Sailing Magazine
by Richard Crockett
To read the full reports, click on the LINK following each headline.
1937. “Yacht Racing At Zeekoe”. Victory Snatched by Rykie. At Zeekoe Vlei the first race for the Lion Trophy for 12 square-metre Sharpies provided the best turn out of one-design boats since the famous occasion when thirteen Redwings crossed the starting line in 1933, for all the available “E” class boats, with the single exception of Joan, started over the old “A” course in a medium to strong north-westerly.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK: 1937 09 26 – dix combined – converted to OCR 13
1967. “’Headline’ Yacht From Sydney in Durban”. A 50-FT. Australian yacht Cythera, which made headlines in her country’s papers when she was stolen in 1963, sailed into Durban last night.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK: 1967 09 26 – Don Pfotenhauer – + OCR 26
1969. “150-boats Racing this Season”. At a preliminary glance of the eight well-represented and established dinghy classes in Durban, it would appear that there will be an estimated 150 boats racing this season.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK: 1969 09 26 – Pfotenhauer – 000129
1970. “Merchant Academy Ketch for Rio”. The Minister of National Education, Senator J. P. van der Spuy, announced in the Assembly yesterday that the South African Merchant Navy Academy at Granger Bay, Cape Town, would enter its own ketch, the Howard Davis, for the Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro yacht race in January next year.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK: 1970 09 26 514
1985. “Cape Yacht Hand Badly Injured”. Bad luck yesterday struck Majimoto, a Cape Town entrant for the Beachcomber Crossing, when their experienced foredeck man suffered a bad leg injury.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK: 1985 09 26 – 000255
1989. “Beachcomber Heroes Count the Cost”. With the bulk of the racing fleet expected home by today skippers in the Crystic Beachcomber Crossing are now starting to count the costs of the gruelling race.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK: 1989 09 26 031
1991. “Two Sailors Hurt As Winds Pick up”. Two sailors ere slightly injured on the Crystic Beachcomber Crossing race favourite Coldcor as the wind picked up yesterday.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK: 1991 09 26 763
1994. “J J Provoyeur Slips to Third”. South African J J Provoyeur sustained a painful neck injury in an on-deck incident which has seen him drop from second to third place in the BOC Challenge around-the-world yacht race.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK: 1994 09 26 976
2005. “NSRI Brings Yachtsman Home After Hardship on the High Seas”. John Ross of Cape Town was towed into the city harbour by the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) yesterday after both engines on his yacht, A 4 Away, failed on a single-handed trip from Gibraltar.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK: 2005 09 26 524
Comments, thoughts and contributions are welcome. Email: editor@sailing.co.za
About “On This Day”
It was towards the end of September last year, yes 2019, that I started “On This Day. A Newspaper History of Sailing.” So nearly a year has passed without a day being missed and without there being any newspaper news or pics available in my newspaper archives to share.
It all started while I was 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 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, and that of our sport.
This is my personal crusade, and instead of simply archiving and keeping the contents away from prying eyes, I share my spoils in the hope that you will enjoy reminiscing as much as I do.
As of the end of September the format will change as it’s simply not sustainable to continue for another full year on a similar basis. I have some 25 000 scanned newspaper cuttings, and have used the best so far – but as in life some variation and change is required. What those changes are I have not crystallised yet, and would enjoy feedback from followers of this Blog as to what they would like to see.
I have tons of material available – from every single issue of SA Yachting, Yachtsman RSA (newspaper – remember it?) and Sailing Inland & offshore Magazine. Between those publications – from October 1957 until June 2017 – a period spanning 60 years of coverage of the sport of sailing in this country – I have in my possession.
I am scanning every single issue of those 60 years – that’s 720 issues – and digitising them to get the fullest value possible from them. So far I have uncovered some incredible gems in their pages, and will share these as we go.
Plus I have a photographic archive of photographs in b/w negative format, colour negative, colour slide (transparency) and photographic prints I intend to scan, digitise and share with the sailing community at large.
But all this takes time – and is a slow process – so all I ask is for patience.
My plea thought – to all followers and everyone interested in the history of sailing in RSA, is to please assist me by sharing their personal archives, pics, press cuttings and whatever with me, so that I can scan them and share them. My promise is that I will treat them with the utmost care, and get them back to you safely.
To date, the response to “On This Day. A Newspaper History of Sailing” has been phenomenal, and it’s heartening to see how many people appreciate, LIKE and SHARE the material I have shared in the past year. And this is from ‘Saffers’ and others who have lived and sailed here, or have travelled internationally to sail here.
I am overwhelmed by the response – and thank all those who have personally 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.
As each scanned cutting and article is searchable, I am 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) – for those 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 as it all simply gets better every single day!
So sit back, grab a cup of your favourite brew, and enjoy what’s on offer today.
