The first sailing regatta to be sailed out of ABYC after the disastrous break up of the Marina on 26 October was the ABYC Summer Dinghy Regatta from 21 to 22 November 2009.

Saturday, 21 November was blown out and Sailing started promptly at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday 22 November 2009. Race Officer Ronnie Baer elected to sail short course Triangle, Sausage, finish races in the harbour area.

A total of seven races were sailed in ideal Westerly flat conditions with the top mark close to the Chokka Boat Jetty.

The Top three finishers:

1. Jesse Martin - Optimist
2. Sarah Arnold - Laser 4.7
3. Wayne Watkins - Laser Radial

Click Here for ALL the Results.

Thanks to the bridge crew - Chad Jackson and Ronnie Baer, Mark Laying and Rescue - Kerry Bonnage and Darryl Garner.

Andrew Bosworth (Extra), Wayne Watkins (Laser), Dave Moorcroft and Jason Schaeffer (470) and Steve and Debbie Arnold (Dolphin)

Andrew Bosworth (Extra)

Jason Schaeffer and Dave Moorcroft (470)

More images on MyPE.

ABYC Summer Dinghy Regatta to be sailed on the weekend of the 21st, 22nd November 2009 out of the ABYC Yacht club

NOTICE OF RACE

1. ORGANISING AUTHORITY

The Algoa Bay Yacht Club

2. RULES

2.1 The regatta will be governed by the rules as defined in the Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) 2009/2012.
2.2 Boats participating in this regatta shall conform to the Equipment Rules of Sailing (ERS),their respective Class this Notice of Race, and the Sailing Instructions.

3. ELIGIBILITY AND ENTRY

3.1 In accordance with the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Regulation 19 (Eligibility Code), all competitors (helmspersons and all
other crew) shall be members in good standing of a Yacht Club affiliated to and in good standing with SA Sailing or their Member National Authority in the case of non-South Africans. The Yacht Club name and membership details shall be stated on the entry form or crew list. Current valid South African Sailing Membership Cards or similar proof of MNA Membership in cases of non-South Africans shall be presented at Registration.
3.2 The regatta is open to all Classes
3.3 Eligible boats may enter on Saturday before racing from 9am until half an hour before the first race at ABYC.
3.4 Entry Fee; R10 per boat

4. CLASSIFICATION

The ISAF Sailor Classification Code, Regulation 22 shall apply.

5. SCHEDULE

Saturday: Registration from 9am up until 30min before first race. First race not before 2pm.
Sunday: 1st race not before 9am.
Results will be read out after last race at ABYC

6. NUMBER OF RACES

Saturday - push for 4, Sunday - no more than 3, 4 races will constitute a regatta.

7. MEASUREMENTS

Each boat shall produce a valid measurement / rating certificate. In addition the spot measurements may be taken at any stage during the regatta.

8. SAILING INSTRUCTIONS

Sailing Instructions will be available from the Regatta Secretary on completion of registration formalities.

9. VENUE

Racing will take place north of the harbour entrance at the oyster beds, weather dependant. A novice fleet will be run in the harbour close to the yacht club

10. COURSES

The Courses will be on the notice bored before the race.

11. PENALTY SYSTEM

For all catamaran classes Rule 44.1 is changed so that the Two-Turns Penalty is replaced by the One-Turn Penalty.

12. SCORING

12.1 The Low Point System of Appendix A4.1 will apply.
12.2 Four races are required to be completed to constitute a series.
12.3 (a) When fewer than 5 races have been completed, a boat's series score will be the total of her race scores.
(b) When from 5 to 9 races have been completed, a boat's series score will be the total of her race scores excluding her worst score.

13. DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY

Competitors participate in the regatta entirely at their own risk. See rule 4, Decision to Race. Neither the Organizing Authority nor it's officials or other persons associated with the organization of the event will accept any liability for material damage or personal injury or death sustained in conjunction with or prior to, during, or after the regatta

14. INSURANCE

Each participating boat is encouraged to be insured with a valid third party liability insurance recommended to have a minimum cover of R1,000,000-00 per event or the equivalent. Should insurance not be carried, the offending party must be prepared to pay for damages incurred

15. SAFETY

There will be support boats to assist the sailors. Life jackets must be worn at all times.

16. FURTHER INFORMATION

For further information please contact David Moorcroft on 0833710152 or Jason Schaefer on 0791806348

The Results from the Noordhoek Race that took place on Sunday 18 October 2009 in a fresh westerly:

1. Chinook; Bill Lee - 2:59:26
2. Tikalox II; Rob Smith - 3:03:06
3. Jouster; Richard Rath - 3:09:17
4. Proteus; Chris Cox - 3:14:18
5. Sea Mole; A. Hautman - 3:22:20
6. Wattoo; John - 3:24:55
7. Malgas; Petro Bocci - 3:43:00
8. Struan; Derek Bouwer - 3:29:45
9. Lady; Harry Lamprecht - 3:47:23
10. Umbaleki; Johan Herselman - 3:48:27
11. Take Six; Doug Stannard - DNF

There was one other entrant that didn't quite make it out of the harbour and elected to navigate the teak reef. I promised Sean that I wouldn't mention the boat's name, though.

