Eden District Inter Schools Regatta

by Malcolm Osborne

George Lakes Yacht Club hosted the annual Eden District Inter Schools Regatta this year. Entries were received from eight High Schools and seven Primary Schools from Mossel Bay, Knysna and George. The fleet sailing in the High Schools division had 29 boats and the Primary Schools division had 20 boats.

On Saturday, a moderate south-easter was blowing, providing excellent sailing conditions for the more experienced, but the novices in both fleets found the going difficult and had to retire to shore.

The Primary Schools fleet, sailing shorter courses, completed five races on the day, while the High Schools fleet sailed four. At that stage, in the Primary Schools fleet, Jean Paul Buys of Outeniqua Primary was leading from Tristan Boshoff of Glenwood Primary and Ryan Steenkamp of Knysna Primary.

In the High Schools fleet, Conrad Holm of Glenwood House College was in the lead, ahead of York High’s Matthew de Villiers and Robyn Hellstrom. With results being scored on Portsmouth handicap, in both fleets faster boats were well ahead, but the leading boats on handicap in both fleets were Optimists.

On Sunday, the wind failed to make much of an appearance. Only one slow race in a very light southerly breeze could be completed. In this race, the winner in the High Schools fleet was Sean Vonk ( Glenwood House College) from Ashley Layland (Point High). In the Primary Schools fleet, Aydin Gething (Oakhill) was the winner, from Tristan Boshoff and JP Buys,

For the High Schools fleet, the individual winner was Conrad Holm, sailing for Glenwood House College on his Optimist. Matthew de Villiers on a Dabchick was second and Robyn Hellstrom on a Laser Radial was third (both York High).

For the Primary Schools fleet, the individual winner was Jean Paul Buys of Outeniqua Primary on his Optimist. Tristan Boshoff, sailing for Glenwood House Primary on his Optimist was second and Ryan Steenkamp, sailing for Knysna Primary on a Tera Sport was third.

The inter-schools team scoring was done on the basis of the top three per school. On this basis, the team from Glenwood House College were the winners of the 2019 Eden District Inter Schools Regatta (High School fleet). They were represented by Conrad Holm, James Vonk and Sean Vonk. They narrowly defeated the title holder, York High, who had Matthew de Villiers, Robyn Hellstrom and Jordyn Soldin as their top three. In third place was Point High of Mossel Bay.

The Primary School fleet winner was Knysna Primary, who had Ryan Steenkamp, Luca Lutolf and Tyrin Williams as their top three in their team. Second in this division was Glenwood House Primary, represented by Tristan Boshoff, Mark Franklin and Clara Adrian. Third Primary School was Pacaltsdorp Primary.

S.A. Sailing Eden District and George Lakes Yacht Club gratefully acknowledges the sponsorship by Sothebys International Realty (George) and Raubenheimers Attorneys for their contribution to the success of the event. Sponsorship for prizes was received from the Lego Foundation, Victoria Inn Surf Camp and Sanguine Wellness.