On This Day – 22 May. 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.

1989. “Durban Yacht Hits Rocks After Capsize Drama”. Two Durban yachtsmen abandoned ship yesterday and dived into the sea at a spot where they had earlier seen a shark when their boat capsized and washed on to rocks near the North Pier.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1989 05 22 061

1991. “Washed Overboard, but SA Solo Sailor Carries On”. Anthony Steward, the South African attempting to become the first person to sail an open boat singlehanded around the world, has reached Antigua in the Carribean.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1991 05 22 122

1998. “Race is on for Second Place in the Final Leg of Whitbread”. The final leg of the final Whitbread round the world race starts from La Rochelle, France, today in what promises to be the shortest but most intense leg of this 31 600 nautical mile odyssey.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1998 05 22 483

2006. “Shosholoza Riding High”. Team Shosholoza, the South African newcomers to the pinnacle of world yachting, are triumphant after 10 days of racing to tie sixth on the 2006 America’s Cup Season Championship, ranking with the Spanish home team, Desafio Espanol.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  2006 05 22 677

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

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