The Double handed St Croix Race took place from ABYC on 4 October. The course was a Harbour start taking St Croix to Starboard to a finish off the break water. A light South Westerly breeze saw 10 boats on the start line. Valiant got us away at 10:00 and in the light 9 knot wind the fleet doddled out of the harbour.

Once out both Chinook and Tikalox II stuck up their kites and disappeared towards St Croix, "Madgas" followed suit but suffered from halyard problems with the kite not going all the way up and was soon snuffed. Employing different tactics Struan and Wattoo headed straight for the Island wing on wing, while Malgas head towards the beach. Valliant with their orange and red reacher sailed up through the middle of the fleet. Unfortunately a 300 foot monster in the shape of "MSC Catalina", the first paying commercial vessel to enter Nqgura, played havoc with both Chinook and Tikalox II's tactics, with a few blasts and deviations in course for the leaders.

After 3 hours of down wind sailing Struan rounded St Croix behind Chinook, Tikalox II, Valiant and Wattoo. Just about everyone tacked inshore, only tacking across because a great big Harbour called Nqgura got in the way!

After another 4 hours of beating we crossed the finish line off the harbour entrance. Gringo got in amongst the whale and played a little, only finishing at 19:00. By which time some serious brown frothy things where being quaffed on the deck, a good days sailing and a good time had by all.

A Double handed race sees only two sailors per boat - the skipper and his mate.

Provisional Results: 1st - Tikalox II, 2nd - Chinook, 3rd - Wattoo, 4th - Malgas, 5th - Struan, 6th - Proteus, 7th Valiant, 8th - Skybird and 9th - Gringo.

ABYC October's Sailing Regattas: 11th October - Open weekend (Public Welcome), 18th October - Medium distance race and 31 October - First of the round the cans racing for this sailing season.

Source: Derek Bouwer

A slight correction to yesterday's report from the Flamenca Worlds - it appears that 'Brother' Dion could only join the crew from today (something about old age precluding him from celebrations and being very afraid of the famous Duette fines meetings!). On the bow yesterday was young Delyn Price.

From Sean:

We had the pursuit race to Cape Point and back yesterday. Our start time was 9:20 and the wind was +-10 knots west. We were 4th round the turn mark but then Cape Doctor turned on us and the wind started building to 20-25 knots, enabling the bigger boats to sail past us.

Spirits are high, for today's sailing which starts at 11h00 and if the predictions are right we will be sailing in 16 -21 knots NW.

Kind regards

Sean
Live from Flamenca Worlds FBYC

The intrepid ABYC Flamenca, Duette, is competing in the Spring Regatta out of False Bay Yacht Club this weekend.

The Spring Regatta is headlined as the Flamenca 'Worlds' and Sean, Dion and Kerry are flying ABYC's flag high - the following terse on the water report from Sean:

We got a 6th and 4th over line in division 3. However, we are 2nd in the Flamenca class. The Garmin Boat will be a challenge to beat with kevlar sails and Mike Clarke at the helm.

We did however have a 'T-Bone' at sea with an L26. However, a strongly built Flamenca with stainless steel toe chap was no match for the L.

Kind regards

Sean
Live at the Flamenca Worlds

With a 9th place in Race One of the Eden Island Lipton Cup on Day one, and an 8th place in Race Two we could be forgiven for thinking that a single digit placing in this year's Lipton Cup was in the bag. Sailing is a competitive and strategic sport and things can change.

After three races the provisional eighth place, in Race Two, for Aon Challenger has now become a DSQ. But, a fine sail to sixth place in Race Number Three was still not enough to compensate, leaving ABYC in 12th place.

The Lipton Cup is a hard and unforgiving regatta - one mistake over the regatta will drop you completely out of the running.

