News

  While numbers in the 505 class were growing pretty smartly, there seemed to be negative undertones towards the class, especially when reading between the lines in the report on the 1968 Nationals on Saldanha Bay which was a multi-class event dubbed the “Olympics National”. While very little was written on the 505s in this report, I share the full feature article as published in SA Yachting, and have highlighted all references to the 505 in yellow. Dave Hudson won …

by Richard Crockett I am able to trace back reference to the 505 tow-man spinnaker trapeze dinghy to records of mine in the late 1950s, and was surprised to learn that there were active boats racing in Rhodesia, Nyasaland and even Kenya before here in good old RSA. When I dug a little deeper and broader than my archives, I found that it came to life in 1953 with the class achieving international status in 1955 – some 67 years …

by Richard Crockett What a brilliant race the “Angels” aboard ‘AlexForbes Archangel’ had in the Cape to Rio Race, finishing yesterday and achieving a podium finish in third place. That’s a really good result for this very young team who showed, no, proved, that where there is a will there is a way, and that if one shoots for the stars anything and everything is possible. It’s not easy racing across an ocean as it takes serious skill, built up …

by Richard Crockett Staying with the RCOD thread today, well almost anyway as today’s feature covers ‘Zeeslang’ which was the forerunner to the RCOD and considered by most to be an RCOD until she proved to be faster. This feature article was written by in 1998 Colin Farlam who stated the following in the opening blurb and first paragraph: The annals of yachting in South African include boats which have become household names. The 30-foot sloop ‘Zeeslang’ is one and …

by Richard Crockett The humble RCOD, a mainstay of the sport at coastal clubs around our coast for many years, and a small, inexpensive and seaworthy vessel, came to life thanks to an enthusiastic bunch at the Royal Cape Yacht Club. The One Design idea has a long history at Royal Cape. As long ago as 1912 the famous Advocate Beauclerk Upington KC of the then Table Bay Yacht Club – dissatisfied with the Metre Boat rule that had produced …

by Richard Crockett Now that the front-runners have reached Rio it’s back to some good old history and choice editorials from my archives. “Kiting” is a term I remember when, as a schoolboy, I first started sailing on a Dabchick. People talked about “kiting” in a good blow, yet not one of the many nautical dictionaries I have makes reference to that word – nor does a Google search! So no wonder my interest was piqued when I saw an …

by Richard Crockett The monohull race for the finish line went down to the wire with just 61 minutes separating first and second. It must have been heartbreaking for Adrian Kuttel and ‘Atalanta’ not to have taken line honours as this singlehanded sailor virtually led the monohull fleet from the start, so to be pipped at the post by Michael Kavenagh’s fully crewed and bigger ‘Ray of Light’, was undoubtedly tough. Some solace for Kuttel is that he has won …

by Richard Crockett The two cats have finished with ‘Norhi’ taking 18 days and 20 hours, and ‘Aventurerio 4′ taking 20 days and 1 hour. Just 146nm from the finish is ‘Atalanta’ with ‘Ray of Light’ and ‘Audaz II’ having 170nm and 176nm respectively to go. The dice between these three could go either way, with ‘Atalanta’ having the edge should the wind go light – and there is every chance of this happening as the Rio finish is always …

by Richard Crockett Just when the fleet was revelling in better winds again, the fluky stuff came back to haunt them, pushing out their long-range ETAs and generally frustrating the front-runners more than anyone else. The YB Tracker is showing that the leading catamaran could take line honours in the next two to three days, with the leading monohulls two to three days later. That’s at this time, with the flukey winds, although one hopes that the wind increases and …

by Richard Crockett In just a few hours time Adrian Kuttel’s ‘Atalanta’ will have less than 1000nm to go to the finish. That same milestone will also be passed by ‘Ray of Light’ and ‘Audaz II’ later today as they trail Kuttel by 105nm. This is always one of those psychological milestones in the race, but also one of the toughest stretches of the race as on approaching the South American land mass the wind shifts from trade wind sailing …

by Richard Crockett Today is a very auspicious day as it was on 16 January 1971 (today) that the very first race to Rio came under starters orders. This was a race that cemented our place in sailing history as it became one of those iconic races that yachties around the world simply had to compete in. From small beginnings in 1971 it grew to a race with 128 starters in 1976, and to day the 17th race is underway …

by Richard Crockett Great news is that the fleet generally has wind, although I am concerned that ‘Translated 9′ may not experience good winds for a while as she is in a lighter patch far south of the fleet. Her VMG is 6.5 knots, and for a 65-footer is nowhere near where it should be. She looks good on the tracker in terms of line and handicap honours, but only because she is closest to the rhumb line, the shortest …

by Richard Crockett Speed and distance covered in the last 24-hours has improved marginally, and looking at the synoptic charts for the area they are sailing towards, the fleet should have some wind for a few days, although there are still light patches ahead to frustrate them. The leading two cats were neck-and-neck yesterday, with ‘Aventurerio 4′ sailing just 1nm further than her rival ‘Norhi’. It was the monohulls which clocked up the biggest distances yesterday with ‘Audaz II’, ‘Ray …

By Richard Crockett This is turning out to be a very slow race as light winds have plagued the fleet for several days now. It’s never pleasant being becalmed mid-ocean as all one thinks about is the time wasted, distance not travelled, and how that ice cold beer at the finish appears to be even more than an eternity away! No, the top yachts don’t carry beer as it’s additional weight which will slow them down. Some skippers also forbid …

by Richard Crockett Another light day and no doubt more frustrations for those at sea as well as amongst the landlubbers following them. Of the monohulls, just ‘Sterna’ managed more than 100nm in 24 hours, the next best being ‘Atalanta’ and ‘Translated 9′ with 89nm each. ‘Nyamazela’ managed just 30nm in the same period! Right now it’s looking like a slow race although the pace is picking up a little with ‘Translated 9′, ‘Atalanta’ and ‘Nemesis all averaging over 6 …