“Talking Sailing” From My Archives. ‘Voortrekker II’ – the Story of Her Demise

Voortrekker II sailing past Robben Island on her way to Rio. This may be the last pic ever taken of her before she sunk on day three of the race. pic by Alec Smith

By Richard Crockett

It’s always sad to write about the sinking of a yacht, especially one as well known and admired as ‘Voortrekker II’. She was a yacht that kept the South African flag flying high when competitively campaigned by local sailing legends Bertie Reed, John Martin and Hanno Teuteberg.

‘Trekker II’ had achieved so much in her relatively short life, and sadly succumbed to Davey Jones’ locker just two days after the start of the 2017 Cape to Rio race.

“We feel a deep loss that ‘Trekker’ is gone. We hope that all the legends who have sailed on her will remember that we brought her back to shape, so that she could do the thing that she was designed to do – race – rather than remember us for losing her! To let her go in this manner before we could get her racing more and working as a development racing boat, was difficult” said the crew after being rescued.

READ THE FULL FEATURE HERE:  2017 03 – SAILING Magazine – OCR

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