Top 10 Positions After 3 Races:

1. ROYAL CAPE YACHT CLUB - DALY'S INSURANCE, GREG DAVIS - 1, 1, 1
2. ROYAL NATAL YACHT CLUB - ORION CHALLENGER, MARK SADLER - 2, 2, 4
3. FISH HOEK BEACH SAILING CLUB - INTASURE INSURANCE BROKERS - ANDREA GIOVANNI, 3, 3, 3
4. POINT YACHT CLUB, PYC/ EIKOS - CRAIG MILLAR - 7, 5, 2
5. THEEWATER SPORTS CLUB, DALYS - JAMES LARGIER - 4, 8, 5
6. LAKE DENYS YACHT CLUB - LA DIQUE, BRANDOM SMITH - 8, 4, 7
7. IMPERIAL YACHT CLUB - DYNAMIC ID SYSTEMS - DALE KUSHNER, 5, 7, 12
8. TRANSVAAL YACHT CLUB - BUMBO, EWALD STERNAGEL - 6, 11, 11
9. KNYSNA YACHT CLUB - PARASAILOR/WARLOCK - IAN SLATEM, 12, 12, 10
10. HERMANUS YACHT CLUB - JML 3/AUDI - THEO YON, 20, 6, 13

A bad start for Royal Natal Yacht Club' Orion Challenger allowed Greg Davis to extend his lead in the 2009 Eden Island Lipton Cup with a third successive win.

Defending champion Davis also suffered a poor start and at the and first mark, the Royal Cape Yacht Club's Daly's Insurance was in eighth place, but eventually clawed back into the lead and took a five point advantage at the top.

Sadler, onboard the Royal Natal Yacht Club entry Orion Challenger, hit another boat at the start, and was sent to the back of the fleet.

"We had a bit of a disastrous start. We hit a boat and were penalised," said Sadler.

"Anything can still happen though. We have to beat a boat that has won all three races so far, so we are going to have to find something special."

The result is enough to keep RNYC in second place overall with eight points, while Fish Hoek Beach Sailing Club's Intasure are breathing down their neck in third place with nine points.

"We can still win it. We just hope Mark and Greg go at it hammer and tongs tomorrow and just mess each other up, so we can slip in," said Intasure skipper Andrea Giovannini."

It appears that the ABYC team are slightly technologically challenged as after numerous requests for them to communicate with me at a time convenient to them they are still struggling to find the on button on their phones or the send button on their computers.

No matter - the official Eden Island Lipton Cup PR guys do send out a newsletter every day and the following is the latest report:

After an abandoned second race, Tuesday finally saw some more action in the 2009 Eden Island Lipton Cup Tuesday, with favourite and defending champion Greg Davis continuing his charge for a fourth consecutive title.

Mark Sadler, onboard the Royal Natal entry Orion Challenger, finished second but will have three more chances to get ahead of the host club, while the young crew aboard Fish Hoek Beach Sailing Club's Intasure continued to be the surprise package as they snatched third place for the second time to repeated the results of day one.

The Cape Radio Yacht Club entry Slaley, has provided a nice change with it being the only all women team in the event this year. Slaley is skippered by Judy Provoyeur, with daughter and Olympic sailor Dominique onboard and at one point in the second race they held fourth place, but eventually slipped to 12th.

"We sailed well today, but it was quite tricky. There were lines of pressure in the water and if you fell out of the line you were dead in the water, but if you stayed in the breeze you looked like a hero," said Dominique

"The L class is an extremely physical boat to sail, strength is hugely important, so if we can get more combination teams it would help women in sailing a lot.

The Top Ten Places (After Two Races):

1. ROYAL CAPE YACHT CLUB - DALY'S INSURANCE - GREG DAVIS - 1, 1
2. ROYAL NATAL YACHT CLUB - ORION CHALLENGER - MARK SADLER - 2, 2
3. FISH HOEK BEACH SAILING CLUB - INTASURE INSURANCE BROKERS - ANDREA GIOVANNI - 3, 3
4. LAKE DENUS YACHT CLUB - LA DIQUE - BRANDOM SMITH - 8, 4
5. POINT YACHT CLUB - PYC/EIKOS - CRAIG MILLAR 7, 5
6. THEEWATER SPORTS CLUB - DALYS - JAMES LARGIER - 4, 10
7. IMPERIAL YACHT CLUB - DYNAMIC ID SYSTEMS - DALE KUSHNER - 5, 9
8. ALGOA BAY YACHT CLUB - AON CHALLENGER - KERRY BONNAGE - 9, 8
9. TRANSVAAL YACHT CLUB - BUMBO - EWALD STERNAGEL - 6, 13
10. ZEEKOEVLEI YACHT CLUB - RACE AHEAD - LEO DAVIS - 10, 11

The first in the Frostbite series for the 2009/10 Sailing Season was sailed yesterday 23 August. The Port Elizabeth Windguru unfortunately got it wrong with a prediction of a South South West of around 11 knots for the 11:00 a.m. start.

The format for the day's race was a pursuit and the South South West prediction would have suited the Pacer's for the chosen course - Harbour Start, sail towards and pastthe Bell Buoy for an hour then turn back and race to the finish.

As the weather gods would have it the wind was a westerly and rising.

The boats got off the start at 11:34 a.m. and proceeded to charge (some were seen to be sedately meandering rather than charging, though) for the Bell Buoy. On Wild Thing the decision was made to take advantage of the inshore 'protected zone' before charging for the Bell Buoy with spinnaker flying, sails flapping and various sailors holding on for dear life as we wrestled with the beast.

