On This Day – 4 February. 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.

1985. “Apple Mac Breaks the Record”. The Cape Town maxi Apple Macintosh crossed the finish-line at Punta del Este at 9.01pm South African time (4,01pm in Uruguay) yesterday to take line honours in record time, well ahead of her close rival Momentum Life, in the 1985 South Atlantic Race.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1985 02 04 449

1986. “Yachtsman May Have to Relinquish Lead”. British yachtsman Paul Rodgers, leading the Stannic Southstar singlehanded race which started in Cape Town eight days ago, is suffering from a painful bout of conjunctivitis and could be forced to stop at St Helena.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1986 02 04 981

1989. “Form Flyer Still Ahead”. Patrick Holloway and Gary Farrow in Form Flyer, winner of the northward leg or the Stannic Southstar match race for Miuras, continued setting the pace yesterday with a 60 nautical mile lead, on the homeward leg from St Helena.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1989 02 04

1989. “Final Win for Voortrekker II”. Springbok John Martin and his crew in Allied Bank (Voortrekker II) swept into Simon’s Bay yesterday morning on a 25/30-knot south-easter to take overall line honours in the 1989 Anglo-Alpha Agulhas yacht race.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1989 02 04.

1992. “Olympics: Nocsa to Try it on for Size”. The National Olympic Committee of SA (Nocsa) will meet all the sports bodies bound for the Olympics in Johannesburg on Saturday to prepare them for Barcelona.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1992 02 04 573

2011. “The Dream of Winning Put the Wind in Hegie’s Sails”. Winning this race – the Heineken Cape to Rio – has long been a dream.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  2011 02 04 960

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 8500 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