On This Day – 7 August. 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.

1968. “Natal Gets its First Lifeboat”. Natal’s first lifeboat, for rescues within five miles of the coast, will be launched in Durban on Saturday by the National Sea Rescue lnsitution.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1968 08 07 – Pfotenhauer – 000184

1969. “Bids to Buy Boat Pour in”. Offers to buy Mr. Harry Irvin’s yacht, stranded on a lonely Mtunzini beach, poured in at The Daily News today.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1969 08 07 – Pfotenhauer – 000086

1969. “A Taste of the Rio Work”. ·The two Durban men, Eddie Howard and Bill Wooldridge, who have taken on the task of measuring the Natal yachts for the forthcoming Rio race, have had a preliminary taste of what their very exacting job is going to be like
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1970 08 07 548

1995. “Yachtswoman Faces Doubts Over World Voyage”. Yachtswoman Lisa Clayton requested an urgent meeting on Thursday with the World Sailing Speed Record Council to discuss doubts over her round-the-world voyage.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1995 08 07 242

1995. “SA Entries Making A Strong Run”. The South African flag was flying proudly across the English Channel in the Admirals Cup yesterday with one of the country’s yachts sharing the lead and another challenging for it in the 605 mile fastnet race.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1995 08 07 300

1996. “World’s Best Juniors on Show”. The world’s best junior sailors, representing 39 countries, will take part in the Optimist World Championships at Club Mykonos later this month.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  1996 08 07 327

2007. Yachtsmen’s Nightmare Off EL Coast”. Exhausted after more than two days on stormy seas in a damaged yacht 50 nautical miles off East London, three Cape Town yachtsmen described yesterday how lucky they were to be alive.
To read the full report, Click on the following LINK:  2007 08 07 658

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 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.

Comments and contributions are welcome. Email: editor@sailing.co.za