On This Day – 26 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. “Abbott Battles Home After Sleepless Fight”. Tony Abbott, runner up to Bertie Reed in the Stannic Southstar singlehanded yacht race, crossed the finish line in Table Bay on Monday night by sheer willpower after battling for three sleepless days and nights of gales ·and calms.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1986 03 26 444

1991. “’Flying’ Ferry Ready to Take on World”. Shaun Ferry, last year’s champion, wrapped up the Hobie 16 Class in the final Western Province Points Regatta at Langebaan – in spite of a sixth-month lay off.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1991 03 26 112

1993. “Endurance Regatta”. Bloemhoek Dam will be the venue this week of a rather unique boating event. Indeed, a 24·hour Endurance Regatta is scheduled locally on the waters of the dam in question.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1993 03 26 271

1994. “Sailor Tells of A Dream Come True”. All dreams seem to come true for South Africa’s first and only black solo sailor, Neal Petersen.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1994 03 26 299

2006. “Shosholoza’s Marc Takes A Dive in the Line of Duty”. Quick-thinking navigator just manages to grab ‘man-overboard’ computer’ as it sinks into the Med.
Heroic antics in the Mediterranean off Valencia, Spain, this week by navigator Marc Lagesse saved Team Shosholoza some R80 000 of specialised computer equipment after the boat’s black box was accidentally knocked overboard during a training manoeuvre.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  2006 03 26 775

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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