Sailing Magazine
Every year as spring approaches, local yachtsmen start getting ready for the Cape Town sailing season. As summer approaches, so the winds switch from the NW to SE and the veritable “Cape Doctor” visits our shores and provides ample wind for these sailors.
These strong SE winds, make sailing challenging and just as thrilling to watch as the numerous yachts battle it out over laid courses to see who is the ‘best of the best’! High winds make for spectacular spinnaker set, fast surfing and a myriad of thrills and spills that test the sailors while delighting spectators.
Each year, boats arrive at False Bay Yacht Club, in Simonstown, for the first race of the season, the Intasure Spring Regatta. Like previous events, this year’s regatta has once again attracted the top boats and crews and this Saturday, at noon, the first race will start.
70 yachts, from the high performance IRC racing fleet, to family cruisers will race against each other on courses set in False Bay and with the expected SE winds, this will be a true spectacle of sail. Definitely worth taking the time to drive towards the southern tip of our beautiful country to watch these teams battle it out.
Crews from all over the country, as well as a number of international sailors are on their way to Cape Town to compete and try to win this event. Super powerful boats are being prepared in Simonstown, like the Corby 49, Nitro and the German Farr 40, Morning Glory as well as the local boats, Windpower, Cardiac Arrest, Corum, Vulcan and Devonvale After You.
With the cold front approaching and scheduled to hit Cape Town on Thursday, navigators are carefully studying the weather data to see what can be expected behind this front. Current indications are that the ‘Cape Doctor’ will arrive early on Saturday morning and by the start, should be blowing around 12 knots (20 km/h) which should make for good sailing.
The yachts will cross the start line and have to sail up to a mark, placed directly upwind of the start, then they’ll turn and hoist their spinnakers, those huge colourful sails, and sail on to the next mark, giving spectators a wonderful view!
Be there, or be square, as this year’s Instasure Spring Regatta is going to a spectacle of sail!
