With the Covid numbers dropping we made a return to Twilight sailing on the 3rd of February. There were good numbers of boats on the water with 14 in Class A, 13 in Class B, five Cape 31s and two Cruiser/Cats. Our new RIB, Whalesong, was out for her first time laying the marks and acting as the safety boat.
A fresh south easter allowed for a fun sail. A number of boats were seen lying on their sides with spinnakers flogging which is probably due to the rustiness of the sailors after a long period without any racing.
Glancing through the results there were lots of close finishes. Quite a few crews are no doubt reflecting on their race and ruing the single bad tack or mark rounding that caused them to lose a place or two. In Class A Dark Matter took first place with Be-Witched only 7 seconds behind and Raymarine Regardless a further 57 seconds back. If Argonaut could have done 3 seconds better they would have moved up a place and Scatterling was only a single second behind Sheshisa. The three Simonis 35s were tightly sandwiched together a minute of each other.
In Class B, Matthys Lourens took a well-deserved win over Peter Bam and his Hor’s d’Oeuvre crew. Matthys has been doing a huge amount of sailing since he recently purchased Yolo, getting to know the boat, and all of the time on the water has paid off for him. Chris King and his experienced crew on Southern Star were only 37 seconds behind Peter to take third place. Further down the rankings there were many more close finishes. FarMed beat Sixpak by 23 seconds, Icheyd Da were 19 seconds ahead of Tin Tin and Carousel beat Bodytec Flyer by 20 seconds.
The Cape 31 fleet was won by Nitro, with Orion DYP in second and Vulcan in third. There were only two cruisers on the water, the catamaran Isla and Antares. Come on Cruisers, get out on the water and join in the fun.
Covid has thrown our racing calendar into disarray, but we are using this time to experiment with some ways to make racing more exciting and interesting. Once life returns to normality and our calendar becomes predictable again we can decide what worked and what did not and how we should do things in the future. Our A and C fleets have been really weak recently with limited participation and minimal competition. We are trying a new fleet split which has already provided two strong fleets.
Last weekend was the 2nd race day of the C31 Summer Series, 3 races were held just off Granger Bay. As we have seen previously, you don’t necessarily need to win all 3 races to win the day, consistency is key. This past weekend Race 1 was won by Nitro – skippered by David Rae, Race 2 was Seascape powered Yanmar skippered by Gerry Hegie, and Race 3 Orion DYP skippered by Davey James took the honours. Overall the day was won by Orion DYP. For results click here (http://cape31.co.za/)
Sailing Calendar
The ever popular Double Handed Series starts again this weekend after a rather lengthy break. Currently there are 19 entries, with the race starting at 14:00 from the Bridge Hut. If you would like to join the fleet, please be sure to email the sailing office sailadmin@rcyc.co.za to register.
Saturday the 20th of February we have a Medium Distance Race, SailCom have pre-ordered the weather for the weekend we are looking at the ideal 15knt Westerly. With a mass start at 10am in the ideal weather, the fleet head along the coast to a turning mark at Llandudno, round Robben Island and finish at the Bridge Hut. To sign up please be sure to email the sailing office – sailadmin@rcyc.co.za.
Did you know that The Tavern of the Seas now offers a take away menu – this could be an ideal day to show them your support, as well as keeping your crew fed and watered.
The Annual Sail Cape Town Regatta is fast approaching – will you be participating this year? The event is scheduled for Saturday the 27th and 28th of March. This year we will also be incorporating the SAS WC L26 Provincials. The Race Committee have kept with the idea of the courses catering for all skippers, once again we will have a combination of round-the-buoys and/or coastal courses. All the Race Documents pertaining to the event can be found on the RCYC website. We look forward to receiving your entry.
