The final race of the 2012 frostbite series took place on Sunday 06 May 2012. The turnout was excellent, with 12 boats at the start. Rob, Trevor and Patrick Dyer generously sponsored the day, with the entry fee waived and very useful first aid kits and lovely wine for prizes. Many thanks gents. Trevor also performed the bridge officer’s duties. As always Saldanha Bay dished up some delectable weather with bright sunshine and 10-15 knots of southerly breeze. Once again race officer Bernard Farmer set a friendly course with a beam reach from the start line in front of the club to North buoy, a single tack starboard beat to S2, a long tactical run to #6 mark in the NE corner of the bay followed by an equally tactical beat back to S2, a broad reach to dial rock, a beat to S5 and short reach to the finish.

DATE – 19 MAY 2012

TIME – 18H30

DRESS – SMART CASUAL

COST PER PERSON – R70

SPITBRAAI, SPUDS & SALADS WILL BE SERVED. 

TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE FROM THE CLUB MANAGER –  IVY BAXENDALE, CONTACTABLE ON OFFICE TEL. NO. 022 -7140884 or CELL 082 760 2412

FOR CATERING PURPOSES – SALE OF TICKETS WILL CLOSE ON 16 MAY 2012

Hats off to the bridge crew and mark layers for keeping their wits about them with all these boats and classes to keep track of.

Prior to the regatta Alastair turned every stone to find a crew, coming up empty handed. At the last minute Andrew Bews agreed to join him, but was not available for the Saturday due to work commitments. Pieter von Bredow had been working hard to train an enthusiastic Dirkie van Vurren in the art flying 15 sailing. Steve Hegerstrom had flown down from Durban to bolster the fleet and was sailing Alastair’s turquoise boat with Drew Jarvis as crew for the regatta. Luke Rademan kindly made his boats available to fireball sailors Ryan Avery and Janine Mare sailing under the MAC banner, and to Paul Dennet and Chris Pace from FBYC.  The remaining three boats were regular crews from SBYC, Trsitan Bews and Phillip Rebel, Anton Nel and Chris Peart and finally Michael and Heidi Kavanagh.

Ironically the Southerly winds and sunny skies that we sail in for most of the year were to be replaced by the nor’wester and rain as a front dominated the weekend weather. This levelled the playing field for all. With a combination of oscillating offshore breeze and perpetual shifts as the days progressed, reading the wind was to be a key skill in the regatta. In addition with so many boats and classes on the course at the same time, finding lanes of clear air would prove invaluable.

The race committee cleverly used two windward and two leeward marks with an offset mark in between to separate those fleets coming off the start line, those in the middle of the race and those approaching the finish. Early in the regatta this challenged the leading boat on more than one occasion, with our friends from Durban even sailing around the wrong mark in race three and Heidi and Michael beating to the wrong weather mark in race 6.

On Friday morning prior to the first race, Heidi was seen fine sanding and polishing the bottom of Femme Fatale, a routine that she diligently pursued every morning before racing.  This diligence was to pay off and together with a new Quantum main and spinnaker Femme Fatale proved to have extra legs on the fleet as she took the winners hooter in all nine races.

The battle for second was to be an intense affair between Pieter von Bredow and Steve Heggerstrom. Steve had the upper hand on day 1, Pieter on day 2, honours were about even on day 3 and with just one race on day 4 Pieter needed to finish ahead of Steve to claim second in the regatta. A thrilling start saw the two boats together with Pieter just to leeward of Steve. In typical von Bredow fashion, he was able to find that little bit of extra height and forced Steve to tack. From there Pieter was able to cover him for the rest of the race and took second in the race and overall.

Throughout the regatta Tristan showed signs of moving to the next level as he mixed it with the older hands. Despite an unfortunate DSQ in an incident with a 29er, he and Phillip claimed a well-deserved fourth place in the regatta. Alastair only completed five of the nine races, with Andrew mysteriously spraining his ankle in the last race while they were competing at the front of the fleet. Despite this he finished in fifth place overall having claimed a mixture of second, third and fourth place finishes in the races he did complete. Ryan and Janine took sixth, while Anton and Chris sailed better and were much closer to the fleet than their seventh place finish suggested. Paul and Chris from FBYC rounded out the fleet.

A huge thank you to all the organisers, your efforts are highly appreciated. Also thank you to the SBYC commodore and members who worked tirelessly all weekend, helping competitors get their boats in and out of the water and ensuring that the club was a fitting host to our guests. Judging by the level of interest in learning more about boat speed, strategy and tactics, the quality of our sailing is improving and bodes well for some competitive racing next season.

