News

by Richard Crockett I always enjoy receiving mail from my old mate Roy Dunster as it is always thought-provoking and often controversial. For the dyed-in-the-wool types his out-of-the-box thinking is sometimes simply too much for those with a narrow view. His latest is about the Laser dinghy under the title “Laser Realities”. It’s important to know up front that Roy is a pretty competitive Laser sailor, despite his advancing years, and recently bought one of the handful of brand new …

When the 12 Metre World Championship takes place in Newport over July 8-13, it will celebrate one of the greatest classes in world sailing history. The 112-year-old International 12 Metre Class encompasses a living history of racing yacht design by the world’s foremost naval architects who pushed their designs to the very limits of innovation. The resulting boats represented the pinnacle of yacht development from 1907-1987 for the highest levels of international sailing competition: the Olympic Games (1908-1920) and the …

  by Brian Hancock In this world there are people who like adventure and then there are adventurers; professional adventurers. Russian born Fedor Konyukhov is the latter. This man has more courage than just about anyone on the planet. Either that or he is downright stupid. Here is a short list of his accomplishments. He is the first and only person in the world, so far, to have reached the five extreme Poles on earth. Those poles being the North …

Four hundred crew members pose on the steps of Portsmouth Guildhall, with sailing legend and Clipper Race Chairman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, after discovering their Skippers and which teams they will be sailing around the world with. The Clipper 2019-20 Round the World Yacht Race Crew are the most global ever, made up of 44 nationalities, with ages ranging from 18-76 with professions such as hairdresser, roofer, chiropractor and CEO. Almost 700 adventurers will be taking part in the British run …

by Richard Crockett I am sure that a few followers of my blog thought that the sea air has rusted a few ‘brain parts’ when I first published info on this event last week! But no, it was simply due to the fact that here in isolated South Africa we simply don’t get to see magnificent schooners such as the four competing in this event, so it was about the boats, the pics and not the racing which was keenly …

With just over one week before the TP52 class starts racing on nearby Menorca for the first points races of the 2019 52 Super Series, the 16th Sail Racing PalmaVela has been an intense, no compromise warm-up for the highly competitive, very evenly matched fleet of 10 boats. ‘Quantum Racing’, the 2018 circuit champions, have made five changes to their title-winning line-up, but proved they are adapting fast and are in much better shape to defend the five regatta series …

Out on a sunny but chilly Bay of Naples, there was a remarkably action-packed opening day of racing at the inaugural Capri Classica, with lead changes galore, a David v Goliath competition and an encounter with a Neapolitan fishing net best forgotten. Organised by the Circolo Remo e Vela Italia, the Yacht Club Capri and the International Schooner Association with the support of the International Maxi Association the Capri Classica is an exclusive invitation-only event for large classic schooners. Racing …

The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race has announced the Skipper who will lead the ‘Zhuhai’ team in its 2019-20 edition. South African Nick Leggatt, who has impressive accolades and over 280,000 nautical miles under his belt, will lead the ‘City of Islands’ team in its debut entry in the global sailing event. Leggatt will bring a wealth of experience to the role of Skipper of the ‘Zhuhai’ team. The 52-year-old from Cape Town has accomplished a lot since he …

  Open Test Phase for newly established very High Frequency (VHF) Digital Selective Calling (DSC) Maritime Radio Coastal Infrastructure. Summary 1. VHF DSC Testing 2. Short Range Certificate (SRC) Requirements 3. Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) Numbers 4. Global Positioning System (GPS) Inputs 5. Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) Sea Area A1 – declaration 1. VHF DSC TESTING An extensive technical audit of the upgraded maritime radio coastal infrastructure took place on-board the M/V SA Agulhas during October 2018. …

by Brian Hancock Some stories that you see floating by on your Facebook feed seem too ridiculous to be true and in many cases they are. But not this one. This one I first learned about last December when a Frenchman announced that he was leaving to float across the Atlantic Ocean in a barrel. No sail, no motor, nothing. He was planning (and hoping) that the prevailing wind, currents and waves would propel him all the way across the …

by Richard Crockett Will the decision to have the RS Aero as the Olympic singlehander from 2024 sound the death-knell for the Laser singlehanded dinghy? One would hope not as the trusty Laser has served so many yachties so well for so long now, that it almost has a cult-like following. I certainly know people who are besotted with their Lasers and the great sailing it has offered, not just on their local sailing patch, but internationally too as the …

After several years of trying, and coming so close last year, Paul Lagesse finally won the Hobie 16 Nationals in 2019 offshore Durban. He managed this feat against a fleet that was smaller than usual, some 21 boats, but included perennial champion Blaine Dodds and regular Durban front runner Garth Louden, so was as high quality as ever. Making the feat more impressive Lagesse was without his long time experienced crewman, and was crewed this time by his 10 year …

The official welcoming party of the National Sea Rescue Institute’s new class of Search and Rescue vessel took place at Quay 4 last Saturday. About 400 guests joined the Sea Rescue team to celebrate the new highly sophisticated rescue vessels inclusion in the volunteer organisation’s Search and Rescue fleet. The NSRI is currently the only maritime rescue service operating in South African territorial waters and, although most rescues are coastal and inshore, an increasing number of these operations require search …

Just a single race was permitted today, the final day, giving competitors a tally of 9 races and 2 discards. There were some standout performances with Chiara Fruet winning 7 of the 9 races in the 4.7 class. Cullen Keytel also achieved similar results in the Radial Class. In the Standard Laser Class Stefano Marcia won all but one race – discarding a 1st and 2nd. That was a fine result in a star-studded fleet littered with previous National Champions …

Today is the final day of this event, with at least 2 races scheduled.   The results in some of the divisions look settled, while in others there is some jockeying still to be done and old scores settled.   Liesl King has taken some great pics – so enjoy them here.   RESULTS HERE: