Hout Bay Yacht Club

Days of Deja vu!

2012-02-17T11:14:00.000+02:00

Anyone remember Jonathan Reid? He built a Hartley 28 in the 70s and sailed off from Simonstown in the 80s. Ended up in Hawaii after sailing much of the Pacific. He still lives in Hawaii - I have had some recent emails from him.

He has written a book called "Days of Deja Vu" - his boat's name. Its a great (true) tale of sailing, adventure, romance and growing-up all in one. It is a must for anyone interested in sailing adventures - I would describe it as a modern day version of Joshua Slocum's famous book - "Sailing Alone around the World", set a few decades later.

Find it on Amazon.com here.

Wed night racing results

2012-02-17T11:03:00.000+02:00

Almost a rerun of last week - nice steady S/Westerly, flat seas, and a great braai at the club later. Overall a very pleasant evening.

1 Megafreight
2 Faraway
3 Savannah

Gotta see this!

2012-02-15T13:57:00.004+02:00

Not sure who to credit for this one - but it's excellent!

Click on it for full-size!

Wednesday Night Racing Results

2012-02-09T21:04:00.000+02:00

Nice fresh southerly blowing! Despite an unusual start sequence with no yachts near the line, they all recovered very well and sailed an excellent competitive race, lead mostly by Megafreight. Faraway just pipped them over the line with 2 seconds to spare!

The Wednesday night braai at the club was good as always!

1. Megafreight
2. Faraway
3. Savannah

2012-01-27T09:10:00.002+02:00

Click on pic to see fullsize

"Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there"!

Next time you throw something overboard or in the harbour, think what else is already down there . . .

Wednesday Night Racing Resumes

2012-01-12T16:10:00.003+02:00

"Faraway", shortly before the start.

Very light conditions, but steady! The boats all kept moving and managed 3 windward-leewards between Dunes and Fish-on-Rocks in reasonable time. The bridge was run from onboard Quest anchored on the start line. Coincidentally the paddling series timetrials occured at the same time, making a great spectacle on the water. Plus the Dolphins . . . Club was very festive afterwards!

Results

1. Faraway

2. Hot Ice

3. Aquamaniac

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T10:22:00.002+02:00

Hout Bay Yacht Club wishes y'all a very Merry Christmas, Season's Greetings, Fair Winds and Fine Sailing for 2012! (and mind those roadblocks please . . .)

Christmas News from Rod and Mary!

2011-12-24T10:06:00.003+02:00

Read it all here!

New SA Sailing Portal - GybeSet

2011-12-08T10:03:00.001+02:00

A great new sailing portal has been launched fetauring news on SA Sailing Events - see www.gybeset.co.za. A link will be added in the "links" section of this website for future reference.

2011-12-06T10:00:00.001+02:00

Thanks to Roy for this one.
Click on pick for large version.
Hout Bay Harbour Beach approx 20 years ago.
Can you spot Msr.&Msd. Batley, and Jean McBride?

Hout Bay's Wild Side!

2011-12-03T14:25:00.000+02:00

The South Easter is back with avengeance.

So are the sardines. So are the seagulls. Even the whales!

These were taken Saturday morning.

This guy (er gull) conveniently hovered in the photo.

These two just gatecrashed my photo to be honest.

By now I was onto it with fast film!

The large seagull I expected here just disappeared.

But it shows the wind anyway.

After taking a few windswept shots of the bay, I suddenly spotted the whale cow and calf right under my feet! Bottom left. Look like rocks, more agile though.

I waited a while to get this fluke shot. ha ha.

Not much sailing today.

Nasty accident during Wednesday night race . . .

2011-11-24T10:41:00.002+02:00

Latest news is Peter is ok, stable and recovering in Constantiaberg Hospital. He has a large hole in his head, and a broken wrist, but is already talking and quite cheerful. Thank heavens!!

STOP PRESS: We have heard Peter has a cracked vertebra as well (C6) - it will be fused early next week - no loss of mobility expected though. Best wishes from his friends at HBYC.

The messy red stuff on the deck is neither paint nor tomato sauce . . .

