The “Sharpie Saga” published last week created some good interest – even as far as Australia.
My old sailing rival in Flying Fifteens, Allan Bush, made contact as he was part of the Zwartkops guys who undoubtedly watched as the old guys sped around the river on their Sharpies.
Having read the article, this is what Allan Bush had to say: “Cliff Bush was Allan’s Dad, Lionel Harling was Allan’s Godfather (he was married to Allan’s Dad’s sister) and Darcy Hobbs was a very good family friend and the list goes on and on. Their yacht ‘Lycliff’ was built by Allan’s Dad and Lionel Harling – hence the name.
“Allan’s Dad passed away when the twins were only 9 years old, but “Uncle Lionel” took a very keen interest in their sailing careers whilst he was alive. Uncle Lionel had two daughters, no sons. Everyone always said Cliff was so lucky when the twins were born as he had his own crew. Sadly that never eventuated.
“C7 ‘Wings’ eventually ended up at ZYC belonging to Wolfie Longland, then his son Ian Longland, all good friends.”
At the time of preparing the “Sharpie Saga” for publication I had a cursory look in my archives for old photos of the boats, but did not find any. After I received the mail from Allan Bush, I dug deeper and unearthed a good stock of photos, and publish only the ones with captions here as there are about 50 to choose from.
Enjoy the photos.
I am always on the lookout for old historical sailing records and photos, so if any has any, please contact me via email: editor@sailing.co.za