News

by Richard Crockett The 52 Super Series has moved to Atlantic waters off Cascais, Portugal, and any one of the nine teams competing at the Rolex TP52 World Championship would be entirely justified in harbouring a hope of winning the world title. Such is the universally high standard among the nine all-new 2018-built fleet that it would be no surprise at all if any one of these teams lift the world title. As the circuit was bidding farewell to the …

by Richard Crockett The final day of the Lipton Cup had the Royal Cape Yacht Club team give the fleet a ‘masterclass’ in light wind sailing. It’s just a pity that they were all so far behind that they could not benefit! The final race was sailed in an Easterly wind which ranged from about 8 to 10 knots at the start to about 4 to 5 knots at the finish. The boats maintained reasonable speeds throughout the race. The …

It’s now only about the winners who have earned a special place on the podium for their outstanding performances on the water during the last week. At a glittering sit-down dinner function at the Point Yacht Club last night the winners were presented their trophies – and congratulations to them all as they were thoroughly deserving of the accolades they earned.

The winning Royal Cape Yacht Club team who won 4 of 5 races in the Lipton Cup which finished off Durban today. Here they celebrate with the Lipton Cup as they stepped ashore from the final race. The team are L-R: William Crockett (Manager); Alex Burger; Roger Hudson with the Lipton Cup; obscured is Asenathi Jim; Joweal Klaase; Benji Daniel and Rivaldo Arendse.

by Richard Crockett Back to Some Old Traditions Today saw competitors sail in the strongest wind and confused sea so far in the event as a steady north easterly blew, bringing with it very confused and lumpy seas. Originally forecast to pick up substantially, the big winds did not arrive. The race was sailed in testing 12 to 16 knot winds although at the start there was 16 to 19 knots with one gust hitting 21 knots. Whilst RCYC won …

by Richard Crockett Today was a day all about the Defenders (Royal Cape Yacht Club) and Challengers (Point Yacht Club) – and boy did they go head to head all the way around the course in a titanic duel on the compulsory triangular course. The race was sailed in a moderate North Easterly with the race starting in 6 knots and finishing in 12 knots. Probably due to the fact that racing was cancelled yesterday, the fleet was raring to …

by Richard Crockett A Day of Redemption Having had victory snatched from his team within metres of the finish line yesterday in Race 1, Roger Hudson and his team from the Royal Cape Yacht Club (RCYC) sailed an almost flawless race today – and won in fine style. Flawless? Simply because by his high standards, and that of his team, Hudson would have been mightily annoyed at not finishing the job and winning that first race yesterday. Conditions were absolutely …

by Richard Crockett What A Dramatic Finish! Today was a long hard first day of this 6 day regatta as the wind really did not play ball by refusing to give any hint of providing enough pressure to sail in, and then when it did come though continued to switch for the duration of the race. But it was right on the finish line, literally less than a few metres from the line, that the race was won and lost. …

There’s something about sailing that makes it quite unlike other sports. More than just skill and strategy, it teaches certain values that shape sailors into the unique athletes that they are. Yet, we’re often so focussed on the physical aspects of sailing that we forget how much we stand to gain from the sport – both socially and emotionally. So CLICK HERE for a list of the top 10 socio-emotional benefits of sailing. The extract below is also from Singapore …

A partnership agreement has been made with the International Monohull Open Class Association (IMOCA), which provides the exclusivity to use the IMOCA 60 for crewed round the world yacht races. Last week, during the finish of the Volvo Ocean Race in The Hague, an Educational Session for interested parties was held around the IMOCA Class Rules. Sailors from the most recent Volvo Ocean Race and IMOCA events, along with yacht designers currently involved in construction of new IMOCA Class boats …

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) in the UK has concluded its report on the grounding and loss of commercially operated yacht CV24 (Clipper sailing vessel ‘Greenings’ off the Cape Peninsula, South Africa. The investigation report, published on 27 June 2018, includes what happened, safety lessons learned and recommendations. Here is a summary: Summary On the first night of the Cape Town to Fremantle leg of the 2017 – 2018 Clipper round the world race, the UK registered and commercially …

They have 30,000 miles to sail over the next 9 – 10 months, but judging from the start yesterday of the 2018 Golden Globe solo non-stop around the world yacht race from Les Sables d’Olonne, the leaders will be fighting over every mile. First to cross the line at Noon (CEST) was the fiercely competitive Frenchman Philippe Péché aboard his Rustler 36 PRB. He has ensured that she is one of the lightest in the 18-strong fleet, and carrying a …

Ice losses from Antarctica have tripled since 2012, increasing global sea levels by 3 millimetres in that time frame alone, according to a major new international climate assessment funded by NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). According to the study, ice losses from Antarctica are causing sea levels to rise faster today than at any time in the past 25 years. Results of the Ice Sheet Mass Balance Inter-comparison Exercise (IMBIE) were published Wednesday in the journal Nature. “This is …

by Richard Crockett I should never be amazed by the power of the sea having spent so much time sailing, but there are times when one has to be in awe of how the ocean currents work, and how they take abandoned boats long distances over long periods of time and deposit them in places no-one would ever expect. This is exactly the situation with the catamaran Llama Lo which, in October 2015, was sailing from Durban to Cape Town …

Knysna sailor Dave Shilton is one of just eight sailors to be invited by World Sailing to take part in the Emerging Nations Programme (ENP) in Aarhus, Denmark ahead of the 2018 Sailing World Championships. He’ll be joined by Cape Town-based Constantin Hatzilambros, who represents Namibia, along with sailors from Bermuda, Cuba, Iran, Hong Kong, Serbia, and Venezuela, who will all benefit from coaching and support before and during the championship, which take place from 30 July to 12 August. …