The weather before the race was variable, cold, windy and a bit rainy. There was a general move not to race and we were up in the club feeling relieved (or so I thought). Well blow me down if the whole bunch don't suddenly decide to start sailing in this miserable weather. Dutifully I rigged up too and next thing we had three boats on the water - Faraway, Nandi and Quest (the same three who hadn't learned a thing from the week before). The wind was South, but very variable and gusty - like a Northwester in a bad mood. Course was announced as a circle of the four marks (as no-one could really tell where windward was), and we were about to start the sequence when Nandi was seen lowering her main in a hurry. Suddenly we heard a frantic radio call from Nandi to say they had a serious medical emergency, one crew member knocked out cold and blood everywhere. They would appreciate help to get ambulance ASAP. Immediately we cancelled the race and I radioed through to Hout Bay Watchcon - answered by Stephen King - himself a volunteer paramedic.

Nandi meanwhile had doused the sails and was motoring swiftly back to dock - the patient (Peter) in the good care of Lynda (his wife) and Tiffany (both highly qualified nursing sisters) - while Nick and Ray brought the boat in - not without some difficulty in the fresh wind. This ended up with Ray in the water (trying to hold the boat). Faraway crew arrived then to assist further.

The ambulances (several!) - arrived seconds later, along with the EMS parameds, and the NSRI parameds. They took a good hour or so to stabilise poor Peter, and strap him into a light stretcher, in which he was speedily transported to Constantiaberg. As already mentioned - he seems ok besides the head-gash and broken wrist. CT-scans have not shown anything more so far.

The main point of this article is to remind sailors how easily accidents can happen, and how to best respond. This particular accident was the consequence of a dramatic involuntary jibe caused by a sudden gust from behind the sails. Peter was hit by the mainsheet and tackle somehow, not even the boom. He was completely unconcious for a few minutes . . .

Learnings:
- There comes a time on every boat when First Aid is quite important. Do you have the right bandages, kit and practitioners on board? A blanket to cover the patient?
- The radio is an essential safety item in calling for help. Can several of the crew operate the radio effectively, do they know which channel to call, could they describe the emergency clearly and participate in the ongoing dialog? If out at sea, can they operate the base station radio? When was the last time you tested it?
- Emergency numbers on the boat? Watchcon, 911, etc?
- If the skipper or lead crew are incapacitated, can the others operate the boat satisfactorily to drop sails, start engine, take charge? Think MoB especially?
- Coming alongside shorthanded or with injured crew can be unusually tricky. Do you have a plan for this - eg a longish sheet or line that can be thrown just to hold the boat until the mooring lines are gathered? Have you considered taking a different open mooring which may be easier to navigate to - eg upwind, or closer to where the ambulance will arrive etc?
- Can your boat be towed in an emergency? line and towing point in place?
- Short-handing makes it all more critical.
Fortunately, in the circumstances of last night, Nandi coped admirably, with assistance from others. The nurses onboard were able to stabilise the patient, another crew-member sounded the alarm on the radio, and I was able to radio through Watchcon immediately using a Neighbourhood Watch radio I carry in Hout Bay. In Hout Bay, Watchcon remains a miracle of modern life - and the reponse was fantastic - all credit to Stephen King (duty controller) - who responded personally.
If you do have occasion to call for an ambulance, be prepared to state

Age (approx) and gender of the patient
Whether they have medical aid (this decides whether you get a Netcare ambo or a government ambo - be very clear on this distinction - re: costs and time to arrive!
The nature of the injuries and general condition
The exact location (this last piece is critical - ambulances often end up going to the "other" yacht club, or road or whatever). Be very specific - you get one chance at this.
A number where emergency services can call you back in case of delay or clarity on address

For Hout Bay emergencies, remember Watchcon number is 021-790-9333. They will help you through everything. Out of Hout Bay it gets a bit more complicated - CH16 to Cape Town radio, 082-911 etc.
Now is the time to think how you will handle an emergency on your boat!
Our very best wishes to Peter and Lynda - hope he recovers swiftly and is home soon.

