On This Day – 24 March. 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.

1986. “Men Cower From Tigers At the Helm!”. It was postmortem examination time in the ‘False Bay Yacht Club clubhouse Males took a back seat as the bar echoed to feminine voices expounding on gybes, spinnaker runs and whether an inshore or offshore tack was best. All discussed at length.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1986 03 24 024 2

1990. “A Fun Weekend A La Portuguese”. A fleet of 22 ocean racers will set off next Saturday to sail about 6 000 nautical miles from the Cape of Good Hope to Lisbon and you, the landlubber, can get into the spirit of things this weekend down at the Royal Cape Yacht Club.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1990 03 24 031

1990. “Safety Goes to Hull . . .”. The Dias Race to Lisbon which sets out from Table Bay on March 31, is the big talking point in Cape yacht club bars.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1990 03 24 036

1990. “Cameras, Crowds Blunt Cupid’s Arrows”. It takes an arrow to seal a romance made in heaven – it takes a cast of thousands, and a missed flight, to put it in jeopardy.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1990 03 24 235

1990. “Bombs in Bags and A Hotel of Discontent”. Now I have an idea of how Mike Gatting and Co felt on their recent demo-ruined tour.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1990 03 24 237

1996. “Hobie 16 Sailors Head·for Dubai”. Hobie 16 sailors left this week for Dubai to compete in their world championships, to be sailed from the Dubai International Marine Club. This year’s contest is likely to be extremely competitive, with more than 300 entries from 52 countries.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1996 03 24 647

2011. “Missing SA Yacht A Mystery”. ‘All Ships Alert’ for Cape vessel.
An urgent international search is under way today for a Cape Town sailing yacht, which may have hit disaster in the mid-Atlantic while carrying a crew home from Rio de Janeiro.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  2011 03 24 797

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