Historical

by Richard Crockett Today I am able to share 8 newspaper reports from 13 April over the years. The Vasco da Gama Race, Portnet Dias Race, Ant Steward, Mauritius Race and more feature. Here are the headlines. 1988. L34s Dominate Da Gama Entry:  1988 04 13 – 4 1990. Walon Just Fails to Edge Out ‘Anchor Yeast Voortrekker’:  1990 04 13 – 829 1991. Exhausted Yachtsman Saved After Long Ordeal:  1991 04 13 – 406 26 1991. All’s Well with …

by Richard Crockett Today we go back to 1967 and the announcement of plans to enter a yacht in OSTAR singlehanded race from Plymouth to New York. This was the beginning of the Voortrekker I era, and much, much more… . Here are today’s headlines: 1967. Bid to Put SA in Top Yacht Race:  1967 04 12 – Voortrekker 1 & Dalling – 932 – OCR 1983. 125 Years of Service to Yachting:  1983 04 12 – RNYC 125th Anniversary …

by Richard Crockett It’s back to the grindstone after a chilled few days, but aren’t the chocolate holidays wonderful!! One is rarely afforded the opportunity of seeing the Lipton Cup sailed outside the July – August window, yet way back in 1973 the challenge took place on Table Bay in April. Below are today’s headlines. 1973. Lipton Cup Yacht Races on Table Bay:  1973 04 11 – 1973 Lipton – stitched final – 295-1 – OCR 1983. Celebrations for Natal …

by Richard Crockett Another day and more news on many different aspects of our sport. It’s inevitable that the progress of ‘Shosholoza’ will become something of the norm for a while as that team, and what Captain Salvatore Sarno gave to South Africa, received saturation newspaper coverage at the time. And let’s not also forget that epic Jules Verne record that Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and Sir Peter Blake set. I really do need to do some research in to how …

by Richard Crockett Some days there’s tons of news, yet others like today, are pretty sparse when it comes to sailing. Today we cover ‘Voortrekker I’ at the start of the Portnet Dias Race to the Azores and Portugal. Intrepid single-handed yachtsman Ant Steward features today, as does singlehanded sailor JJ Provoyeur. And for the dinghy and beach cat fans, we have news on Sean Ferry. Here are the headlines: A Success Story – Voortrekker I:  1990 04 05 – …

By Richard Crockett Whenever I search my archives I become aware of just how quickly time slips by and how quickly events can fall from our minds. So read the 5 offerings below to be reminded of news from yesteryear! Yachtsman Virgil Arrives Back in City:  2000 04 04 – 289 Conditions Wreak Havoc with Boats:  2001 04 04 – 328 Entertaining Easter Weekend for Midmar Sailors:  2002 04 04 – 371 Team Shosholoza Stuns Rivals with Second-place Finish:  2007 …

by Richard Crockett Not to overload your reading today, I have chosen just 6 newspaper cuttings. Opening today’s news is a report and photos of the Flying Fifteen Worlds held off Durban in April 2001. It’s also appropriate as Campbell Alexander and Ralph Thomas recently returned from the Flying Fifteen Worlds in Australia. The other news cuttings shared are about Shosholoza – and it’s hard to comprehend that her exploits and those of her crew took place 18 years ago …

By Richard Crockett I remember this race very vividly for many different reasons – and the extremely diverse fleet that competed. So today I will depart from my normal route of magazine features, and bring you a series of 7 newspaper cuttings of the race dated today – but 33 years ago. Yip, this race was that long ago! Below are the headline teasers. Please click on the link to read them and bask in some history. Late Entry Just …

by Richard Crockett I only have sketchy info in my archives on the 3rd leg of the 1973 Whitbread Round the World Race so unfortunately cannot share a full report. I can only assume that leg finished after publication deadlines, with the next leg starting with similar timing, hence no full report. One must remember that back in days of yore instant messaging, mobile phones, e-mail and all the modern communications we enjoy today, simply did not exist. Instead one …

by Richard Crockett With ‘Jakaranda’ out of the Whitbread Race after just one leg, the South African interest no doubt waned, despite this being an epic race. Fortunately SA Yachting magazine covered the race in full. Their December 1973 issue opened like this: “We close up the magazine for December with Tabarly and Pen Duick VI finishing way ahead of the rest of the Whitbread Round the world fleet in the second leg of the great race – surely one …

by Richard Crockett Jack Gruter, a Jakaranda crewman wrote an editorial on his experiences competing in the first leg of the 1973 Whitbread Round the World Race. This was no traditional well planned campaign, rather a last-minute, perhaps even a last ditch attempt at getting the boat ready in the UK to race to Cape Town. “The crowning point of a journey that took us across the wide Atlantic from Portsmouth to Cape Town on the first leg of the …

by Richard Crockett Something I was not consciously aware of until Peter Koehorst sent me his scrap book of cuttings from the first Whitbread Round the World Race in 1973, was that ‘Jakaranda’ entered the race and completed the first leg to Cape Town before being withdrawn. I have not yet managed to ascertain the reasons for that decisions. However, Peter Koehorst was a crewman aboard, and John Goodwin the skipper. Other crew were Captain W Damarell, WO. M Avery, …

by Richard Crockett The more I dig into this event the more I realise that it needs to be fully documented and researched due to the many different guises under which it has been raced. The race in December 2000 appears to have been aimed at making it a family affair with the yachties in the family racing and the landlubbers travelling on the ‘RMS St Helena’ to the island where they would meet up and enjoy Christmas together. What …

By Richard Crockett In the CASA (Cruising Association of South Africa) news bulletin of March 1986 Bill Rabinowitz, the CASA scribe, wrote the following: Readers may well be a little perplexed: First there was the Southstar, then the Mariners’ Wharf Challenge and now the Stannic Southstar. Quite a little story could be written about the organisation of this race. He was absolutely correct, as researching info on this race is like trying to find hen’s teeth! Various sponsors names are …

by Richard Crockett The first Stannic Southstar race to St Helena Island and back in 1986 was a singlehanded affair, with the second race in 1989 being a two-handed race. Adding the extra crew added to the entry numbers, albeit marginally. Favourites going in to the race were Bertie Reed and Tony Abbott, both singlehanders from the previous race, and both sailing with and extra crew this time. However it was not the favourites who romped home for victory. The …