Historical

by Richard Crockett I was recently asked questions about the Southstar Race, a 3700nm singlehanded race in Miura’s from Cape Town to St Helena and back. It was generously sponsored by Stannic. The first race was in 1986, and was won by Bertie Reed, who called it “the toughest race I’ve ever sailed”. Reed predicted that the following race would see 15 – 20 boats on the start line. Sadly that level of support was never achieved and the race …

by Richard Crockett On Tuesday and Wednesday I shared info on the Agulhas Race from Simonstown to Port Elizabeth, giving an overall report as published in SA Yachting Magazine, and first-hand accounts from THE owners/skippers of ‘Sewin’, ‘Zeeslang’ and ‘Corsair II’. Today sees this mini-series being wrapped up with extracts from Arthur Holgate’s ‘Titch’ and ‘Viking’ skippered by Fred Smithers. Holgate was always a man of very few words as he simply preferred to get out and do it rather …

by Richard Crockett Following on from yesterday when I shared some general information on the 1962 Agulhas Race to Port Elizabeth and how the owner of the RCOD ‘Sewin’ praised her skipper Ted Kuttel for the performance of their little yacht. The ultimate winner of that race was the motor-sailer ‘Corsair’ skippered by Stan Jeffrey. His ketch was an unlikely winner being a heavy ketch-rigged motor-sailer, yet she was driven hard and was far more robust and able to be …

by Richard Crockett Ever since I dug out some really old reports on the Agulhas Race from my archives, I have been planning to share them. So here goes! The 1962 race, which started on Boxing Day, was to Port Elizabeth. It was into a stiff 25 – 30 knot South Easter, with a forecast gale on Agulhas. The report entitled “A Hard Gale-Studded Race” gives a brief outline of the race which took just under three days to complete …

by Richard Crockett The author of this feature, written for the October 2002 issue of SAILING Magazine, was John Vigor. I knew Vigor when he was a newspaper journalist in Durban, writing a humorous daily column under the pseudonym of “The Idler”. He is a fine journalist and avid yachtie too, having cut his teeth in distance racing with David Cox aboard ‘Diana K’ in the 1971 Cape to Rio Race. He emigrated many years ago, sailing his 30-footer, together …

by Richard Crockett I have always advocated a good mix of racing and fun sailing to boost numbers on the water as not everyone is in to racing week in and week out without a sniff of a good result. Fun sailing can, and does, bring good participation – just look at the Mykonos Offshore Race last week, and the example I will use this morning of the West Coast Cruise of 2001 as I stumbled upon it while browsing …

by Richard Crockett Yesterday I shared a feature article written by Frans Loots expressing his disappointment at not find a berth for the 1989 Cape to Uruguay Race and how he went about ensuring he was on the following race. That feature article struck a chord with many yesterday, so here is the sequel. The race was just one part of his adventure aboard the Petersen 33 he had secured for the race as he did the delivery passage back …

by Richard Crockett With the recent Rio Race fast fading in memories, I thought it appropriate to share this editorial written by Frans Loots when he expressed his bitter disappointment at not being able to secure a berth on the 1979 race to Uruguay. He vowed to do the next race as skipper of his own entry. He tells a great story which should be a lesson for all, especially the aspiring young sailors out there wanting adventure and an …

By Richard Crockett The Koper family played a major role in shaping sailing in this country as it was Jack Koper who conceived the Dabchick, a dinghy still spoken about with passion today – well over 60 years after the first one was launched. Former Dabbie sailors like nothing better than talking about their Dabbie days, and sharing pics of themselves and their Dabbies from days of yore. Jack Koper designed the Dabchick, Tempo and Sonnet dinghies. In July 2002 …

by Richard Crockett I have absolutely no idea as to what the record is for the Mykonos Race to Saldanha Bay as this will take some lengthy research to find the answer. However, in 2001 Warrior took line honours in a time of 5 hours and 24 minutes. Will that mark be chased down today, as the race to Mykonos starts at 09h00? Only time will tell, and looking at the long-range forecast there will be wind, and probably not …

by Richard Crockett The annual race from RCYC to Saldanha starts tomorrow and is one of those “must do” races on the calendar. But that’s not what today’s Blog is about as I have decided o share some info on the “Paraffin Trophy” which is awarded for this race. Sadly I cannot find any reference to the significance of this trophy, and how it was conceived. Maybe there’s an old salt out there who can share this info. The first …

by Richard Crockett Many of us would relish the chance of sailing on one of the old classic 12-metre yachts, yet South African Nick Leggatt went one better and competed aboard ‘Wings’ in the America’s Cup 150th Jubilee Regatta off Cowes. “With no cockpit, other than a small one for the helmsman and main trimmer, and no guardrails, life for a crewman on a classic 12 Metre is precarious! With the heavy displacement, narrow hull·and low freeboard these boats blast …

by Richard Crockett I have had several requests in the past for info on sailing trophies, both know, missing and lost, as well as having come across trophies I knew nothing about for specific events, let alone even knew existed. So often people have won trophies and simply never returned them in time for the next event, and from there it is downhill. It’s not only individuals who are to blame, but Class Associations too as they often don’t keep …

by Richard Crockett Just a short “wow, I can’t believe this” piece today. Back in 2001 after a ferocious wind storm in the Somerset West area, the wind picked up a hobie and its road trailer, and deposited them both in a rather tall tree. If you don’t believe me, just look at the pics! And of course this incident came with all sorts of ribald comments, plus the headache of having to get it down. SEE MORE HERE:  2001 …

by Richard Crockett By 2001 South Africa had hosted its second J22 World Championship and third major international regatta for the J 22 Class. With 9 South Africans in the top ten, and a lone Hollander being 10th, there was criticism due to the very low international entry. Roy Dunster wrote this: “Although the event has come in for some flack for a low international entry, some South African teams even opting to stay away because of that, it was …