Hot Pacer Sailing

2011-11-18T14:38:00.001+02:00

See Trygve's video at http://www.pacer27.co.za/news.html

The Sinking of SV Wizard

2011-11-18T14:36:00.001+02:00

Rather sad - see http://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/opinion/sad-to-see-her-go-1.1179068

Wednesday Night Sailing Results

2011-11-16T21:42:00.001+02:00

Hout Bay up to its usual tricks today - 0-35kts+, 0-360 degrees. Three intrepid boats pitched, Faraway (skipper is a bit crazy usually, but with their new paint all round they were were going out come hell or high water), Nandi (what a spirited crew who never back off), and Quest of course (thats me). Savannah, usually very game for the fresh conditions, had her crew out of town unfortunately, as with a few of the others. Lots of splashing and grunting, a few hats lost, shoes in the water, salt in the hair, 8-9kts showing at times - it was all over after a single sausage from Dunes-Chappies. Pat said he found muscles huring he didn't even know he had, even a few Oysters he thinks. Me too. Nothing like a bit of fresh air to make an ordinary hamburger taste like the kings food.

Results under PHRF
1 Faraway (nice to see the regular crew back to christen the new paint!)
2 Nandi (totally under control and sailing very consistently)
3 Quest (the smallest boat with the biggest name!)

More next week!

Youth Sailing

2011-11-15T09:58:00.001+02:00

Pic from Roy's trusty Canon G11

The boatyard is now complete, and phase one of the Lotto proposal has been completed right on time, budget and scope. Credits to Jeremy Nel, and Alan Batley (Club Manager). The dinghies are parked under the covered storage, and the parts will be stored in the small shed. New security and lighting is also in place. Phase two will allow us to employ a trainer, a new fleet of dinghies, and a new campaign for the L26 keelboats. Meanwhile, Sam, our "development sailing man", has made arrangements with local schools to get the existing dinghies on the water and active, beginning in December. The first stage is for the 8-12 age-group - it looks like an exciting programme!

Club Champs Postponed

2011-11-09T13:06:00.003+02:00

Regrettably, the club champs scheduled for 19-20 November has been postponed due to a fair number of boats unavailable. We will try for a date in Jan or Feb.

More Boatyard!

2011-11-09T13:04:00.000+02:00

Thanks to Roy for the latest pic of our Boatyard! The covered area is for dinghy storage for the Youth Sailing Dinghies and associated kit, plus the JML boat and trailers etc. This is the first stage as defined in an ambitious programme made possible by the Lotto funding, and HBYC is proud to be doing its part in making it all happen. Soon the walls will be painted, and the official Lotto signage will be put in place. I think I feel a party coming on soon!

Updated N-o-R for Club Racing

2011-11-01T20:13:00.000+02:00

click here to see it all on the "Sailing Noticeboard"

More cruising news

2011-11-01T07:57:00.001+02:00

Click here to read the latest from "The Road" now in Singapore and Malaysia

Wednesday Night Sailing results

2011-10-27T21:33:00.001+02:00

1 Nandi (Dix 34, Nick Fairley)
2 Megafreight (S imonis 35, J Ocenasek)
3 Aquamaniac (Pacer 27 CR, J Roux)

Cool weather and a bit of a chop on the water, and a mild Westerly, enabled the fleet to manage a traingle and a sausage in the bay, followed by usual bar and galley fare. Another good mid-week break!

Its nice to see genuine competition for the podium from all boats, using pure club handicap ratings.

Opening Cruise 2011

2011-10-23T17:06:00.000+02:00

The "Blazer Bunch", awaiting the fleet!

Bless them all, the long and the short and the tall!

Despite grey skies, imminent rain, and a blustery Northwester, the summer season was opened in style! The Hout Bay Gunners (including our own other Jeremy (Hele)) put on a good show, firing four loud shots across the bay, as our President, Commodore and their wives took the salute from the fleet.

It was great to see boats of all shapes and sizes, Ferries, NSRI, a hobie cat, a R.I.B., and many yachts crossing the bay - nearly all flying some kind of bunting. Not to mention the marina workboat, piloted by Alan and Lawrence, one on the throttle, and one on the tiller! Great effort there!

All credits to Penny, Janet and Jeremy, Alan Batley, the Gunners, and the bar staff! Also our good old Commodore and President who do their bit very well each year, including driving their own boat! And of course all the sailors who made the effort to be out in the inclement weather. All enjoyed it.