Prize giving will definitely be worth it, with a few lucky draws taking place. The race will be sponsored by the racing fund and the race officer. Bring some meat and have a early evening braai after racing. A perfect way to end the weekend!

Any queries, please contact Bernard on 076-9072182.

03 April   18:30 – 19:00   SS6 / SS6A

Repeats

04 April   11:00 – 11:30   SS6 / SS6A
05 April   15:30 – 16:00   SS6 / SS6A
06 April   10:00 – 10:30   SS6 / SS6A
09 April   17:30 – 18:00   SS6 / SS6A
10 April   12:00 – 12:30   SS6 / SS6A

In the days leading up to the 2012Mykonosregatta we had time to reflect on last year. We entered in 2011 with great enthusiasm but with little big boat racing experience. In a 30 knot plus South Easter we hoisted our fractional .75 and promptly poked a hole in it with the anchor roller. Needless to say the only time it has come out of the bag since was for the insurance claim. We then hoisted our 1.5oz fractional asymmetrical. Flew it nicely on starboard gybe until Blouberg where we wrapped it around the forestay during an attempted gybe. Two hours later after much pain and suffering we had it flying again only to pop it in a gust just after theDassenIslandgate. To make matters worse, some of the stitching on the main had come apart and we had mangled the pulpit during the failed gybe!

No wonder we had a restless Thursday night prior to this year’s race. Well what a difference a year makes. For 2012 we had a regular and enthusiastic crew whose skills were multiples better than in 2011. Ray of Light had lost the bimini, spray dodger and 70m of anchor chain. Her bottom had been faired and she sported new Quantum carbon technora membrane sails.

We awoke to a moderate SE that covered thePaardenIslandmark, but had not filled in to the usual start line between the RCYC bridge hut and #10 mark. Instead for the start we had a very light westerly. With the usual large number of entries, the start line was a crowded place, the boats stacked side by side. Naledi provided for sports when she approached the line on port. Fortunately Heidi had the foresight to have a fender on deck. It came in handy as Naledi collided gently with us forward of the beam on the starboard side before the start.

While we were tied up with Naledi and a bunch of other boats in the middle of the line, we watched agonisingly asCapeFling, Windpower and AL picked up the SE breeze near the pin end and made away like bandits. While they beat toPaardenIslandwe scrapped for vapours of breeze, even hoisting our spinnaker for a short while. Eventually the breeze filled in and we were off.

Once round thePaardenIslandmark we hoisted our masthead symmetrical that flew beautifully and set our sights on the distantAL. We used our long spinnaker pole to full advantage to sail deep down wind, much to the frustration of the pacer 27 Unmatched who tried repeatedly to sail through our lee, with no success. Little did we know that they would be buzzing around us like a mosquito throughout the day and would cross the finish line some seven hours later just ahead of us.

This time we executed a good gybe at Blouberg and looked set for a pleasant run to Dassen. By now we had reeled inAL. However as quickly as the wind had come, it disappeared. A quick change of gear saw us settle into a tight reach with the spinnaker pole low on the forestay and the crew stacked to leeward. We were heading North, slightly out to sea. Some of the boats gybed along the shore staying just behind the surf line. These included Ballyhoo II and Unleashed. This strategy seemed to pay for them. Further out to sea to the North of Robin Island the boats seemed to get parked up in a hole. In the middle we made some progress, hunting the puffs, alternating between spinnaker and jib.

After an hour or so in the transition zone, the breeze started to fill in from theNorth Westand steadily backed. By now we had converged with Corum as we headed out to sea and they came in toward the shore. We settled into an exciting drag race for the Dassen gate, with us taking up a slot four or five boat lengths off their stern.

 As the wind backed we were able to ease the sails bit by bit. Then Corum launched their masthead code zero. However as we were both already at hull speed, the extra sail area didn’t make too much difference. When the wind got to a true angle of 130 degrees to port, we hoisted our fractional asymmetrical. The wind strength was increasing all the time 10 then 15 then 20 gusting 25 knots. Boat speed was now up around 9 knots and we were storming toward the gate atDassenIsland.

Corum peeled their code zero and hoisted their masthead asymmetrical. However the bag had a small tear in it. The crew watched with bated breath as the tear grew larger until the bag blew. This gave us the opportunity to roll over the top of them and by the time they had hoisted their masthead symmetrical we were 4 or 5 boat lengths ahead. We held this position to the gate at Dassen where we converged with Tenacity and After you, a spectacular sight as the four boats squeezed through the gate together. A little way behind us was our weekly rival Southern Storm. 

