News

For the ‘Capies’, being in KZN and at Midmar Dam where the scenery is green and the water more plentiful than that in their home drought-ravaged Province, must seem like being in paradise! And their sailing results show it too as the ‘Capies’ are at the top of most classes. The been wind has been blowing, and the races are being reeled off like clockwork, so come Friday there should well be some very happy sailors around. The Optimist fleet …

by Richard Crockett The wind was up and down again yesterday in Sanya with cloud cover once again present across the racing area. An 8-12 knot breeze was present throughout the day with an increase when the sun broke through the clouds later on in the day. The conditions obviously suited Calvin Gibbs as he is currently sailing himself into medal contention, being 4th overall. Today (Wednesday) after the first race of the day he showed on the results sheet …

by Richard Crockett. I had the privilege of interviewing two great yachties who are amongst the hottest property in the sailing world minutes before they embarked on leg 3. Of course they are Blair Tuke and Peter Burling, Olympic Gold medalists in 2016, winners of the America’s Cup earlier this year, and now competing on different boats in the Volvo Ocean Race. Regrettably I had very little time with them and I had many more pressing questions to ask, but …

by Richard Crockett The Youth World Championships in Sanya, China have started, and although news is not easy to come back, there are some results available from the opening races today (Monday). Calvin Gibbs was off to a flying start with a 5th place in the first race, a really good opening race result. Regrettably his second race resulted in a 22nd which will hopefully be his discard as there are many races to come. While Benji Daniel and Rivaldo …

by Richard Crockett As an indication of things to come for the Volvo Ocean Race fleet, and a real time indication for the landlubbers in Cape Town, the famous ‘Cape Doctor’ did its thing on the weekend with steady 40 knots of winds on Saturday gusting up to 20 knots more. As a result the race village had to be closed for safety reasons. By Sunday the wind had moderated slightly getting the fleet off in winds of 25-plus knots. …

by Richard Crockett Like myself, there are others with a passion for preserving the history of our sport. Warwick Owen in Port Elizabeth is one, while Frans Loots on St Francis is another. Both the above in particular have an interest in preserving the first Sprog ever built. She is named ‘Stroppy’ and was languishing in the Bayworld museum in Port Elizabeth until Warwick Owen went in search of her – and a new home for her. Being more ‘tatty’ …

by Richard Crockett In barely three days, François Gabart literally swallowed Argentina to find himself off the coast of Brazil thanks to a beautiful depression that propelled him from Cape Horn to the southern thirties. The passage was fast, but hard for the boat and her skipper François Gabart as at times they were doing 45 knots. Much of the difficult part is behind them now as they race up the Atlantic. And a bonus is that they are well …

Nick Jacobsen broke the Kite Tow Up World Record with Team Brunel. Professional Danish kiter Nick Jacobsen set, together with Team Brunel, the world record for highest Kite Tow Up at 277 metres above sea level. The successful record attempt was done in the Table Bay, Cape Town. Jacobsen, with the help of Team Brunel and their VO65, set the new record by beating the old record of 244 metres, set by Jesse Richman. The old record, done behind a …

The South African team to the youth worlds is on its way to Sanya in China. The team has left early to get in as much on-the-water time as possible under the guidance of their coach, former double Olympian Roger Hudson. Hudson, of the RaceAhead Foundation will be assisted by Alex Burger in China. The RSA Team is: Laser Radial Boys – Calvin Gibbs (Team Captain) Laser Radial Girls – Sonja Stock 420 Girls – Michaela Robinson and Elsje Dijkstra …

Durban’s sailing prodigy, Benji Daniel is about to hit Chinese waters as he takes on 19 other nations at the Youth World Championships. The 47th edition takes place at Sanya Beach on Hainan Island, in the south of China with race days scheduled from the 10 – 15 December. With an expected 400 sailors from 70 countries, the crème-de-la-crème of the next generation of international sailors, under the age of 19 will go up against each other in nine classes. …

World Sailing, the governing body for our sport, does hide some gems on its website, and unless you are one of those people prepared to trawl the site in the hope of finding a gem, you are likely to miss them. One of these gems is the Racing Rules: Question and Answer Service. Check it out HERE

Racing has been close with Day 3 bringing about much change throughout the leaderboard. Garmin has taken the lead which was previously held by Sanya Serenity Coast which is now in fifth place. Since leaving Fremantle there has been fighting talk from Garmin Skipper Gaëtan Thomas. Speaking from on board this morning, he said: “We will do our best to stay in the lead, our canons are ready. Sydney, we are coming!” Visit Seattle now takes second place, jumping five …

Volvo Ocean Race campaigner team AkzoNobel reaffirmed its commitment to protecting the world’s oceans from plastic waste this weekend when members of the sailing team and local AkzoNobel employees joined forces at a beach clean in Cape Town. During the two-hour clean-up on Saturday December 2 organised by the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town the sailors and AkzoNobel employees collected 11 large bags filled with plastic waste and other man-made rubbish from the beach at Sea Point. The team …

After 30 days at sea François Gabart has passed Cape Horn and is well ahead of the record at this point. Gabart has set the absolute record for crossing the Pacific after passing Cape Horn after 29 days 3 hours and 15 minutes at sea since the start. Gabart’s trimaran MACIF improved the record by 2 days 8 hours and 15 minutes the reference time for singlehanders, held since 2016 by Thomas Coville. His performance is all the more remarkable …

by Richard Crockett In a pre-event comment I mentioned that the Cape 31 was being raced in anger for the first time over the weekend – and what close racing with many lead changes it was too. The comments form those who competed, plus from those relegated to watching from the sidelines who simply had to savour the moments, have been more than positive. In short, the Cape 31 quite simply provides far better one-design racing than ever expected. The …