News

by Richard Crockett The Double-Cape race was always a tough one, yet it was always keenly contested in generally big fleets. 1988 was no different other than it had a crew of women taking on the challenge. Wedvaart Sal Kaap Groot Skouspel Hied Almost sixty yachts set off tomorrow in one of the most spectacular races on the Peninsula coastline. The Double Cape Race, sponsored by Just Tiles is specially interesting because the participants start at four different places. READ …

by Richard Crockett I could not resist sharing two additional newspaper cuttings today that covered sailing on Zeekoe Vlei in 1937 and 1946. The subhead in the 1937 report stated “Yachtsmen Take the Wrong Turning!” with the opening paragraph reading as follows: On Sunday the yachtsmen sailing on Zeekoe Vlei experienced the first South-Easter of the season. Though it was far short of gale strength, it was strong enough to make even the biggest boats reef their sails, and the …

by Richard Crockett The Cape to Rio yacht race has, since inception in 1971, always attracted its fair share of young school-going crew members. It’s a great race across what many refer to as “the nursery slopes”, so is safe and full of adventure. Schools have in the past entered teams with a parent or teacher, and Westerford High school was no different as can be read in todays report. The next race starts on 17 December 2025 – so …

by Richard Crockett The Mauritius to Durban ocean race, or Crystic Beachcomber Crossing to give it the correct name, was a race which ticked many boxes for all the right reasons, and attracted good fleets. It’s now 18 years ago that the last race was run. Warrior Leads the Fleet on Way to Durban. With the fleet of 12 yachts taking part in the Mauritius to Durban race within 130 miles from the southern tip of Madagascar at lunchtime yesterday, …

Since last week I have posted several pictures requesting help identifying a boat or people. Reader response has been really good, so now it’s time to share the results and take the mystery out of those images. Today I will start with the SAA pic with four people. In the early 1970s 6 German yachtsmen came to South Africa to compete in the Agulhas Race. They were well looked after and enjoyed the race enough to propose a reciprocal arrangement …

By Richard Crockett The above headline is entirely true, although the trick is to find an owner willing to take on completely novice crew. Our sport is wonderful in many different aspects as one can start sailing at any age and continue until physical abilities lets one down in old age. My biggest beef is that we don’t have enough two-person dinghies, and that generally we are breeding single-handed sailors. Put two kids in a boat and they will have …

by Richard Crockett I am a firm believer in change for the better, especially in sailing events where sometimes officials become complacent and dislike suggestions on how an event may be improved. The basis of sound sports and sponsorship management is to keep innovating after assessing an event once complete, and then keeping the good and change the not-so-good. So I was delighted to see that way back in 1993, when Rothmans Week was at its prime and undoubtedly the …

by Richard Crockett “It’s the Real Thing Buddy – the Lipton Cup” said the subhead. The Lipton Cup is the most fiercely contested sailing event in this country as there is a lot of prestige for the Club which wins it as it is, after all, an inter-club contest. So both on and off the water it’s tense and uncompromising. “Every year a selected South African port is lashed with a strange phenomenon, more unpredictable than a hurricane and almost …

by Richard Crockett It’s very rare that the Lipton Cup goes this far in to September, but irrespective when the competition is scheduled, it’s usually always tight and uncompromising as this newspaper report shows. Protest Could Rob ‘Africa Glass’ of Victory. ‘Africa Glass’s’ crew must survive a protest by ‘Maxtec’s’ squad if they wish to lift this year’s Lipton Cup Challenge regatta in Table Bay. The Hermanus Yacht Club entry, which finished fifth and fourth in yesterday’s two stages in …

by Richard Crockett Shosholoza Crew Beam After First Race. It was a “Jol” – the most pleasant race he’s had in years and it showed in the face of South African skipper Geoff Meek. Meek and his fellow South Africans from Team Shosholoza came away smiling at the end of the first day’s racing in the Louis Vuitton precursor regatta to the 2007 America’s Cup yesterday. READ THE FULL REPORT HERE:  2004 09 06 – S&A – 462a

By Richard Crockett I am experimenting in this Blog for the next few days, so please bear with me – and importantly enjoy what I share, and feel free to comment and share. Oh Brother – A Whole Lot of Loving! For the first time three brothers will race in the same yacht from Mauritius to Durban, starting on 21 September. READ IT ALL HERE:  1991 09 05 – S&A – 895

by Richard Crockett As I never know what appears from my archives on a specific today, it’s always a case of “pot luck” as to what gets shared. Today is no different with four interesting editorials to share. “HIJACKED! Yacht intercepted in St Francis Bay. A young man was escorted under police guard from the stolen East London yacht, ‘Compass Rose’, in St Francis Bay late last night, after the yacht had been spotted earlier in the day about 15 …

by Richard Crockett We kick off today with a newspaper cutting from 1986 when John Martin and Bertie Reed were competing in the BOC race, and conclude with some Lipton news. “Drama At the BOC Start”. THE BOC Round the World singlehanded yacht race started dramatically at Newport Rhode Island at 3pm yesterday. South African Bertie Reed in ‘Stabilo Boss’ was first across the start line, but made a tacking error to let John Martin, in ‘Tuna Marie Voortrekker II’ …

by Richard Crockett Just two pieces today focussing on our beloved ‘Voortrekker’ competing in a race from Cape Town to Saldanha and back, not long after she had returned from a very successful OSTAR race when skippered by Bruce Dalling. “Voortrekker Leads Race to Saldanha”. ‘Voortrekker’, South Africa’s entrant in the solo-transatlantic contest in June, slipped into an early lead in the nine-yacht race to Saldanha Bay which began in Table Bay this afternoon. READ IT HERE:  1968 08 31 …

by Richard Crockett My news is a little different today thanks to the wonderful archives Dudley Dix gave me to scan and archive some years ago. It consists of news from 1947 and 1948, with much of it in pictures – so few words today. “Royal Cape Wins Inter-Club Yachting”. After a lapse of seven years, lnter-club racing took place on Table Bay during the week-end. The Royal Cape Yacht Club was at home to the Zeekoe Vlei Yacht Club …