Sailing Magazine
by Richard Crockett
The 1981 Optimist nationals at Swartvlei, and then a string of other regattas proved that the Optimist dinghy was achieving its goal in terms of youth sailing, as was the 116 boat fleet.
Talking of numbers, the Dabchicks achieved a fleet of 91 boats in this joint junior national championship – impressive numbers indeed.
Jonathan Swain won the nationals ahead of Nico van Wierengen. These two simply being far superior than the rest of the fleet – especially judging by the points difference between second and third.
Swain appeared to cover himself in glory early that year as he also won the PYC Junior Week regatta, and the Natal Optimist Champs. Plus he was also the top Optimist in the Inter-provincial schools regatta in which five provinces competed.
READ THE SA YACHTING NATIONALS REPORT HERE: Pages from 1982 02 – SA Yachting – OCR
READ THE YACHTSMAN RSA NATIONALS REPORT HERE: Pages from 1982 03 – Yachtsman RSA – OCR
READ THE YACHTSMAN RSA NATAL PROVINCIALS & INTER-PROVINCIAL REPORT HERE: Pages from 1982 02 – Yachtsman RSA – OCR
