by Richard Crockett
I have been collecting material on this race for many years as it has a very special place in my heart, being the very first ocean race I ever competed in way back in 1977, plus having done so many Vasco races over the years, and organised them too.
For a long time I have been mulling over the possibility of writing a book on the Vasco race, or at the very least compiling a chronologically ordered record of the race from all the material I have which already runs in excess of 10 000 individual files.
Earlier this week I extracted every single article from SA Yachting magazine, Yachtsman RSA Magazine and SAILING Magazine that featured the Vasco race. That database alone has 266 files, most being multi-paged, and now chronologically ordered. I am still learning about this great race and was fascinated by the content in reports of the early races.
From the above I am busy compiling a results database, starting with the earliest races.
I already have a complete database of all the trophy winners in the Vasco da Gama Race.
Every single piece of paper I have in my archives that mention Vasco have been digitised, as too has every photo been digitised in high resolution.
But as always there are gaps that need filling in terms of full results, photos, reports, personal accounts, scrap books, newspaper cuttings and basically “anything Vasco” that individuals, Clubs and organising authorities have on the Vasco race.
As a result I am making a plea to all those who have competed in this tough ocean race to consider lending me their personal records of the Vasco race for digitising, and with a promise that they will be returned in good order.
Every single written word, every single photo, and every single memory of the Vasco race is important to me.
This is a mammoth task, and one I relish tackling.
Should you have any material you would lend, please contact me via email here: editor@sailing.co.za