As we flew past the Bell Buoy just before 12:00 noon and with 35 minutes in hand before being able to turn back and beat, we decided to change direction towards Noordhoek, lest we run away from ourselves and bump an iceberg or two in a headlong charge away from the land.

With Cape Receife looming we did a smart about turn (way before the hour was up) and headed back towards the finish line. Good thing we did too, as we noticed that a number of boats had broken stop watches and with the loss of this 'vital piece of safety equipment' they had also decided to turn tail and race for the finish line.

No matter - we had great fun playing in the large swell off of Boilers and sailed on a tight fetch back to the finish.

Final Results:

1. Le Chevalier
2. Shady Lady
3. Duette
4. Jouster
5. Bonita
6. Umbaleki
7. Wild Thing
8. Seralon
9. High Spirit

Greg on High Spirit was having such fun that he decided to sail there for longer than hour - much to the dismay of Phil and Ashleigh on the finish boat as they had to wait in heaving seas and high winds for Greg to return.

The ABYC Lipton Cup team secured a ninth place on 23 August in the first race of the Eden Island Lipton Cup taking place in Cape Town.

Greg Davis sailing for the Royal Cape Yacht Club, stormed to victory on the first day of the 2009 Eden Island Lipton Cup, with his main challenger Mark Saddler battling into second on a leaking boat at the Royal Cape Yacht Club (RCYC).

"The conditions were beautiful and I was very happy with the result", said Davis, who was aboard the RCYC entry Daly's Insurance.

Mark Sadler on the Royal Natal Yacht Club entry Orion Challenger made a late charge into second after battling with a damage hatch which allowed water on to the boat.

"It wasn't really even a race, Greg was miles ahead, but considering all of the problems I'm happy with where we finished," said Sadler.

The event has seen a rise of young talent breaking through, and Andrea Giovanni of Fish Hoek Beach Sailing Club was the star of the day among the youth teams after finishing third.

"We broke something on the jib which set us back a bit but we caught up at the end. It was just an incredible day of racing," he said

Defending club Theewater Sports Club came in fourth place, but skipper James Largier was disappointed that they could not hold on to the second place they held during the race.

"Our main halyard slipped and we lost a lot in the last beat, but we finished two seconds off third," said the 20-year-old skipper.

Top 10 Boats after the First Race

1. ROYAL CAPE YACHT CLUB, DALY'S INSURANCE, GREG DAVIS
2. ROYAL NATAL YACHT CLUB, ORION CHALLENGER, MARK SADLER
3. FISH HOEK BEACH SAILING CLUB, INTASURE INSURANCE BROKERS, ANDREA GIOVANNI
4. THEEWATER SPORTS CLUB, DALYS, JAMES LARGIER
5. IMPERIAL YACHT CLUB, DYNAMIC ID SYSTEMS, DALE KUSHNER
6. TRANSVAAL YACHT CLUB, BUMBO, EWALD STERNAGEL
7. POINT YACHT CLUB, PYC/ EIKOS, CRAIG MILLAR
8. LAKE DENUS YACHT CLUB, LA DIQUE, BRANDOM SMITH
9. ALGOA BAY YACHT CLUB, AON CHALLENGER, KERRY BONNAGE
10. ZEEKOEVLEI YACHT CLUB, RACE AHEAD, LEO DAVIS

Team: Kerry Bonnage, Wayne Watkins, Daryl Garner, Jason Schaefer and Delyn Price
Support: Shiel and Brenon

Tuesday: We all met at ABYC at 14:00 and left for Durban. Big thanks to John Price for lending us his Chrysler Voyager and trailer. After a nice easy drive we arrived at Point Yacht club at 01:30 am. "Camp City" was already full of tents but the waterfront site was still open. By 03:00 4 tents were erected, a shot of well deserved ob's and off to bed.

Wednesday: Everyone up early and off to do the shopping. Shiel cooked breakfast for everyone. Off to see our charted L26 "Sail Africa". "Sail Africa" is Durban's Youth Sailing Development Program set up by Craig Miller which owns three L26's. We had the better of the three but still nowhere near the condition of our "AON Challenger". We set the boat up as best we could and took delivery of our new Lipton sails. The tune up race showed that we where off the pace and lacked height so a lot of on the water tuning was . We cut the race short and headed back to port. The rest of the afternoon was spent tuning rigs, servicing winches and changing systems.

Thursday: Race day 1 Race one Wind 0-5 W-NW :Another good breakfast by Shiel and lunch packs prepared as well. Early to the boat to clean and prepare for the very light conditions. On the course by 10:00 ( racing started daily at 11:00) to get our readings and sail trim ready for the prevailing conditions. Nothing, not a breath anywhere on the course. After 4 hours of bobbing, swimming and the usual no wind antics a hint of breeze filled in.

