Historical

By Richard Crockett Stan Jeffrey was a cruising man through-and-through who enjoyed using ‘Corsair II’ at every available opportunity. Today I share the short story of the voyage ‘Corsair II’ made from Cape Town to the Mediterranean during April and May, and a brief recital of her six-week cruise in those waters. ‘Corsair II’ was designed to a specification not common to small ships intended for ocean voyaging. The requirement was for a motor-sailer with efficient performance both under sail …

By Richard Crockett I remember the word “kiting” from when I first started sailing on a Dabchick (fully crewed in those days!) as it was a term I recall being used to describe going very fast on a broad reach. It’s a term rarely used any more, and its meaning is not described in any of the several nautical dictionaries I have. So if anyone can give a definitive meaning to the term “kiting” – please COMMENT here and share …

By Richard Crockett Today I again share “Club Notes” from mid-1964 – and do so despite my stats showing that followers of this Blog prefer short single editorials as their historical read. Despite that knowledge, there are enough avid readers who enjoy reading about the old events and people who made up our sport in those days. Plus, many of the names mentioned today were heroes to some as they scaled great heights in the sport. These are today’s headlines: …

by Richard Crockett Jack Koper wrote today’s editorial for the 1964 May/June issue of SA Yachting magazine. He is of course the “Father” of the very strong Dabchick Class. The introduction to the feature read as follows: “Tempest, prototype of Jack Koper ‘s Tempo class of “super-chicks” has been having a workout in the Cape. It provides sizzling performance for two without the need for a trapeze. It is a handsome and cheap-to-build version of one of the oldest small …

By Richard Crockett It was not that long ago that ocean-going multihulls were, well, to be polite, looked at sideways! But today they are accepted as part of the sailing scene and have become the yacht of choice for many newcomers to the sport. More importantly, locally their acceptance has turned our South African “cottage boat building industry” into one that is highly ranked worldwide. Way back in the 1964 May/June issue of SA Yachting magazine, none other than John …

By Richard Crockett I have chosen today’s editorial for the simple reason that I identified with its opening paragraphs, and liked the ditty used, which I suppose, is really a sub-head. His boat, the sea, the winds that blow – These things the sailorman should know. The more he knows about the three The better sailorman he’ll be. “Which is as trite a piece of doggerel as ever emphasised the obvious, for who would deny that every sailor, professional or …

by Richard Crockett Here’s a short version of some class news today from the 1964 January/February issue of SA Yachting, with just two editorials to read. Henley Moves on . . . is the headline, which opens as follows: “The waters at the new Midmar Dam are rising steadily. The Henley Sailing Club, which has been sailing at the Henley Dam for 10 years moved to their new site at Midmar Dam on January 12. Here they will have open …

By Richard Crockett Today’s historical offering is unusual as it’s all about those brave cruising types who have bitten the bullet and taken the plunge to travel the world by yacht. Written and photographed by Bianca Lavies, there are some wonderful tales that were told – all from a variety of different sized and designed yachts. The featured photo today starts with this story: “On October 2, after 81 days at sea, a tired 39-year-old Rhodesian arrived at the Durban …

By Richard Crockett Today Yvonne Milachowska writes about “the Highveld Scene” – “Highveld” being a term we don’t often hear today! Sad that. She covered the 1963 OFS Regatta, and said this: “November-December is regatta time up here, so Transvaal skippers have been trailing boats, wives and children all over the place. Full marks for hospitality go to Loch Athlone Club, Bethlehem, where the ofs regatta was held over the week-end of November 9, 10. “The entry was about 40 …

By Richard Crockett Races to Saldanha Bay have today established themselves as one of those “must do” events as it’s a race which is not too long, and which offers great facilities in Saldanha Bay. However, way back in 1963 the race was far longer as it took competitors to a marker off Lamberts Bay before finishing in Saldanha – a distance of 135nm. This is how SA Yachting magazine reported on it: “The Royal Cape Yacht Club in conjunction …

by Richard Crockett The National Regatta of 1964 had the words “and Games” tacked on to the end of it – I’m not sure why, although it is not relevant. It was also the first major dinghy regatta held in Saldanha Bay, and as always is a treasure-trove of history, people and top-class competition. The report was introduced as follows: “The 1964 National Regatta at Saldanha Bay from January 6 to 15, under the auspice of The Western Province Sailing …

by Richard Crockett There’s another long read today as I have come to the final pages of the November/December 1962 issue of SA Yachting magazine which contains all manner of interesting information. My research shows that readers prefer short features, but there’s no easy way of shortening today’s offering, so grit your teeth and take the plunge – even if you just look at the many interesting photos from yesteryear! There’s news from: • Transvaal Yacht Club • OFS Provincial …

By Richard Crockett As the Finn Class locally is doing its best to keep the class and that unique Finn spirit going, its appropriate to share the report on the 1962 Gold Cup, which was written by Bob Nuttall, as a South African contingent competed. This is what Nuttall wrote: “Three South African representatives attended the Finn Gold Cub. 1962. The two Durban skippers, Bob Nuttall and Johan Louter, shipped their boats from Durban to Tonsberg and Robin Vorster of …

By Richard Crockett Here’s an interesting short editorial with several photos to ease your way into the new week. It’s about Arthur Holgate’s newly launched ‘Titch’. The 1962 November/DECEMBER issue of SA Yachting had this to say: “When Jim Crawford’s topsail schooner ‘Dirigo 11′ passed through Cape Town, Arthur Holgate, one of the Royal Cape Yacht Club’s most ardent offshore men, lost his heart to the man-sized 60-ft. world-girdler. Although short of the large sum of money needed for a …

by Richard Crockett I have in recent months mentioned Jim Crawford and his yachts in my dispatches as he is a fascinating character and has interesting yachts. Apart from his hard-driving circumnavigation in ‘Dirigo II’ he has sailed in just about all the world’s great ocean races, and with ‘Angantyr’, which is today’s feature, he competed in the very first Cape to Rio Race in 1971. “It is infrequently that a man who has gone around the world in a …