Sailing Magazine
by Richard Crockett
Back in the day multi-class national championships were something all sailors looked forward to as the camaraderie was special and the racing generally good.
Back in ‘68 the regatta was described as “a national Regatta that South Africa will never have again. That was Saldanha 1968 – scene of six historic clashes between the two greatest exponents of Finn sailing the world has ever seen, Willi Kuhweide, the current world champion, and Paul Elvstrom, the acknowledged master of dinghy sailing.”
Also there was Americans Ding Schoonmaker and Bob Andre.
The visitors may have stolen some of the thunder, but they did not overshadow Finn skipper Bruce McCurrach. Once McCurrach abandoned his plan for achieving higher positions in both the Finns and 505’s his Finn sailing improved remarkably. In one race, he led the entire way and was overtaken only on the last beat by the cunning of Elvstrom and Kuhweide.
This feature is a wonderful read and makes mention of many of our top sailors in several different classes.
READ IT HERE: Pages from 1968 04 – SA Yachting – OCR