Got a good start toward the pin but got stuck in the train. We tacked as soon as we could but ended up 7th at the top mark. Passed two boats downwind but that's where we stayed (Shortened race due to wind). Very tricky sailing in very light airs. Top speed for the day was 3.5 down wind and only managed 2.8 up wind. Again low on height but good speed relative to top 5 of fleet.

Friday: Race Day 2 Race two and three Wind 0-8 W-SW. Another excellent breakfast by Shiel and Brennon. Early to the boat again with some rig changes and on the course by 10:00. Very tricky conditions. We knew the big shift was coming but did not know when. Went offshore looking for the shift but it did not come, rounded in 9th . Got two back on the run with some great teamwork then back onto the beat. Again went out looking for the shift and found it. Picked up 4 places at the top mark right behind the leaders. Tried twice to get around the mark to no avail the third time we just sailed around and over the mark. With no wind and lots of current it was a nightmare. We did our penalty turns put up the bag and sailed to the finish. Word of warning..... watch the outgoing tide of the harbour it increases the current by 50 %.

We ended third.

Race 3: The wind dropped off again. We crawled round the course changing places on every tack. Clearly no-one knew where to go, the fleet was spread out all over the course. Speeds of two knots were a mission. Found lots of holes finished 7th. Rig settings were not right..

Saturday: Race day 3: Race four Wind 0-5 W . Played with the rig again and got onto the course early. Very light breeze, played the bobbing game again until 14:00. We got a very good start in clean air with good boat speed but were forced to tack by MSC who were sailing a lot higher than us. Rounded in fourth after a fantastic beat, duelling with Cheetah and MSC to the top mark.

Held off several attacks from the rear whilst attacking MSC. Finished fourth.

Sunday: Race Day 4 Race five and six Wind 15-25 SW- S. The breeze was up this was going to be our day. Early on the course again. Put up our new no 2 for the first time.

Made some adjustment and the race started on time. With much better height and good speed we were jostling between 2nd and 3rd all the way to the top mark being covered by Fusion (Andrew Heathcote had to beat us in both races today to claim 4th overall) all the way. Rounded in 3rd and down to the bottom mark we went. Andrew pushed us off the course allowing two boats under us. After a few choice words we both gybed for the mark. We split tacks with them and beat them to the top mark but could not catch the other two. We finished 5th.

Race 6: Great start on the committee boat and tacked immediately. Under stood the lay line by a boat length up to the top mark. Craig Millar (PYC Lipton Team) just got through us on port. His eyes could not believe that one of his sailing school boats was right behind his "Rolls Royce" Rounding in second we had a great game of attack and defend on the run. At the bottom mark we where forced to give water to a cruising boat rounding the same mark. This let MSC in and a lot higher than we where. We sailed under and then over this 40 footer to the lay line trying to catch up to MSC. Rounded the top mark in 3rd about 5 boat lengths behind MSC. Fantastic hoist, hard work and a textbook gybe got us with in a boat length at the finish (3 seconds).

We finished 3rd. Fusion (Andrew Heathcoat) lost their main halyard during the last race..... JUSTICE.

In all a great regatta, fantastic team building scenario, great big fleet experience and a good confidence builder to take to WP L26 provincials and then Lipton. We have some wrinkles to iron out but we are definitely on the right path. My thanks to my team , Wayne, Delyn and Jason. Darryl for helping us out and being a great rail motivator. Sheil and Brenon for supporting us both on land and on the water.

To the members of ABYC you missed another great regatta, well hosted by PYC, you can't beat Durban this time of year. Lets see at least one other entry from ABYC next year.

Thanks to all.

Kerry Bonnage.

The owners of a 34 foot Van Der Stadt, Seaboard, Hennie Du Plessis and Kevin Grey extended an invite to the following ABYC members: Kerry Bonnage (Skipper), Jason Schaefer (Bowman) and David Moorcroft (Trimmer) to attend the Gaul Regatta in Gordons Bay, hosted by the Gordons Bay Yacht Club this past weekend 13 to 16 June 2009.

Kerry reports on the regatta as follows:

Day 1:

Very disappointing. In the first race we had to return to port with faulty steering system. Second race stsrted in 25 to 35 NNW, with rain squalls so bad we could not even see the bow, we missed the bottom mark, beat to round the bottom mark and then hardened up to the finish. Seaboard did not make the cut off and we scored two 11th places.

Day 2:

With the previous days problems sorted out we knuckled down to some fun racing. Seaboard struggled upwind a bit but flew on the downwind legs. We finished 4th in lighter airs, followed by a 2nd and a 3rd to round off a good days racing.