After the gate we did our first ever spinnaker peel as we hoisted our masthead symmetric outside the fractional asymmetrical and then dropped the asym to the deck as the symmetrical filled. The move was flawless and we set course straight to South Head atSaldanhaBay. Tenacity followed us, while After You and Southern Storm headed inshore and Corum offshore.

As the breeze continued to build, the lighter Tenacity and Southern Storm started to surf and slowly sailed away from us despite all our efforts pumping the main and spinnaker. Corum had lost ground by going offshore and After You left us standing when they hoisted their oversized masthead spinnaker that they had used to win the 2011 Cape To Rio race.

Shortly before South Head, Tenacity mysteriously headed a little offshore and then wrapped their bag during the gybe. That was the last we saw of them. We gybed onto starboard and followed Southern Storm to the South of Jutten and on to the infamous Elandspunt. Shortly before the point we doused the spinnaker and raised the jib. Just as well, as the wind was gusting over 30 knots when we rounded the point and headed onto the final reach toMykonos.  

In the end on corrected time we scored a 10^th to Dassen, a 10^th from Dassen to Mykonos and 8^th fromCape Town toMykonos out of 16 boats. Given how well we had sailed we were initially disappointed with the results. However closer inspection showed that most of the boats ahead of us were lighter more planning / surfing type boats that would be expected to excel in a strong downwind race. Of the more displacement type boats only Windpower and AL were ahead of us. So in the end, not a bad result. We could have gained a little time by getting a better start and perhaps hugged the beach more closely after Blouberg. We’ll put that in the memory bank for next year!

 Saturday’s Pursuit Race – Awesome!

The usual Southerly breeze filled in nicely for the pursuit race aroundSaldanhaBayon Saturday. We had to give AL, YOLO and Docksafe close to 20 mins head start. Behind us like a pack of wolves were 10 or 11 of the fastest 40 – 50 foot yachts in theCape. With the breeze at 18-23 knots for the first beat toward Langebaan, we had the ideal opportunity to try out our new Quantum carbon technora #3 jib. On the advice of Matt Trautman, the new sail is about 10% smaller and a flatter cut than our previous ACL #3. The new sail is awesome. We found a different gear upwind and were beating higher and faster than ever before. In the flat water our boat speed was around 8 knots with good height. We quickly made inroads into the boats that had started just before us and maintained or extended our lead on the boats just behind. At the weather mark predictably thing got hairy with a number of boats converging, rounding the mark and hoisting spinnakers in the fresh breeze.

Before the race the previous day we had lost the torlon ball bearings in our spinnaker pole car on the mast. Thanks to the foresight of Hannes and Ankie from Harken, who brought a box of spares to Mykonos(including 8mm bearings) we had been able to replace the bearings before the pursuit race. I bet Glenn wishes that we hadn’t. In what could have been a much more serious incident, shortly after hoisting the bag, the pole accidentally uncleated, right when Glenn was tidying up the halyards at the base of the mast and the new bearings saw the pole falling with great speed and whacking Glenn on the head. Fortunately despite the blood and a headache, Glenn was okay. Later he would have 4 stitches. When one looks at the qualifications required for a bow man, Glenn has now passed the higher grade exam. Check out the self-examination at the link: http://www.bowmansunion.com/2002_web/html/2002_People_of_the_Bow.htm

Back to the race, the long run down to #2 mark in the corner ofSaldanhaBaynear the ore jetty was right up our alley. Ray of Light has a long spinnaker pole and loves to sail deep downwind. Once we had clean air, we were able to sail straight to the mark with good speed, something the sprit boats could not do. A last minute call to change to the #2 jib before the mark for the reach to dial rock was well executed. We kept the #2 for the beat out to the channel marker, where we again found good speed in a breeze of 15-18 knots. The chasing pack still kept at bay, but the smaller boats still a long way ahead.

After rounding the channel marker, we cracked off, heading on a broad reach forNorth bay. We prepared our asymmetrical while observing the boats around us. Usually they are quick to raise their bags, but this time preferred to take a wait and see approach. This time we made the first move and our little fractional asymmetrical proved to be just the medicine for the leg. Our crew did an excellent job, dropping the bag right on the mark.