A great party followed at the club - well into the wee hours!

See the full gallery here!

Cape Point

2011-10-20T20:34:00.000+02:00

I have rounded Cape Point four times in the last few weeks. Its an amazing spectacle - like Hout Bay and Chapmanspeak, one never tires of it! Its also a good test of navigation - there are rocks, reefs and kelp to avoid. Not to mention some bouncy water . . . pick yer weather wisely!

Cape Point at 11:30 on 19 October 2011, viewed from a 44' Cat we were delivering.

Here we have Chris Sutton (in the red) in a rare moment where he wasn't bumping his poor bald head. Tojan Winterbach, normally an airline pilot, is at the wheel, trying to get used to 4 knots instead of 400 knots!

The Boatyard!

2011-10-14T09:38:00.000+02:00

Great progress in our boatyard!
There is a great article in Roy's blog - read it here!

Latest Jibsheet!

2011-10-11T09:27:00.001+02:00

Read it all here! (PDF Version)

Progress in the Boatyard

2011-10-04T16:03:00.000+02:00

This was not a trivial crane moving the red boat.

If the paving could take this it should be ok I think!

With red boat out of the way,

work is progressing on the storage areas and boatracks.

2011 Opening Cruise!

2011-09-30T09:31:00.002+02:00

click to see full size version!

More news from "The Road" now in Indonesia!

2011-09-28T08:51:00.002+02:00

Read it all in HBYC Cruising World

Thanks to Roy for passing this on.

The Playground!

2011-09-27T09:14:00.000+02:00

Can there be many more impressive arenas to sail in?

Summer is back and Wednesday evening racing starts soon . . .

Thanks again to Roy for this great pic.

Hout Bay Brickyard making progress!

2011-09-27T09:08:00.000+02:00

Smartest Boatyard in town! Nearly done.

Just to match the smartest yacht club I think . . .

Thanks to Roy McBride for the pictures as always!

The Boatyard!

2011-09-22T13:51:00.000+02:00

Thanks to Roy McBride for the pic!

Work is going ahead at full steam to clear and pave the Boatyard. This is stage-1 in an exciting new project to upgrade the youth-sailing facilities, funded by the National Lotto. As usual, thanks to Jeremy!

Boatshow Weekend!

2011-09-22T13:40:00.000+02:00

“Don’t Miss the Boat” Show!
Friday and Saturday 10h00 – 18h00, Sunday 10h00 – 17h00. Discounted price of R35 to holders of valid yacht club cards - remember to take your "up to date" card with you!

For further information visit www.capetownboatshow.com

And don't forget its also Spring regatta this weekend!

Sea Gypsies

2011-09-14T21:10:00.000+02:00

Per previous post - Steve and Renata - on Dixi Rollar - turned back from sea to Jacare on account of heavy weather. Now they decided to head for the Caribbean instead! What can I say - they'll meet half of Hout Bay there - the other half. . . . such is the life of Sea Gypsies . . . .

Dido had it spot on with these lyrics:

I've always thought

that I would love to live by the sea

To travel the world alone

and live more simply

I have no idea what's happened to that dream

Cos there's really nothing left here to stop me

See http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/dido/lifeforrent.html for the rest of those lyrics and dream on!

News from Dixi Rollar

2011-09-09T09:45:00.001+02:00

Steve and Renata have turned back to Jacare after battling with severe weather. Read it here.

Sunday Sailing Results

2011-09-05T09:54:00.000+02:00

Megafreight drifts in, 1st across the line on Sunday

Thanks to Roy McBride and his trusty Canon G11 for the pic!

Due to the light wind conditions we managed only one windward-leeward from Dunes to Chappies. However all boats finished, leaving time for a few drinks at the club!

Results on RCYC Club Handicap:

1. Nandi (Nick Fairley, DiDi 34)

2. Megafreight (J Ocenasek, Simonis 35)

3. Hot Ice (Peter Roeloffze, Modified Mount Gay 30)

4. Savannah (K Gemmell, Miura 31)

Letter from Dudley Dix

2011-09-02T08:47:00.002+02:00

Hi Justin,

I had the Kiwis Nigel and Genie Watson in my crew on "Black Cat" for a few years. Nigel said he always had the opinion that if you could sail in Auckland then you could sail anywhere in the world. Then they moved to Cape Town and he realised that he was wrong. After that he said that if you could sail in Cape Town you could sail anywhere in the world.

