“Talking Sailing” From My Archives. ‘Titch’ & ‘Viking’ Tell Their Stories

Viking – Fred Smithers starting the Simonstown to Port Elizabeth race.

by Richard Crockett

On Tuesday and Wednesday I shared info on the Agulhas Race from Simonstown to Port Elizabeth, giving an overall report as published in SA Yachting Magazine, and first-hand accounts from THE owners/skippers of ‘Sewin’, ‘Zeeslang’ and ‘Corsair II’.

Today sees this mini-series being wrapped up with extracts from Arthur Holgate’s ‘Titch’ and ‘Viking’ skippered by Fred Smithers.

Holgate was always a man of very few words as he simply preferred to get out and do it rather than talk about it. As a result his report is short on graphic details, yet gives a glimpse of his race.

The ‘Viking’ report on the other hand is full of good material and a thoroughly good read.

The message in the opening paragraph “illustrates the absolute importance of the necessity to be thoroughly prepared for so exciting an event as a long ocean race.” Words of advice every skipper should take heed of.

To illustrate how tough conditions were, this extract is pretty graphic: “Saturday, 29th December : Warps were trailed from time to time to stop the seas from breaking into the cockpit but even so they were pooped every twenty to thirty minutes and had to pump out the ship every three hours. With warps “Viking” was slowed down to 4 knots. The gale force westerly continued to Cape St. Francis which they passed at 11a.m. and then it started to ease slightly.”

This is another one of those “good reads” as it also covers their return passage home.

READ THE ‘TITCH’ REPORT HERE:  1962 Titch race to port elizabeth

READ THE ‘VIKING’ REPORT HERE:  1962 Viking race to port elizabeth

Titch

 

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