We rounded and were forced to tack immediately to find clear air while the other boats headed to the shore before tacking across the channel. This was to be a key leg, with waves to contend with and decisions to be made for the starboard beat across the channel to Jutten. We chose to focus on boat speed and hiking hard. We seemed to be going a little better than the boats behind that were sailing in a different lane of breeze slightly to weather of us. By the time we tacked onto port in the lee of Jutten, we had dropped our nearest rivals and consolidated our gains on the chasing pack.

Just when we thought we had done the hard work, we fell into a hole where the wind dropped to around 5-7 knots just before we could tack back onto starboard to leaveJuttenIslandto port. The chasing pack quickly closed, but they too had to negotiate the hole.  Once we could safely clear Jutten we tacked over and immediately found better breeze that gave us a little breathing space.

The crew quickly prepared the masthead symmetrical for the run down to North East mark. This was to be an exhilarating run as the wind steadily increased to over 30 knots and the fleet converged. We felt like the ham in the sandwich as we closed on the smaller boats and the pack of big boats bore down on us. By NE mark we were still holding off the chasers and had Yolo and Docksfe in sight.ALlooked to be a little too far ahead. The two mile beat toward Langebaan saw us chase down Docksafe and Yolo. We were having a good dice with Corum when their headsail tack fitting blew, putting them out of the running just before the top mark.CapeFlingand Windpower nipped past us at the weather mark. Hot on our heels was another of our arch rivals Speed of Yellow, the J133, less than a boat length behind.

On the final run to the finish, we followed Windpower, sailing deep with a symmetrical spinnaker, while DHL had to sail a slightly tighter angle, away from the finish line with their oversized asymmetrical flying from a bow sprit. Ahead of us, the superfastCapeFlingwas charging down on AL, who in the end took the race by a boat length or two. Windpower got third and we held off DHL for fourth, an excellent result for us. The rest of the fleet finished in quick succession.

The full results are posted on www.RCYC.co.za .

Thanks to the sponsors and organisers for another memorable Mykonos regatta. Thanks to the Ray of Light crew who have come a long way in a year. We hope to be back next year and show further improvement.

Esmeralda, the L26 from Saldanha Bay Yacht Club yet again entered the Mykonos Offshore regatta for 2012. Esmeralda was skippered by Bernard Farmer and crewed by David Raines, Louis Botha and Andre de Ritter.

The race was from the RCYC bridge Hut to the Paarden Island mark and then through a gate at Dassen Island. From there it was a race to Mykonos, 3 races into one.

Esmeralda were fortunate to have another L26 in the fleet, Team Escape, making racing interesting and very close.

Esmeralda got off to a fantastic start, choosing the middle of the start line. She was the first boat to the weather mark, and the first to have her bag up in gusty conditions. This was due to good crew work and great decisions. The other L26 followed shortly behind Esmeralda, proving it was going to be a close race all the way to Mykonos.

At Blouberg Beach, we pushed as far as we could to the beach, gibing right behind the breakers. This helped us to edge away from Team Escape. Shortly after, the wind dropped very quickly, with Esmeralda running more of a reaching course to Dassen. We gibed again to stay behind the breakers, which definitely paid.

Shortly after, the wind turned, coming more from the North West, so it was down with spinnakers and up with the jib. We beat further up towards Dassen, waiting for the wind to come more West. Team Escape raised their spinnaker shortly after, settling for a broader reach towards Dassen. This paid for them and they managed to edge ahead of Esmeralda.

We raised the spinnaker and sailed more downwind towards Dassen. The two L26’s reached Dassen with Team Escape about 6 boat lengths in front. Esmeralda attacked and managed to catch up, but just could not pass the other L26. They managed to pass just half a boat length in front of us.

From Dassen it was off to Mykonos. Esmeralda managed to get past Team Escape by managing to put her skipper and crew off. This enabled us to sail over her, and take the lead. From there we did not look back, as we sailed away from the other L26. The wind increased, which suited the other yachts in our class, but we were more than happy to be ahead of the other L26. We pulled away from her, thereby winning the second leg, as well as the total race from Cape Town to Mykonos. Our overall results for the three races were then 4, 7 and 3^rd. This was one point ahead of Team Escape. Far Med, a Muira from RCYC led Class 3 with 7 points, and the RCOD, Reaction, in second with 3 points, taking 3 bullets.