You might remember Barry Viljoen from RCYC, owner of the maroon Farr 40 "Santana". He lives in Fort Lauderdale and laughed off their first few hurricanes as puny compared with Cape Town weather. Then Hurricane Wilma went over them in 2005 as Category 3. After that Barry said that he would not stick around for any future major hurricanes, he said it was very frightening.

I was staying with friends about 10 years ago, when a hurricane was forming in the Atlantic. Dehlia told me on the phone that Cape Point had recorded 100 knot gusts that day, which also happened the day that we took "Black Cat" from our Hout Bay home to RCYC. I told them about it and also about the Easterlies in Hout Bay and fighting boats on the marinas in pitch darkness when you can't even stand on the marina. They said that they now realised why I was fairly unimpressed by their talk of hurricanes. I told them that many of the wooden houses here would have blown down in Cape Town.

You can use my email on the HBYC website. I would let you use the material from my talks but they are not in a suitable format. They were talks backed up by graphic-rich PowerPoint presentations. My Friday dinner talk was about growing up as a surfer and sailor in Cape Town and how I was influenced by the geographic, climatic and political idiosyncrasies of South Africa. I tried to explain to them that the conditions that petrify circum-navigators are taken in stride by local sailors and are a lot less dangerous than pirates in the Indian Ocean. I don't think that I was successful with convincing them but they did enjoy my talk. I also gave this talk to the local branch of SNAME (Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers) a couple of years ago.

My Saturday talk was a brief primer on sailboat design and the implications of choices made about hull shape, rudder, keel, rig etc on the behaviour and performance of the resulting boat. I also did this one as a 4 hour lecture at one of the local yacht clubs earlier this year. It is based on a series of articles that I wrote years ago for SA Yachting. I have recently updated these articles and turned them into chapters for my book "Shaped by Water". I think the articles are probably too long for use on the HBYC website. I think that I must also write a chapter based on my Friday dinner talk; it will work well as an introduction to explain my origins in boat design.
Sunday was a panel discussion, answering questions from the floor. The panel was myself, designer John Simpson and two boatbuilders, Pete Silva and Brian Russell. Most of the questions related to rudders, engine installations etc.

Regards,

DD
P.S. Dudley will be in CT later this year and has promised to pop-in and visit us at the club. Maybe we can entice him to a Thursday Fireside Chat, and a bit of a sail?

San Franscisco gears up for 2013 Americas Cup

2011-08-25T09:25:00.000+02:00

Thanks to Eric Levin (an ex-colleague and good friend) - for this pic, taken yesterday in San Francisco. Lets hope the politics get sorted out in time!

News from Dixi Rollar

2011-08-22T20:24:00.000+02:00

Hello everybody,hope things going fine. Well,almost 3 month when I send our last email. So,here another up date. We have met some yachtis all who have been in Cape Town: Ryan&Brenda Cilliers on 'Island Khaya',Alistair&Sue Easton on 'African Star' ( both couples from South African), John on 'Faraway' and Nick&Jill and they daughter Roxy on 'Mallymawk'. Officially we became a Godparents of a girl and a boy,so for someone didn't want kids I have 4: 2 step daughters and 2 godchildren,probably the best motherhood ever ! Hahahaha. We manage to put the boat on the river bank and scrape 1 1/2 year of growth of the bottom of the boat and antifoul her,all that happen in 2 days(see the photos below). We are waiting for the wind to turn in our favour,but look's like Steve's visa will expired before that happens,so we will have to motor sail almost a day to get away from the coast and beat against the wind and current before we can sail down. So,we will be set sail on the first weekend of September,that will be on the 3rd or 4th.Steve 's birthday will be on the Ocean(04/09). We put some adds on find a crew website,but no luck. My niece would come with us if wasn't for passport issue. So,just myself,Steve and God will set sail. Who didn't want that crew member,this last one is the most qualified! Hope to see some of you in Cape Town before Xmas! Love and Beijos Renata&Steve

Roger Orpen's son Chester joins the tallship "Stadt Amsterdam"

2011-08-12T15:16:00.000+02:00

Life on a tallship is quite interesting, not to put too fine a point on it. For a young school-leaver it will be an amazing adventure, and I must say I envy the lad when comparing with the two years national service we had in the bad old days!

