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by Richard Crockett Ian Walker has sailed a tough event well, capitalising in the early stages before the Gold Fleet was announced, but then battling when it really counted. His result of 5th overall in the Optimist Worlds is a stunning result, but when one digs deeper and analyses his final 6 races, it’s easy to see that it was here where he stumbled. On the final day he scored a BFD and a 19, and was lucky to have …

by Richard Crockett The Port of Gdynia, Poland, was baked in sunshine on Sunday night as the 409 sailors from 66 nations took to the city beach for the opening ceremony of the Hempel Youth Sailing World Championships. As is tradition at the Hempel Youth Worlds, celebrating its 49th edition, each nation brought a flask of water from their home nation for the symbolic mixing of the waters ceremony, which brings all of the waters of the world together to …

by Richard Crockett In the past few weeks I have said, on several occasions, that it’s tough in the Gold Fleet, and this was brought home to Ian Walker in quite a viscous way over the past few days. Having won races in the opening series before the final fleet cuts were made, he looked good and was sitting pretty on the podium. But his first three races in Gold were tough as he finished with a 37; 28 and …

by Richard Crockett Too often our local sailors travel quietly to events, not letting anyone know, nor letting those at home know how they are progressing. So I was somewhat surprised to see that RSA has a lone campaigner at the Optimist Worlds in Antigua, and that at this stage he is on the podium in 3rd spot overall. His name is Ian Walker, and after 6 races he has already won 3 races, with a 5th being his worst. …

by Richard Crockett Our young team of Matt Ashwell and Rivaldo Arendse found the going very tough in the Gold Fleet, scoring their worst races in closing out the regatta. But, I am sure that they have learnt a lot, and will be better off having raced against the top Gold Fleet sailors rather than those in Silver. Yet it’s a tough lesson at such a young age, but one which will undoubtedly stand them in good stead for many …

by Richard Crockett The last two days have been tough for our RSA boys as light winds, which are not to their liking, have unfortunately plagued the racing. Since scoring a 9th in race 5, their races in the Gold Fleet have been towards the back of the pack in the mid-to-late twenties. So, let’s hope that the wind picks up today and that they close out the regatta in fine style. Results Overall 33 Matt Ashwell & Rivaldo Arendse …

by Richard Crockett The breeze was up to around 20 knots yesterday, and judging by their first race it looked as if Matt Ashwell and Rivaldo Arendse were going to produce two cracking results after a 9th in first race. But that was not to be as they scored a 25th in the second race of the day, a disappointing result. But there is a golden thread to this story as they qualified for the gold fleet, so have 6 …

by Richard Crockett The Lipton Challenge Cup, presented in 1909 by Sir Thomas Lipton, is the only national inter-club sailing competition in South Africa – and it’s a highly sought after trophy to win. The official challenger this year is the Royal Natal Yacht Club, naming Mark Sadler as skipper. Their boat was only being launched this week, and is named ‘Orion DYP’. She will be raced for the first time on 20 July in a C31 race day off …

by Richard Crockett After a very good first day where they scored a pair of 8’s in the opening two races the RSA pairing of Matt Ashwell and Rivaldo Arendse found the going far tougher on day two when they scored a 20 and 21 to be 27th overall. These two guys have had coaching from master-coach Roger Hudson of Race Ahead, and will undoubtedly bounce back as they are tough competitors. Conditions yesterday started with lighter winds which picked …

  by Richard Crockett The young South African team of Matt Ashwell and Rivaldo Arendse sailed two brilliant races yesterday, the opening day of the 420 U17 Worlds, to finish with two 8th places to have them 12th overall after day 1. In a fleet of 66 that’s a fine performance for these two youngsters. The breeze was around 13-16 knots, perfect for these two guys who train in Cape Town. Matt Ashwell won the 2018 Optimist African Championship, while …

The Cape to Rio Ocean Race is the jewel in the Royal Cape Yacht Club’s crown. Dating back to 1971, the race across the South Atlantic Ocean, connecting the iconic cities of Cape Town and Rio de Janeiro, typically takes place every three years. The list of past participants reads like the who’s-who of ocean sailing, and the race attracts both club and professional sailors alike. With just six months remaining before the start of the next race, the build-up …

The Mirpuri Foundation has announced that it will soon be ‘Racing For The Planet’, as it confirms both its environmental message and the name of its new VO65 racing yacht for the next edition of The Ocean Race, beginning in 2021. Through the ‘Turn the Tide on Plastic’ campaign in the 2017-18 edition of the Race, the Mirpuri Foundation was part of a global movement against plastic pollution – and will now enter a team in the next edition of …

The last time that the Gordons Bay Yacht Club won the Lipton Cup was way back in 1998 when sailing off Port Elizabeth in Algoa Bay. Pete Shaw and Steve du Toit were joint skippers all those years ago. The Club is back again, this time with a young mixed team of sailors who will be sailing aboard the Cape 31 ‘Ski’ which will be skippered by Rodney Tanner. ‘Ski’ was the very first C31 launched after the prototype ‘Flame’ …

by Richard Crockett The Sprog class was once an evergreen and dynamic class which just seemed to provide top class dinghy sailing for many – until it suddenly died which was rather sad. Yet despite its demise as an active sailing class there are many out there who remember the Sprog fondly, and who still, to this day, remember their Sprog days very clearly. Dudley Thomson, who now sails from Benoni Yacht Club, sent me the accompanying 3 Sprog pics, …

Local RSA Optimist sailors have generally had a torrid time when competing internationally, and few in recent times have managed to make the Gold fleet at their very first attempt. But this changed when Sean Kavanagh competed in the European championship last month, his first ever major European event, and made his mark by getting into the Gold fleet. And he raised some eyebrows too as he was the youngest competitor at the event, eventually qualifying for the Gold fleet …