Sailing Magazine
by Richard Crockett
The performance of ‘Kaapenaar’ in the 1984 Sea Harvest Saldanha Race created a massive buzz as few thought that this “space-framed” monster would make it round the course. Yet she did and she took line honours too, beating John Martin’s ‘Voortrekker II’.
The opening few paragraphs of the report tell it all: “John Martin is still shaking his head in bewilderment. That Voortrekker II should lose to the 12 ft longer Kaapenaar, he could accept. That the major part of the loss should have occurred on the windward leg, left him in a state of open mouthed disbelief.
“He tried everything except sleep, which left him somewhat grumpy when he touched the jetty in Saldanha at 2 am on Saturday morning – dummy tacks, rock-jumping navigation, nervously early sail-changes to avoid overshooting turn marks …
“But nothing helped, and Kaapenaar, widely slated to disintegrate before Robben Island, won the 1984 Sea Harvest Saldanha Race, beating Voortrekker II on elapsed time and handicap!
READ THE REPORT HERE: Pages from 1984 04 – Yachtsman RSA – OCR
