Sailing Magazine
Follow this link to the results: dolphin nationals 2014 RESULTS
by Marius Fourie
The 2014 Dolphin Nationals was hosted by Pretoria Sailing Club at Rietvleidam
from 26 – 28 April 2014.
The Regatta was fairly well attended with 14 Dolphins competing for the National trophy. The event was well organized by the Dolphin Class Association and the hosting club, PSC. Much appreciation goes to those that took the effort to find sponsors, enabling everyone to receive a token of gratitude for making the day so special and especially for supporting the Dolphin fleet. The weather treated us to pleasant sunny conditions for most of 3 days, with no shortage of wind on Saturday and Sunday. The wind on Monday was light and variable.
All the action, fun and drama happened at PSC with the wind gusting up to 20 knots + at times. The competition was stiff between all the competitors and all the sailors gave their best some tried a little too hard ending up in showing us what their under carriage is made of.
The spirit on the water was great with sailors smiling, greeting and acknowledging good performance.
Rudolf Holm and his 8 year old daughter Ingrid did exceptionally well in the light winds, but were also not afraid to steer their Dolphin through the water in stronger windy conditions, they finished in third place.
Marius and Reinette Fourie took home the Husband and Wife trophy for the 4 year in a row.
Johnathan Ham an exceptionally talented youth sailor and his dad Warwick took advantage of the stronger winds managing to keep their boat flat under tough windy conditions, finishing in second place over all. Considering the unforeseen mechanical failures on their dolphin, this is an exceptional feat, well done.
The overall new Dolphin Nationals champions are Dietmar Holm and his son Christiaan who sailed exceptionally well and were awarded with gold medals and the lovely Dolphin Nationals trophies. The PSC dolphin fleet is hoping to see more of Christiaan in future as he is clearly growing into a fine young man and an excellent sailor.
As the Dolphin is sailed mostly as a family boat, the Dolphin National Championships 2014 will be remembered for the first 2 places taken by father and son teams and the third place taken by father and daughter. It is encouraging to see youthful talent in the Dolphin class which we hope will carry the class into the future for many years to come.
In total 10 races were sailed, making it an excellent regatta, allowing for two discards showing off the talent and experience of the bridge and rescue. Many thanks to John & Wendy Geekie and their team that did a great job on bridge and rescue. PSC is a remarkable club set in exotic surroundings. We are truly grateful.
Once again, a Special word of thanks to our sponsors that helped to make the event possible:
Lonerock Construction, New Generation Yachting, Nike & Afri-Sam.
For those that could not attend the 2014 Nationals, they surely missed out on a
great sailing event.