Day 3:

Medium distance race day. My excuse for only finishing fourth over line and 8th on handicap was "poor Navigation skills" (Thanks Kevin, Mr Designated Navigator!) Compounding this was that not only was I not at skippers briefing but when the co-ordinates for the shortened course mark were given to us no one bothered to read them. So we speed off to Seal Island, much lower and of course faster, keeping in touch with Windpower and Gumption. Only to have to beat to the shortened course mark while the whole fleet sailed over us. David and Jason had a blast trimming kite all the way back.

Day 4:

Today everybody came with their A game. Very close upwind duels between Patches, Flyer and Raging bull in very shifty conditions. Positions changing at every mark made for some great sailing. We finished the regatta with two 3rds and 5th overall.

All said and done Gordons Bay is a fantastic sailing venue, GBYC were great hosts and I encourage more ABYC members to make an effort to get there next year. A big thanks to David and Jason for all their efforts this past weekend.

GBYC Gaul Regatta Results

The Class Results for ABYC Week 2009:

1. Class 1 (51 Kilobytes PDF)
2. Class 2 (38 Kilobytes PDF)
3. Class 3 (52 kilobytes PDF)
4. Pacer 27 (45 kilobytes PDF)

Related: ABYC Week 2009 Report

The Algoa Bay Yacht Club held it's annual premium regatta over the long weekend of 30 April to 3 May 2009. At the same time the Pacer 27 class held it's Eastern Cape Provincial Regatta.

Four classes were entered; Pacer 27 (one design), Class 1 (for boats over 0.9 handicap using a spinnaker), Class 2 (for boats below 0.9 handicap using a spinnaker) and Class 3 (No Spinnaker). Race officer, Brian Reynolds looked to have his hands full with four seperate starts and finishes and three courses.

Start Line of Class 1 - ABYC Week 2009 With a total of 27 entries, down on the 42 of last year, the decision was made to combine the starts of Class 2, Class 1, and the Pacer Class - a total of nine yachts. Class 3 with 18 entrants sailed longer courses on Day one with a seperate finish line.

Four Pacer 27's travelled down to Port Elizabeth; from Dennysville Aquatic Club - Music (Rob De Vlieg and Guy Nottingham), Unruly (Nike Wilson and Iain Gibson), From False Bay Yacht Club - Felix the Cat (Anthony Wentworth) and from East London sailing under the ABYC Flag - Unmatched (Graham Wentworth).

In Class 3, Frans Loots sailed in from Cape St Francis on his trimaran, Banjo.

In the combined Class 1 fleet entrants were sailing for Line Honours, PHRF* and Class Honours for the Pacer 27's. Class 3 sailed for Line Honours and first on PHRF.

Algoa Bay always dishes up mild to moderate with a touch of wild wind for Algoa Bay Week and this year was no exception.

On Thursday 30 April the fleet waited until 11:30 a.m. for the west wind to kick up to a pleasant 12 knots. Class 1 sailed two races of 70 minutes each with the wind kicking to the South. The Class 3 race was a debacle with portions of the fleet missing the Offset Shark Rock Pier Bouy and other racers 'arguing' with shipping close to the Channel Marker. Many retirements and the potential for 9 protests against other class members and the bridge alike led to a gentleman's agreement to wipe the slate clean and scrap the first race for Class 3.

The PHRF results in Class 1 for Race 1: Felix the Cat (Anthony Wentworth), KMG Met (Justin Onvlee), Unruly (Mike Wilson / Ian Gibson)

The PHRF results in Class 1 for Race 2: KMG Met (Justin Onvlee), Felix the Cat (Anthony Wentworth), Challenger (Jim Foot).

Class 2 consisted of only one boat, Duette (Sean Wiseman) which sailed extremely well against it's 'competition' and was a dead certainty for Line, Class and PHRF Honours.

Class 3 ABYC Week Friday's wind prediction was once again spot on with the first race starting at 10:51 a.m. in a westerly of 14 knots. The course for the day was a triangle which certainly favoured the Pacer 27 class who took first place on handicap in two of the three races sailed. Class 3 sailed the same course. The second reach was a bit tight and made for interesting sailing as the yachts sailed past and amongst the Chokka Fleet that had anchored in the bay.

The youngest helmsman in the fleet, Jesse Martin (11) sailing on Le Chevalier (Ronnie Baer) opened the day's scoring with a first place in Class 3. Jesse has been sailing for 12 months and his normal ride is an Optimist Sailing Dinghy.

In the second race for Class 3 Banjo (Frans Loots) managed a first place over the line and on handicap followed by Seralon and Le Chevalier.

In Class II Duette continued their assault on the bullets unchecked.

At the end of Friday's sailing Principal Race Officer, Brian Reynolds, had five races in the bag for Class I, II and the Pacers and three in the bag for Class III.