Read about it in the HBYC Cruising World section.

Stadt Amsterdam under full sail

Jeanne Socrates, SV Nereida

2011-08-08T11:28:00.000+02:00

For me, one of the nicest things about being part of a club like HBYC, situated at the foot of Africa, is the string of amazing people who visit us from time to time. The latest is Jeanne Socrates, a very brave woman and sailor, who is singlehanding her Najad 380 all over the world, in a quest to do a singlehanded non-stop circumnavigation. Jeanne gave a talk at the HBYC clubhouse last Thursday evening, telling us of her adventures, including a vicious knockdown off Cape Horn. In her brief time in Cape Town she has climbed every mountain, seen every beach, and even done some club sailing! Fit and fearless!!!

left-click for fullsize

Jeanne's home, SV Nereida, parked in the HBYC Marina

Of all the long-distance cruisers to come this way, I think this one must be the neatest, cleanest best-kept example of the lot. Note the handy cutter rig, and the ample powerstation on the gantry. Inside she is very well fitted and comfortable.

We wish Jeanne all the best for her future adventures! Read her blog and website at http://www.svnereida.com/. Her radio (ham) callsign is KC2IOV.

Christmas in July!

2011-08-01T10:53:00.007+02:00

"Christmas in July" was undoubtedly one of the best parties at HBYC in recent years!

I simply don't have words to explain this one, but the pictures tell the story quite nicely!

See the full gallery here!

This event was remarkable in that so many people were involved - all helping to make it happen - just the way a club should be! Never mind our Commodore and the First Lady - sporting legends have no bounds, or boundaries it seems! Never mind the rest of 'em too. You know who you are - Berend, Parker, Henk, Henry etc. Throw in a couple of wigs, hats and some fishnet stockings, mix with gluwein, and your camera will pay for itself in minutes!

In the true spirit of Christmas, a quick whip-around raised quite a few hundred rands for the bar staff, which el-Commodore graciously presented on behalf of the party! Thanks to all of them.

All credit to CEO Penny Geyser and the all-star cast of:

Father Christmas: Berend

Fairies: Robin and Henk

Choreography: Audrey

Gluwein Welcome Drink: Cheryl

Tuna Pate: Janet

Turkey: cooked by La Cuccina and carved by George

Hams: cooked by Henrie and also by Janet’s sister, Ann

Traditional Stuffing: Ann Dean

Crispy Stuffing and Gravy: Les Appleby

Cheese/broccolli Bake: Janet

Trifle: Penny

Mince Pies: Cheryl

With thanks to Anita, Cheryl and Les for the loan of the hot trays
Collection of Turkeys: Pat & Pat

Special Wines: Jurgen

Service: Verna, Wayne, Thelma, Yaolin, Barnet, and team!!

Dow Racing in Mozambique

2011-07-26T20:05:00.000+02:00

A beautiful morning dawned on the Mozambican North coast. It is 10 July and the race time is set to coincide with that of the HBYC winter series at 10h00. Rian (Turner) Peter (Roeloffze) is debating which fleet will be bigger. They concluded that the 10 one - or soon to be two man - Dows they have rounded up must be more than that which will be on the starting line in Hout Bay.

While much debating is taking place regarding the “charter fees” and prize money – which in the end was R 120 per boat – and the skippers briefing, the breeze built to a steady 12 knots which when considering the boats, is more like a hurricane! The crew was divided in two groups and two separated races was decided on. The course, reach to the weather mark, run down to the leeward bouy - which in fact is a huge catamaran, - a sausage back to the weather mark and after the last leeward rounding, reach/fetch back to the beach.

