Sailing Magazine
By Richard Crockett
The Vasco da Gama Race has always been one of my very favourite races, and is in fact the race which really got me hooked on ocean racing. In 1977 I did my first race from Durban to East London, and still, today, follow it very closely.
Such is my interest in the race that I have sufficient information, some 16 000 files, which is enough to write a book on the race. Plus I have an Excel database of every race, every trophy winner and more.
In 1990 a crew of experienced yachties and a few schoolboys from St Andrew’s College in Grahamstown looking for adventure, and no doubt time off school too, competed in this tough ocean race aboard ‘Swimlion’.
The ‘Swimlion’ crew were Duncan Howell, Anthony Steward, Rick Mayhew, Bruce Savage and Mark Lagesse. The schoolboys were Nicholas Shapley, Rowan Puttergill, Julian Goldswain and Julian Puttergill.
READ MORE HERE: 1990 04 25 – mercury – S&A – 000302 – OCR