The fleet returned home to legendary hospitality and subsidised meals from the Chartroom. Holding the flag high and hosting daily 'fines' meetings were the hard working Duette sailing and shore crews. Amazing how quickly a couple of quarts can disappear within a half an hour!

Saturday once again dished up a westerly which started at 14 knots and increased steadily to 25 at times. ABYC Commodore Ian Littlejohn was the new mark layer ably assisted by Chad Jackson (or was it the other way around) and, in deference to their age Brian Reynolds again set a windward leeward course.

With significantly more wind it was interesting to see the coastal based Pacer 27's begin dominating the day's racing in the last two races of the three races sailed.

The starts for these races were far more competitive with Duette sprouting more confidence and jousting for a front row start with the Pacers and Class I boats. KMG Met were OCS (on Course Side) in Race 7 and redeemed themselves with two firsts on handicap in the subsequent two races.

Class 3 once again sailed the same course and the day was given over to the bigger boats with Take Six (Doug Stannard) scoring two firsts on Handicap.

Sunday was as predicted - warm, swirly cats paws of breeze and not a chance of sailing. The committee boat, kindly loaned to ABYC by the SAPS Water Wing, motored out to look for wind and eventually decided to can the days racing at 12:30 p.m.

Prizes were awarded for Line Honours in Each Class, PHRF in Class 1, 2 and 3, Pacer 27 Line Honours and the winners were:

• Class 1 PHRF: KMG Met (Justin Onvlee, Andrew Ward, Rob Pressley, Sakhumzi Tyutyu, Steve Arnold, Sarah Arnold)
• Class 1 Line Honours: Felix the Cat (Anthony Wentworth, Allan Lawrence, Daniel Lawrence, Mathew Wentworth, Jenny Paarman, Sean Leslie, William Edwards)
• Class 2 Line Honours and PHRF: Duette (Sean Wiseman, Dion Milson, Alan Straton)
• Class 3 PHRF: Take Six (Doug Stannard, PJ Murray, Keith Barnes, Matt Gill)
• Class 3 Line Honours: Banjo (Frans, Jamie, Tanya and Francis Loots)
• Pacer 27 East Cape Champion: Felix the Cat (Anthony Wentworth)

My personal highlight: Actually getting to sail with a great bunch of guys on Duette and helping them achieve certain personal stated goals.

My personal lowlight: Watching helplessly as a Class 3 boat with literally hundreds of square kilometres of ocean around it, bore down on the SAPS's Fish Eagle and proceeded to crunch into the side. When last I checked the only time that one is in "Irons" is when you are trying to beat and not on a reach!

ABYC Regatta Highlight: Seeing how a few sponsors can make a great regatta - thank you one and all for the money time and committment to ABYC Week 2009.

* PHRF (Performance Handicap Racing Fleet) is a handicapping system used in yacht racing. It allows dissimilar classes of yacht to be raced against each other. The aim is to cancel out the inherent advantages and disadvantages of each class of boats, so that results reflect crew skill rather than equipment superiority.

PHRF is used mainly for larger sailboats of 7 meters and above.

The handicap number assigned to a class of yachts is based on the yacht's speed relative to a theoretical yacht with a rating of 0. A yacht's handicap, or rating, is the number of seconds per nautical mile traveled that the theoretical yacht should be in front of or behind that theoretical yacht. Most boats have a positive PHRF rating, but some very fast boats have a negative PHRF rating. Results are adjusted for handicap by the race committee after all competitors have finished.

Images: ABYC Week 2009.

Wednesday 29th April
16h00 to 19h00: Registration
19h00 onwards: Music - Glen Fuller
Food - Pizza (free)

Thursday 30th April
O7h30 to 09h30: Breakfast
Scrambled Egg & Bacon Roll, Coffee: R25-00
Full English Breakfast and Coffee: R40-00
ABYC Week Regatta Sailing

Lunch Packs Available: R30-00
Two rolls with various fillings, Fruit, Chocolate and Liquifruit

19h00 onwards: Music - Errol Cuddembey Trio
Food - Chicken Curry, Salad & Rolls

Friday 1st May
07h30 to 09h30: Breakfasts
Lunch Packs
ABYC Week Regatta Sailing

19h00 onwards: Music - Baakens Valley Bog Trotters Band
Food - Sausage & Mash, Salad & Rolls

Saturday 2nd May
07h30 to 09h30: Breakfasts
Lunch Packs
ABYC Week Regatta Sailing

19h00 onwards: Music - Lindie
Food - Braai, Salad & Rolls

Sunday 3rd May
07h30 to 09h30: Breakfasts
Lunch Packs
ABYC Week Regatta Sailing

PRIZEGIVING

Those that heeded the call of the sea for last night's social sail were well rewarded with a gentle north west that created balmy conditions for a sundowner sail.