Starting orders was form the rescue boat, an aluminum dinghy aptly named “tinny” and all went well on the reach across to the weather mark and the run down the 500 or so meters to the bottom of the course. Unbeknown to us luxury yachties, these boats have a cunning inability to capsize and lose their sprit in heavy wind. Alas half the boats lost their crew attempting to round the leeward mark and the remainder ended up reaching away from the weather buoy. After several hundred meters further and a few jibe attempts, 4 out of the ten boats started the long way back to the weather mark. The Course was shortened and form the weather mark, the Dows reached back to shore with Rian firmly in the lead. He of course claims the result would still have been the same even if I was sailing and not manning the rescue boat!

The next lot of crew got ready and the second race was wisely altered (and shortened) to include reaches and fetches only. We set sail from the beach to the old weather mark, back to a slightly leeward mark on the beach and after another fetch and reach saw your humble author romping home well ahead of the next boat. Maybe some sailing knowledge of the crew did assist the winning skippers in the two races??

Prize giving was quite a grand affair. Beautiful homemade trophies from driftwood and indigenous shells , personally engraved with the skippers name and race data was handed over by our host and proprietor of Situ Lodge, Hans Wedderman. The biggest attraction of course was the big pot of prize money - 840 Meticas = R 210.00 and is the roughly a weekly salary for these fishermen. Not bad for a Sunday mornings fun.

One wonders how adventurous a sail in the stormy Cape seas would be on one of these boats!

Thanks to Peter Roeloffze and Rian Turner, for article and pics!

Christmas in July!! Sunday 31 July!

2011-07-25T20:24:00.000+02:00

Did you see salty old goat with the flag. Look again. He's the guy in the lower half of the picture but you didn't see him did you?

Christmas in July is a great party! Well it was last year! Don't miss it! Sunday 31 July. Lunchtime.

Limited number of places left so please contact Penny Geyser on 0736 111 444 if you have not already bought your tickets!

Fireside Chat! Thursday 4 August 19:30

2011-07-25T20:09:00.000+02:00

Jeanne Socrates (from Nereida) will be giving a talk and slide show on her recent 14-month solo circumnavigation, which included a second nonstop RTW attempt. Bring your friends to hear this amazing story. Special Galley menu for this night will include Wilma's homemade chicken or steak pie with chips and (optional!) gravy.

Hope to see you there !

Windy Bay is back . . .

2011-07-24T15:10:00.000+02:00

Some of us thought the wind of last summer exhausted the supply forever. Certainly the last two weeks have been totally windfree and awesome. Not this weekend. I took the unusual step of cancelling Sunday racing on the Saturday already - the forecast showed high South-Easters for 3 days. Its hard to trust the weather forecast when low-pressure cells are involved, but in this case there was a huge High Pressure just below Africa at 1028 Mb. No mistakes here. Hout Bay suffers the wind especially because of the acceleration near the mountains. At the Post Office a huge Bluegum (Australian Eucalyptis) had collapsed into the parking area. Covered the entire car park. The beach road was covered in sand - in fact I saw one car being towed out in the middle of the "tarred road". The pics below show the surface water being lifted 50m into the air, due to the Katabatic Winds coming down from Chapmanspeak. Sailors call the mouth of the bay "Thunder Alley" because it is really quite scary entering the bay under sail in these conditions. And today it was cold as well.

Takes 40+ knots to lift water off the surface like that.

White water all over the bay. If you look carefully, the small white streak below Victoria road is the NSRI RIB doing their Sunday morning exercises. It was quite bouncy for them even near the beach. Give that boat a Bells!

Quotes of the Sea

2011-07-22T09:56:00.000+02:00

"Cruising has two pleasures. One is to go out to Wider Waters from a Sheltered Place. The other is to go into a Sheltered Place from Wider Waters"
Howard Bloomfield

The Cape Town Waterfront

2011-07-21T21:30:00.000+02:00

The Waterfront was quite amazing this morning! To see it and loads of nice boats, I think you can click here!

left-click for a larger version

News from Sheer Tenacity!

2011-07-19T09:01:00.000+02:00

Rod and Mary are still doing the dream in all those exotic locations, and driving me slowly crazy. Read their latest blogpost at http://svsheertenacity.blogspot.com/.

left-click for fullsize pic

Here they are with Jeremy and Yvonne - from SV Jervon, all looking rather well! Rod must have taken the pic.

