the Eden
Extreme Sport expo held at that school the previous week. Several of
our sailors took visitors out sailing, to show them what our sport is
all about.
After lunch, normal club racing resumed. For the first race, the wind
was oscillating from SE to SW, making for difficult racing conditions.
Three Fireballs sailed at the front of the fleet, with close
competition between David Laing and Anthony Parker. Parker was
penalised for starting early, while David got first also on handicap.
Another battle occurred between the four Lasers sailing, with Malcolm
Osborne
finishing ahead of Sandy Witteveen and Malcolm Baillie. In the junior
fleet, the Tera Pro's of John Marc Olivier and James Hellstrom seemed
to have an advantage in the light conditions over the Mirrors of
Cundell Statt and Seth Young . John Marc Olivier was first in this
race.
The second race was held in a light south easter – an improvement on
the variable conditions of the first race.
The Fireballs at the head of the fleet were lead by David & Mandy
Laing, with Anthony Parker / Ferdinand Holm in second place. In the
Lasers, there was close racing between Osborne and Bill Turner, with
the latter overtaking near the finish to take first place in this
class, also first on handicap. In the juniors, James Hellstrom (Tera
Pro) established a good lead to achieve a race win. John Marc Olivier
was second – coming off the water to discover his boat was full of
water! Seth Young & James Koegelenberg were first in the Mirrors,
ahead of Cundell Statt & Rory Laing. The two Tera Pro's are tied
for first place at this stage in the junior fleet, with another tie
between Laing and Osborne in the senior fleet.
Realty Homenet / Tom's Tavern Series
After the exciting sailing the previous Sunday, the 5th September
produced typical late summer conditions - virtually windless. 13
dinghies in the senior fleet and 8 in the junior fleet competed in the
Realty Homenet and Tom's Tavern series respectively. Race Officer
Evelyn Osborne eventually got a race started after 14:00, with a rather
long Olympic course. The junior fleet started first and had got to near
the weather mark before being overtaken by the leading boats of the
senior fleet. However, what little wind there was started fading.
The senior fleet's race was shortened after the `sausage', with the
Fireball of David Laing / Ferdinand Holm first over the line(and
subsequently being first on handicap as well). 2nd was the Laser of
Malcolm Osborne - potentially going for 1st on handicap, but lost
momentum at the end. 3rd on handicap was the Sonnet of Tony Bowen,
ahead of the Lasers of Sandy Joseph and Bill Turner. Many of the fleet
were stranded at the previous weather mark and did not finish. The race
in the junior fleet was abandoned.
Photos by Di Parker from a different perspective:
Opening Cruise and Frostbite Series
The season got off to a scorching start on Sunday 29th with a fast and
furious Opening Cruise. Commodore Ant
Parker took the salute from a rather wobbly Committee boat, rocking
against a fresh southeaster. More than
20 boats were on the water, decked out in colourful rigging, and there
were lots of spectators (rather more
than usual because of the strength of the wind/wine). Des
and Margie Herron came all the way from Cape
Town and there were many more people who don’t always come down on an
ordinary Sunday. In his Opening
Cruise speech, Ant thanked everyone for helping to make the day so
festive.
Another important event was the official opening of the Gentlemen’s
Ablution Block. The Commodore thanked
Project Manager Peter Eckford, who managed to get the ablution block up
in double quick time. History does
not record who had the First Flush, but customers have reported that
the structure is a great success. Peter
also assisted in getting the club and grounds in ship‐shape condition
for the Opening Cruise, and Tony Bowen
did a great job tiling around the galley sink. A multi‐talented
crew.
Frostbite – Races 3 and 4
The second and third races of the Frostbite Series started straight
after the Opening Cruise. The wind was still
between 15 – 18 knots, but steady (for a change), and 17 boats crossed
the startline in the first race. In the
second race, this number dropped to 13 because of increasingly
challenging conditions. Surprisingly (and for
the spectators disappointingly), there were no capsizes at all and very
little work for Dimitri Divaris and Diane
Parker on the rescue boat. Malcolm Osborne and Fay Jones ran the
bridge, using flags attached to bamboo poles while the rigging for the
committee boat is being fixed.
On the water, the two Fireballs, skippered by Ant Parker and Dave
Laing, battled for supremacy throughout the
afternoon, and they won a race each – but only by split
seconds. Jayan Smart on his Dabchick was again up
with the two Lasers sailed by Alistair Fraser and Dave Jones, and three
Hobies, sailed by Alwyn Rose (Hobie 14
Turbo) and Gavin Hellstrom and John Young on Hobie 16’s, took full
advantage of the strong breeze. Deryck
Eckersley and Tony Bowen in Sonnets completed the Senior fleet.
“Moonshine”, the Mirror sailed by Cundell Statt (Jnr) and Rory Laing
took line honours in both races, closely
followed by John‐Marc Olivier in an RS Tera Pro. James
Hellstrom in a Tera Sport dogged John‐Marc’s heels,
followed by a second Mirror sailed by Seth Young and James
Koegelenberg. Three Optimists, sailed by young
skippers Julian Leggatt, Georgou Divaris and Steven Olivier started the
first race, but the strong wind took its
toll and only Georgou was left by the end of the second round.
In the overall results, Ant Parker’s Fireball won the Frostbite
Series in the Senior Class, followed by David Laing.
Jayan Smart in his Dabchick took third place with Dave Jones on a Laser
Radial in fourth.
In the Junior fleet, James Hellstrom won in his Tera Sport, followed by
John Marc Olivier on a Tera Pro, and
then the two Mirrors sailed by Seth Young and James Koegelenberg, and
Cundell Statt and Rory Laing came
third and fourth respectively. The full results are on the
GLYC website:
www.glyc.org.za
George Lakes Yacht Club
