On This Day – 20 July. A Newspaper History of Sailing

by Richard Crockett

From the overwhelming response I receive from these posts, from all over the world I may add, the interest is cranking up rapidly and I am being connected with some wonderful people thirsty for more. Thank you all who have made contact.

Should you wish to copy, forward or share material from here, PLEASE acknowledge the source as: Sourced From the SAILING Mag Archives & Historical Records.

To read the full reports, click on the LINK following each headline.

1968. “Finn Races ‘Waste of Time’”. The Springbok yachtsman Bruce McCurrach finished 58th in the Finn Gold Cup at Whitstable in England, this week.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1968 07 20 – Pfotenhauer – 000169

1969. “A Letter From Mrs Crowhurst”. ‘It is my duty to clear up a general implication on the part of newspapers that The Sunday Times was in any way responsible for Donald’s decision to sail around the world. It was an intrinsic part of his personality to want to accept this challenge, and there were other reasons. The race merely added zest and brought it forward’
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1969 07 20 – Pfotenhauer – 000133

1971. “Jakaranda Eighth”. South Africa’s Admiral Cup Team of three ocean-racing yachts continues to do well in the English Channel racing leading up to the Cup series.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1971 07 20 – Thirsty Bertie – 000020

1985. “Element Wins 1985 Lipton Cup”. The University of Natal entry, Element PGM, has won the coveted 1985 Lipton Cup trophy.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1985 07 20 – 000273

1994. “Frances to Compete Internationally”. A Durban yachtswoman is to pit her skills against the world’s best when she sets off for La Rochelle in France on Saturday to compete in the first International Yacht Racing Union’s World Sailing Championships.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1994 07 20 582

1994. “Back to the Big Time in 1996”. Big-time yachting breezes back into Cape Town in 1996 with the ever-popular Rothmans Cape to Rio.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1994 07 20 687

2004. “John Martin and Crew Celebrate”. Veteran skipper John Martin and the crew of Fascination of Power are celebrating their victory after winning the Vasco da Gama Maputo-to-Durban yacht race on Sunday.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  2004 07 20 976

2010. “Whale Lands on Yacht”. We were lucky to escape, Say city sailors.
A Breaching whale has crash-landed on a sailboat in Table Bay, narrowly missing the vessel’s occupants and leaving in its wake bits of blubber and thick skin.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  2010 07 20 – stitched final

Comments and contributions are welcome. Email: editor@sailing.co.za

What is “On this Day” About?
I am busy archiving many boxes of press cuttings I have accumulated and which I guestimate run into tens of thousands! A daunting task which I believe to be necessary before ditching them as I have been concerned for many years about the lack of interest Clubs, Classes and other sailing related organisations give to preserving their history.

Should you wish to copy, forward or share material from here, PLEASE acknowledge the source as: Sourced From the SAILING Mag Archives & Historical Records.

From the overwhelming response I receive from these posts, from all over the world I may add, the interest is cranking up rapidly and I am being connected with some wonderful people thirsty for more. Thank you all who have made contact.

This is my personal crusade, and instead of simply archiving and keeping the contents away from prying eyes, I will share my spoils in the hope that you will enjoy reminiscing as much as I do, and continue to do as I wade through the labourious process of scanning each and every cutting in my archives.

As each scanned cutting will be searchable, I will be able to create presentation packs personally tailored to a persons exact requirements – ie. Rothmans Week, the NCS Regatta, the Rio Race, Mauritius Race, Vasco da Gama Race and more – or simply by the name of an individual (like Ant Steward and his open boat exploits) who want a record of his/her sailing career for the family archives.

I have already done this by scanning in excess of 18 000 pages of material I have on ‘Voortrekker’ – from idle chatter, to concept, to the formation of what ultimately became the South African Ocean Racing Trust (SAORT), to the fruition of the 1968 OSTAR Race in which Bruce Dalling and ‘Voortrekker’ excelled – and even beyond that.

The possibilities are endless – so watch this space.

Comments and contributions are welcome. Email: editor@sailing.co.za