Sailing Magazine
by Richard Crockett
Once the mould was broken in 1979 and ‘80 with the 505 and Fireball worlds being held off Durban, international competition on South African waters became something attainable.
In the year 2000 the GP 14 Worlds were held off Durban with a 58 boat fleet from five different countries. The top South African overall was Mark Sadler and his crew Neil McKeller who finished 5th with the next South Africans, Pat Mitchell and Andrew Marsh in 17th and Graeme Willcox and Craig Soulsby in 18th.
My guess is that as the GP 14 was primarily an inland boat in our country, the bulk of the fleet was not really set up for the rigours of top-flight competitive sailing at sea.
A very interesting addendum to the racing report was one by Andrew Heathcote who spent time on the water with the International Jury, and who came away with a new-found respect for these guys, who, as he said, are not, contrary to popular belief, there to soak up the sun and be entertained. They watch the racing carefully, all the time chattering amongst themselves about the rules, and basically seeing the racing from a rules perspective.
Both reports are a good read.
READ THEM HERE: 2000 06 – SAILING Magazine – OCR