The full moon in the East and orange red flecked sunset awoke the romantic in the couples on packed Margie.

I did warn Rob, though, that if he allows me to sail with him he would be overrun with transitory beings wanting to experience sailing.

What a joy it was to reminisce with Roy, a Lipton Cup 30 Square Metre sailor from the early 60's. Remember those years? Ships were wooden, men were men and down in New Zealand sheep were still scared!

Darryl has done a sterling job of looking after the Wednesday Evening Social Sail.

As normal, the sail was too short, the Fanta Browns cold and the meal in the Chartroom filling and pleasant. Aaah normality and familiarity how I have missed thee.

This is a novel approach to a sailing event, and fairly simple in its concept, obviously a plan hatched by a laid back cruiser. On a given Saturday once a month a turning mark is identified and off you go.

The start: well, that's up to you as you can start anytime between 11:30 and 14:00, you can even start between 11:30 and 14:00 the next day (Sunday) and off you sail to the turning mark
The Start line: the normal Wednesday start line between the end of the ore berth and the end of the fresh produce quay
The finish: is a transit line between the End of the breakwater and the Port Control Tower 200meters to seaward.
The Object: You take your own elapsed time and then try to improve on it the next time you race the course. No winner, no losers
After the TT: braai fires would be lit bring your own meat.

Well on Saturday 14th March was the inaugural Ngqura TT, with 8 boats on the start line, Struan feinted to starboard and started on Port. Here's the rub although not officially a race, when two boats are in close proximity, one always wants to go faster than the other and voila! a race.

As we watched the fleet behind, the speculation started, Mystic lady has her reacher up and so does "Valiant" (not really) we had mistaken Sky bird's new reacher for Valiant's Orange and red spinnaker.

"Do you think we can carry the bag?"
"Looks a bit tight"
"Well let's stick it up and see?" "If it doesn't work we can always drop it again"
So lines are run and up go the old Red White and Blue, she's holding!! Yippee

A careful watch is kept on the log, as glances are cast astern "I think they are catching us?" Next on the list to find the designated fairway buoy for the new port of Ngqura. Not any one but the starboard closest to the Harbour of PE. No cannot see it but as we get closer so the little pimples are seen floating off the harbour, now which one of those pimple is the right one, "It can't be that one?" "if it is then the kite has to come down". Sadly we douse the kite and start fetching for the mark, the radio crackles into life its Mystic Lady asking us where we are, we informed them that they were eating our rudder dust, then let them know when we rounded the mark that they could not miss it as it is big with red and white stripes (Sorry Phil just could not resist it).

After rounding it was a one tack "fetch" all the way to the finish line. True to form back on the land with a cold beer in hand (one of many) with steak chops an boerewors sizzling on the braai the banter continued and great fun was had by all.

See you at the next Nqgura TT

Derek Bouwer

The 2009 ABYC week has been moved to 30 April to 3 May 2009.

At present we have three sponsors (BUT, are looking for more to join!):

1. Eikos Insurance
2. Prestige Auto
3. Xtreme Projects

Last year's regatta was an unqualified success with lots of coverage in the media and some really memorable sailing.

The challenge this year is to ALL ABYC members to take part and sail.

We have courses planned to suit the different classes:

1. Round the cans for Class 1 and 2
2. No Spinnaker Sailing
3. Bay Furniture for the Cruising Class.

The Notice of Race, Sailing Instructions and Entry Form are available as a pdf download:

1. ABYC Week 2009 Notice of Race
2. ABYC Week 2009 Sailing Instructions
3. ABYC Week 2009 Entry Form

The comments section is open for your input:

The Splash Festival is being held in Port Elizabeth over the Easter Weekend.

ABYC will be holding a regatta on the 11th and 12th of April in support of Port Elizabeth's efforts to promote our town as the Watersports capital of South Africa.

Sailing will start at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday and 10:00 a.m. Sunday with the courses set in such a way as to maximise the exposure of sailing to the expected thousands of people on Hobie Beach attending the Splash Festival. The start and finish will be off of Shark Rock Pier.

Please let Alan know if you will be taking part.

In February of this year ABYC will be running the first of the long distance races from Port Elizabeth to Mossel Bay.

After the successful Youth Nationals held in Mossel Bay over December 2008, Rob Holden and his team are excited to once again host the finish of the revived PE to MBay race.

I know that my Longhair is quite keen to take part in the race which indicates to me that organiser, Pietro Bocchi is most certainly on the right track with his desire to introduce longer distances into the sailing calendar.

To that end, a meeting of ALL interested Boat Owners is being held on Thursday the 15th of January @ 17h30. You are invited to attend or send a representative should you wish to take part.

If you are looking for a berth or looking for crew for the Port Elizabeth to Mossel Bay Race then please leave your name and number in the comments section.