On This Day – 17 April. A Newspaper History of Sailing

by Richard Crockett

From the overwhelming response I receive from these posts, from all over the world I may add, the interest is cranking up rapidly and I am being connected with some wonderful people thirsty for more. Thank you all who have made contact.

Should you wish to copy, forward or share material from here, PLEASE acknowledge the source as: Sourced From the SAILING Mag Archives & Historical Records.

To read the full reports, click on the LINK following each headline.

1968. “Look-out for Ketch”. The Durban Port Captain has put out a call to all shipping between Lourenco Marques and Durban to keep a look-out for the 37ft. ketch Miss-Conduct, which left Durban 12 days ago.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1968 04 17 COMBINED571 23

1988. “L34 Yachts Dominate in Da Gama Challenge”. L34 class yachts dominate the race fleet for this year’s Wilbur Ellis Da Gama Ocean Challenge from Durban to East London although the usual crop of late entries could see some of the country’s bigger boats at the start line on May 4.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1988 04 17 6

1990. “Race for Azores Island Hots Up”. The race for the Azores Island is now on in earnest with most of the Portnet Dias yacht race fleet reaching the first stopover at St Helena during the Easter weekend.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1990 04 17 839

1990. “Sailors Saved After Falling From Stricken Racing Yacht”. Disaster has hit the Jasco Spirit of St Gerard after a broach saw three crew members fall overboard and a spinnaker blown soon after the yacht left St Helena in the Portnet Dias Trophy race to Lisbon.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1990 04 17 844

1993. “Mum in Oceans of Peril”. Bored housewife deserts kitchen sink for romance as a lone sailor.
“There’s garlic in the chart table. . . Here are all my earrings. I was wondering where they got to”
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1993 04 17 277

1995. “Taking to the Sea At the Age of 70”. It’s the sort of experience most people only dream about.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1995 04 17 907

2005. “Grinders Crank Up the Power”. Brawn as well as sailing skills needed on South African yacht Shosholoza in the America’s Cup.
They are big and beefy, and results from the Sports Science Institute in Cape Town declare them as strong as members of the Springbok rugby squad.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  2005 04 17 673

Comments and contributions are welcome. Email: editor@sailing.co.za

What is “On this Day” About?
I am busy archiving many boxes of press cuttings I have accumulated and which I guestimate run into tens of thousands! A daunting task which I believe to be necessary before ditching them as I have been concerned for many years about the lack of interest Clubs, Classes and other sailing related organisations give to preserving their history.

Should you wish to copy, forward or share material from here, PLEASE acknowledge the source as: Sourced From the SAILING Mag Archives & Historical Records.

From the overwhelming response I receive from these posts, from all over the world I may add, the interest is cranking up rapidly and I am being connected with some wonderful people thirsty for more. Thank you all who have made contact.

This is my personal crusade, and instead of simply archiving and keeping the contents away from prying eyes, I will share my spoils in the hope that you will enjoy reminiscing as much as I do, and continue to do as I wade through the labourious process of scanning each and every cutting in my archives.

As each scanned cutting will be searchable, I will be able to create presentation packs personally tailored to a persons exact requirements – ie. Rothmans Week, the NCS Regatta, the Rio Race, Mauritius Race, Vasco da Gama Race and more – or simply by the name of an individual (like Ant Steward and his open boat exploits) who want a record of his/her sailing career for the family archives.

I have already done this by scanning in excess of 10 000 pages of material I have on ‘Voortrekker’ – from idle chatter, to concept, to the formation of what ultimately became the South African Ocean Racing Trust (SAORT), to the fruition of the 1968 OSTAR Race in which Bruce Dalling and ‘Voortrekker’ excelled – and even beyond that.

The possibilities are endless – so watch this space.

Comments and contributions are welcome. Email: editor@sailing.co.za