News

by Richard Crockett Once frowned upon, today multihulls are a fact of life and generally live alongside monohulls in harmony. Plus, the fastest sail-powered machines on the water today are all multihulls! “The story of Nimble’s 1960 trans-Atlantic voyage is largely an exercise in Nature’s complete indifference to man’s plans and aspirations. “Although we voyaged 3,800 miles without one bit of weather favourable to a hoped-for quick passage, we at least had ample opportunity to evaluate our new boat in …

By Richard Crockett Today is a mixed bag which includes a report on Cariad, and some “Picture News” from the March/April issue of SA Yachting magazine in 1961. ‘Cariad I’, the 129-ton Durban-based ketch, is believed to have established a sailing craft record on February 14 when she arrived at the entrance to Delagoa Bay, off Lourenco Marques – 36 ½ hours after leaving Durban. On the “Picture News” page is this reference: “This figurehead is a handsome addition to …

by Richard Crockett I’ll be honest up front. Today’s offering is not “woke” in today’s society, and as a teaser said, it’s not for the squeamish, but it’s a darn good yarn as told by Frank Robb. This paragraph gives an insight: “He actually has some good points; he is a hard old bastard, but one commodity he is not short of is guts, and this episode I am determined to relate has some bearing on his intestinal fortitude. It’s …

By Richard Crockett Today, Jim Crawford, skipper of the round-the-world schooner ‘Dirigo II’, describes part of the last leg home to Florida with his crew of three South Africans, whom he decided to give a grounding in his hard-sailing methods. They averaged about 1000 miles a week, in moderate Trade winds, calling at St. Helena, Ascension, Fernando de Noronha , Antigua, St. Thomas and then Miami – fast sailing for pleasure without heroics, as all good voyages should be. The …

by Richard Crockett I am very well aware that the Finn Class is staging its nationals soon, thanks to the active Whatsapp group, so hopefully this will be a fillip to all “Finnites” to dust of their boats and compete after reading this report from the 1961 January/February issue of SA Yachting magazine. “A Finn regatta can now be regarded as an established fixture on the South African yachting calendar. Finn owners who attended the Glinane Finn Trophy week in …

by Richard Crockett ‘Stormvogel’ is a yacht that many offshore sailors talk about with reverence and awe as she was just one of those very special racing yachts which was to some degree ahead of her time. Today I am able to share a glimpse of “her luxurious living quarters” as the January/February issue of SA Yachting in 1961 said in the headline. As a bonus there is also a quiz for “would-be old salts”. This is what was said …

Above. With some of the silverware – Basil Lindhorst and lvor Jamison, of ‘Parergon Ill’ and (centre) the winning skipper, Fred Smithers. Below. Active’s crew fill the bottom picture, left to right. Gordon Phillips, Stompie McDonald, from PE , John Bayliss, Bill Perry, skipper Jack Nosworthy, John Dalgleish, Basil Joyce, Gordon Burn Wood and joint owner, Monie Salamon.By Richard Crockett The 1961 January/February issue of SA Yachting magazine has this to say about the race from Simonstown to Mossel Bay. …

by Richard Crockett In 2004 I was fortunate enough to tour the Beneteau factories in France. Their dedicated wood shop, for want of a better description, was massive, although my abiding memory was the fact that huge trees would arrive at one end and depart at the other as wooden components for their vessels. The logs were generally made into very thin veneers from which the components were manufactured. Which is why I am sharing today’s photo essay as the …

by Richard Crockett The author of several books on sailing, Lawrence Green today shares his thoughts on boat building in South Africa from the November/December 1960 issue of SA Yachting magazine. “Shipbuilding is not such a recent industry in South Africa as you might imagine. lt flourished in Jan Riebeeck’s time, and started much earlier. Shipwrecked crews of long ago were resourceful men. They knew full well that no one would come to their rescue, so they put together new …

By Richard Crockett How many have thought about using their dinghy as a cruising vessel for exploring new waters? Well Peter Adams and Dave Grantham did just this, as the subhead in the November/December 1960 issue of SA Yachting indicated: “Two men in a small dinghy, a GP14, have fun during a sailing and camping jaunt on the swelling waters of Southern Africa’s newest cruising grounds. This is how the introduction read: “The idea of a sailing cruise up the …

by Richard Crockett Earlier this year I scanned some negatives of a sliding seat canoe, so was delighted to have found today’s editorial, entitled “Effervescent Sailing” all about these super-slippery speedsters. The features says “By far the oldest of the many small boat classes in the world, sailing canoes were first raced in England early in the 1870s. At first the craft were adaptations of the paddling “Rob Roy” canoes, but they have developed until they are highly·specialised sailing machines …

by Richard Crockett “Beauty, and strength is more than skin deep in this tough cruiser for Algoa Bay – designed to keep the sea in the wildest weather.” Well if that teaser does not get you wanting to read more, nothing will! This is what her author, Noel Redfern wrote: “I know off-shore cruising men in Cape Town think their South-Easters are murderous, but I feel our Westerlies – which blow more or less straight up and down our coast …

by Richard Crockett I am always fascinated in the results from regattas of yore as many of the competitors names were those of people who shaped the future of our sport, or who were simply the best exponents in the class they chose to compete in – and were the “who’s who” of our sport. The 1960 SAYRA Nationals at Bethlehem in the Free State were no exception, as the report reveals. It opened with these words: “When you think …

by Richard Crockett I have chosen to share today’s editorial from the January/February issue of SA Yachting of 1960 for the very simple reason that I like the words chosen to describe what was then a “modern catboat”. “A buxom wench – two beams wide, but light-footed” were the words that caught my attention. Her name was ‘Hebe’. These words teased one to read further: “Capsizing is too frequent in modern racing machines, so amateur designer Charles Beresford went in …

by Richard Crockett There was such varied news in this section that I felt it appropriate to share these page from the January/February issue of SA Yachting magazine from 1960. “The growing Union-wide interest in boating was clearly reflected in the growth of Durban’s four yacht clubs last year. “At the beginning of the season the Point Yacht Club reported more than 1,100 members, 900 senior and 200 juniors – an increase of 400 ; the Bluff Yacht Club had …