On This Day – 20 August. 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.

1970. East London’s Entry Sails In”. To the blare of yachtsmen’s foghorns and the clanging of bells, East London’s entry for the Cape to Rio yacht race next year was given the finishing gun on Sunday afternoon as she sailed into East London harbour. Port Rex had just arrived from Cape-Town after her four-day delivery voyage.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1970 08 20 563

1986. “Local Buccaneers Set Off”. A local crew will be competing in the Buccaneer National Championships to be held on the Vaal Dam starting on Saturday . Paul Schweizer (skipper) and Dave Staniforth (crew), who won the title at last year’s Culemborg Spring Regatta on Manta, will be borrowing a Transvaal boat, La Bianca, for the event. They will be pitting their skills against 12 seasoned Transvaal yachtsmen on a dam which is only 17 percent full.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1986 08 20 065

1987. “Fish Hoek Entry for Lipton’s Cup”. ·When Sir Tommy Lipton presented his now famous cup in February 1909 he could not have anticipated the excitement, interest and inter-club rivalry it would raise 68 years later.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1987 08 20 – 000271_Redacted

1991. “Going for it • • •”. Indian Ocean 1991 and time for South Africa’s premier yacht race, the Crystic Beachcomber Crossing from Mauritius to Durban.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1991 08 20 071

1994. “Zeekoevlei’s King Reigns Again”. Zeekoevlei Yacht Club won the Joko Lipton Challenge Cup sailing regatta for the 10th time yesterday – a record in the history of the event which celebrates its 83rd anniversary this year.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1994 08 20 227

2004. “From A Highveld Dam to Elite America’s Cup”. Two young men from a distant township 1 000 nautical miles from the sea are gearing up to take on some of the world’s top sailors in the world’s most competitive yacht race.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  2004 08 20 594

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 18 000 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