Sailing Magazine
by Richard Crockett
Now that the front-runners have reached Rio it’s back to some good old history and choice editorials from my archives.
“Kiting” is a term I remember when, as a schoolboy, I first started sailing on a Dabchick. People talked about “kiting” in a good blow, yet not one of the many nautical dictionaries I have makes reference to that word – nor does a Google search!
So no wonder my interest was piqued when I saw an article entitled “Kiting in Keelboats” in a 1964 edition of SA Yachting magazine, and which referred to the RCOD.
The opening paragraph read as follows: “”Did you kite on the bay this afternoon?” might be a very ordinary question to be heard among dinghy sailors, but on more boisterous days this question is now being heard amongst fortunate keelboat crews. The prospect of 1 1/4 tons of yacht 30ft. long hurtling across the sea at speeds registering well into the ‘teens in knots sounds impressive and certainly lures owners of tough, fast Royal Cape One Design yacht to say on days when most other yachtsmen prefer to take their wetting internally before the club fire”.
It’s another great read from the annuls of a rich sailing history in this country.
Oh, and if anyone has a credible definition of the word “kiting”, please share it.
And please share any sail-boat kiting experiences too.
READ IT ALL HERE: 1964 09-10a – SA Yachting – OCR