Pursuit Race:

The pursuit race start was delayed and only started close to 12h00. Esmeralda was quick off the line, getting ahead of Team Escape. We rounded the weather mark ahead and had the kite up before her. This enabled us to speed away. Team Escape caught up a bit due to Esmeralda picking up bad air from a few of the bigger boats, but managed to stay ahead. Esmeralda was well in the lead on the way to Jutten Island. At Jutten Island, Esmeralda took our normal close rounding around the Island. This proved to be a mistake and Team Escape managed to creep past us with a lot more wind a bit further out. They rounded the Island first, and could not be caught after that.

The pursuit race for Class 3 was won by the Muira Far Med. Team Escape came second and Esmeralda third.

The overall results for Class 3 were: 1^st  Farmed, second Reaction and third Team Escape. Esmeralda managed tied on points for 3^rd, but lost the count out and ended fourth for the Regatta. A vast improvement from previous years!

The Regatta kicked off with the sponsor treating all the boat owners to dinner at his mansion in Noordhoek on the Thursday evening. This was already an honor to be present at, with Lady Christine making all feel like royalty. We were treated to a tour of the gardens and a great dinner. A definite must if you enter next year’s event!

Racing was scheduled to start on the Friday evening, but the wind was up to 45 knots in Table Bay, so the race officer wisely prevented all yachts from leaving the harbor. All competitors headed to the pub for a social evening.

Saturday racing was scheduled to start at 10h00, and the race committee was spot on. Three races were scheduled for the day, which were very well organized.

Saldanha Bay Yacht Club was represented by Esmeralda, the L26 in Class “C”. Sailing on Esmeralda was Bernard Farmer, Ettiene van Zyl, Andre Ritter and Tristan Bews. There were 10 entries in Class C, consisting of a few Muira’s, Van der Stadt’s and two L26’s.

The races were made up of either windward/leeward or triangles. Sailing conditions were great with light winds of 10 to 12 knots, building up in the afternoon to 15.

Esmeralda was off to a fantastic start, winning the first race by a good margin. In the second she got a second and finished the day with a disappointing 5^th. This was after a bad start and getting caught between the bigger boats.

After the first day’s racing, Class C was led by Team Escape, with the other L26, Esmeralda, in second position.

On Sunday only one race was sailed, with the second abandoned due to the wind dying at the last leeward mark. The first race was again dominated by the L26’s with very light winds. Team Escape beating Esmeralda by 60 seconds.

Class C was won by Team Escape from RCYC, with the Saldanha Bay entry Esmeralda in second position.

It was great to see a number of Saldanha Bay faces on various boats and in different classes. In the IRC division, Ray of Light participated with Heidi and Michael Kavanagh sailing the Cape Townbased yacht. Also onboard were Andrew Bews and Leonie Nel. Ray of Light struggled in a very competitive field with a lack of experience in vital positions. They did manage to improve as the regatta progressed. Also sailing at the regatta was Anton Nel. He was on the Muira, Phantom, owned by Tom Connell. They sailed in Class 2 and managed a 6^th place in Class 2.

All competing yachts received a trophy, with the first 3 finishes winning additional trophies.

For the detailed results, please see the RCYC website.

If you have not done this event in the past, try it next year. You will not be disappointed! The RCYC and Lord Laidlaw went out of their way to make it a most enjoyable event! He has also committed to sponsoring this event again next year!

The first event attracted around 50 windsurfers, and the winner of the Sea Harvest shield had to do well in two races sailed on consecutive days, the dash from Langebaan to Saldanha and the long distance race from Saldanha around Schaap Island and back to the beach at the club house. Over the years, the event grew to an entry of 220 windsurfers, and the long distance race has been discontinued but with the reduced interest in windsurfing, later entries were nearer the 50 mark. The new sport of kiting introduced a new dimension of competition, and the highest entry was 316 a few years ago. Kiters have won the event twice, but in the last three events, the windsurfers have shown the better turn of speed.

The original dash course was a giant slalom around three marks over a distance of 17 km. The record for the old course was 18 minutes set by Cape Town star Peter Slate. Of the locals,Marlon Weibel won the race twice, but in recent years professionals from Europe have generally taken the honours. For the last three years, the course was extended to 20 km rounding four marks. Winners time is usually around 23 minutes, with the last finishers around an hour later. The feeling of the event has always been a relaxed one where families can enter and see how they do against the best in the world. Many competitors have entered over and over since the first race and the event is thought to be the biggest kite and windsurf event in the world. Safety is always a major concern with 260 entries this year scattered over a 20 km course, there were 10 rescue boats and air support. Without the SBYC, there would be no race and the local support of all has been greatly valued.