Historical

By Richard Crockett The Vasco da Gama Race has always been one of my very favourite races, and is in fact the race which really got me hooked on ocean racing. In 1977 I did my first race from Durban to East London, and still, today, follow it very closely. Such is my interest in the race that I have sufficient information, some 16 000 files, which is enough to write a book on the race. Plus I have an …

By Richard Crockett It’s hard to source the very first announcement of the Rio Race, but this one I share today, and published 56 years ago, must be right up there? One has to applaud the efforts of all those who brought the very first race together, and subsequently also to those who have preserved its stature as a classic ocean race between the two most beautiful cities in the world, and kept it going. An extract from today’s newspaper …

By Richard Crockett I am always surprised at just how much interest there is in ‘Voortrekker’ whenever I share information about her. Which is also why I unashamedly share today’s cutting from the Sunday Times. “Work will begin this month on the super-light racing yacht in which South Africa’s toughest sailor will contest next year’s single-handed transatlantic race from Plymouth to New York.” said the opening paragraph. This, after negotiations indicated that the construction of the yacht would be underwritten …

By Richard Crockett Local yachties have a lot to thank Jack Koper for as he was the inspiration behind the evergreen Dabchick Class and the Tempo. Both great boats in their own right as the Dabchick took the country by storm as the youth boat, with the Tempo sitting well between the Sprog and the Flying Dutchman. Koper was a highly talented man, as this feature shows, as does the opening paragraph too: “Few men start a new career at …

By Richard Crockett The Shosholoza America’s Cup team was in the news every single day in their build-up to challenging for that “auld mug”. And why not as it took a big team of sailors and shore-side helpers to keep the show on the road. Of the sailing team none were as important as the grinders who brought brawn and skills to the cockpit of ‘Shosholoza’. They were described in the Sunday Times as follows: “They are big and beefy, …

By Richard Crockett It’s hard to forget the glory days of our singlehanders who duelled against the best in the world as they circumnavigated the globe. How could one forget? Especially as I regularly share newspaper features with followers of this Blog! John Martin won the first leg of the BOC Challenge round the world race from Newport, Rhode Island, to Cape Town after sailing neck-and-neck with the Frenchman, Philippe Jeantot, most of the way. Today, 38 years ago, only …

By Richard Crockett We have a handful of yacht clubs in this country which have attained “centenary” status. Royal Natal Yacht Club, Zwartkops YC, Point YC, the Royal Cape YC and Redhouse YC are the ones I can think of off-hand and without researching. In 2004, from small beginnings, the Redhouse Yacht Club, in the charming riverside village on the banks of Swartkops River, now provides sailing, aquatic sports and loads of family fun for folk in the metro area. …

By Richard Crockett Today’s newspaper cutting is one I simply had to share as the Sunday Tribune gave the 1968 Saldanha Bay nationals a full page of coverage! Today local newspapers are hardly interested in out sport as the attitude adopted is very often simply this: “If you can’t hit it or kick it, it’s not sport!”. The open few paragraphs of this mighty spread read as follows: “The national Yachting Regatta is over, and Saldanha Bay has once more …

By Richard Crockett It’s very rare that the Lipton Cup is contested outside of the July and August period as stated in the Deed of Gift, but in 1973, towards the end of the 30-Square metre reign as a Lipton class, the races were held in April. There’s nothing reported on in my archives for today other that a wonderful spread of four pics and lengthy captions. SO ENJOY THESE ALL HERE:  1973 04 11 – Lipton Cup – stitched …

By Richard Crockett 58 Years ago today an auspicious occasion in the history of sailing in this country was marked when the Cape Times announced that a “Springbok” yacht would be sailing in the 1968 single-handed transatlantic race from Plymouth to New York, and that construction was to start “at once”. This was of course the birth of ‘Voortrekker’ although the vessel was not named that until much later. While the Rembrandt Group of companies had agreed to finance the …

Cuando pensamos en cómo ha cambiado el entretenimiento en los últimos años, es difícil no mencionar la realidad virtual. Lo que hace no mucho parecía solo un sueño de ciencia ficción, ahora forma parte de nuestra vida y de cómo disfrutamos del tiempo libre. Desde videojuegos hasta conciertos o experiencias turísticas, la realidad virtual ha llegado para quedarse. Incluso en plataformas como https://cocoacasinologin.de/es/, se pueden ver cómo el diseño y la tecnología se inspiran en la idea de sumergirnos por …

By Richard Crockett Singlehanded sailing is tough – very tough – and probably why so few practice this aspect of our sport. And it gets even tougher the older one gets – just ask Ian Duncan who competed in the singlehanded Stannic Southstar race from Hout Bay around St Helena and back to finish in Cape Town. After 44 days at sea on board his Miura ‘Adamant’ Ian, who at 55 was the elder of the four yachtsmen in the …

By Richard Crockett I do hope that today’s newspaper cutting from 1992, that’s 33 years ago, does something to rekindle Match Racing in this country. Match Racing is one of the very few types of sailboat racing that brings the words “spectator fleet” into the equation. In a country bereft of the very cutting edge yachts like those sailed in the America’s Cup and GP Racing, all of which is done close to shore with big spectator fleets, match racing …

By Richard Crockett The 505 worlds off Durban in 1994 was a great event with some stunning displays of fast sailing and good pics to be had by photographers brave enough to go to sea. That was 31 years ago now, with the newspaper report giving a good account of how well the sailing was going. It’s opening paragraphs read as follows: “It’s the great British comeback as defending 505 World Champions Ian Barker and Tim Hancock staged a determined …

By Richard Crockett There are very few people who follow our sport who have not heard of John Martin and Bertie Reed – both absolute legends in sailing. Surprisingly they rarely sailed together. 19 years ago today they did just that as reported by Henri du Plessis who wrote as follows: “When they sailed alone over so many miles, they saw the sea in torment so often. “But when they sailed together for the first time in years on Saturday, …