Sailing Magazine
By Richard Crockett
Way back in the day when yacht racing was close to being at its very best in this country, this time of the year was reserved for Rothmans Week – a cracker of a regatta where racing was close, intense, intriguing, and dare I say it controversial and ugly too! Our top yachties all competed.
What I liked about the week-long regattas in those days was that they were a combination of round-the-cans racing with a medium and long distance race included too. To me, that combination of racing proved beyond doubt as to who were the very best skippers and crew as they had to prove their worth in three different types of racing. Sadly not everyone agrees with my thinking as regattas today have dropped the distance races, which is okay, but remember that some race better round-the-cans than others, and some cannot race competitively after dark!
So today I will share the supplement that appeared in the Cape Times on this day in 1989 – 34 years ago today – and which gives a good insight into the event, while the list of competitors reads somewhat like a Who’s Who of yachting.
Oh, and why the “drama” as stated in the headline? Well, that was a stretch, although with all the rockstars mentioned in the report, the chances of “drama” was probably inevitable!
READ THE SUPPLEMENT HERE: 1989 12 08 – rothmans week supplememnt to Cape Times – stitched – S&A – OCR