New Stuff listed in the Online Boat Jumble

2011-07-13T14:47:00.000+02:00

Sailing charts, loads of boat spares from a Roberts 45, and mooring #74.

See it all here!

Wow what a day in Hout Bay!

2011-07-10T14:44:00.000+02:00

Normally the post is called Sunday Sailing results! But this was "The perfect day"! Light steady breeze, and the sea as flat as a pond! Some of the cruisers had elected to stay the night out in the bay - in fact the last three nights in some cases - so we used one of them as a race mark as well. The harbour was crawling with tourists, icecreams, seagulls and a few fishermen. And traffic . . .

Faraway, Aquamaniac wafted in within seconds of each other at the finish, after trading places themselves and Megafreight for the entire race.

View onboard Quest, showcasing the fierce conditions . . .

Anyway:
1 Megafreight
2 Aquamaniac
3 Nandi
4 Quest
5 Faraway

Scenes of HBYC!

2011-07-09T10:04:00.001+02:00

Of all the things that happen in front of HBYC, we have had Motorbike Brigades, Dutch Supporters and now a collection of Impisti! Thats a new term for people who like Hillman Imps!

These guys happened to be doing a photoshoot of Roy's car as he wandered back to it. I would bet they are European tourists as these cars weren't that well know here, but in fact are amazing vehicles - this one is a 1967 Singer Chamois. Designed by ex-racing drivers Tim Fry and Mike Parks (F1 - Ferrari), they are astonishingly powerful little cars, with loads of technology for their time. As it happens Roy is rebuilding a race version of one of these - its quite something to see - all about it on www.ckdboats.blogspot.com

Sunday Slides in Simonstown

2011-07-04T09:57:00.000+02:00

The 82' Gaff Schooner "Coracle", a replica of the "America" wich first won the America's Cup, shows her stuff in Simon's Bay on Sunday morning! This vessel is made of a compsite including Bamboo and GRP.

Further up the hill in Simonstown, just beind the station in fact, is "Astra" - a beautiful Tumlaren restored a few years back by Roy McBride. Here she sits on a trailer evidently having a scrub etc.

News from Cruisers

2011-07-01T18:20:00.000+02:00

Interesting news received from our cruisers:

Rod and Mary on SheerTenacity
Steve and Renata on Dixi-Rollar
Taffy, Shirley and Rubbish on "The Road"

I am sure they would all like some news back us too . . .!

More Sunday Sailing.

2011-06-27T19:20:00.002+02:00

It was blooming cold last Sunday - and blowing a fair stinker to start with. But 5 boats arrived - and we set out after some good coffee at Muriel's. Pat - after toying with the idea of taking out Shosholoza singlehanded - relented and sailed on Megafreight. That left Nandi, Quest and Savannah - singlehanded for the latter two. We exited the harbour with 20-25kts, and then all of a sardine ther was nothing . . . A short course followed - in which Nandi was first around the first mark - big suprise - but Megs charged back and cleaned us all up as usual. Quest and Savannah had to retire as the wind died completely - but we had a result in the end - a great lunch - and a good day out anyway . . .
Result
1. Megafreight
2. Nandi
3. Quest and Savnnah (DNF)

Another Mark goes AWOL

2011-06-27T19:15:00.000+02:00

This time it was "Ore-Jetty". The recent North Westers took it off the rope and it washed up high on the rocks at Tintswalo luxury lodge.Until today I had never been there but what a nice place! It was an absolutely beautiful day to be knocking about on boats - but quite a tricky exercise nevertheless. The Mark - a hige steel sphere - was eventually towed off and is now safely back in the harbour. Unofrtunately no pics! Thanks to Roy and Immanuel (Marina Staff) who helped retrieve it - next thing is to lay it again at the usual position!

HBYC Forthcoming Attractions

2011-06-14T15:21:00.000+02:00

Sailing on Sunday 19 June is cancelled due to Fathers Day, the Rally, and bad weather . ..

Fathers Day Special: Treasure Hunt

Sunday 19 June 0900 to approx. 14h00
Course Designer and Quiz Master – the famous Paul Pigneguy
Prize Giving to be held over lunch.
Entry Fee R10/head.
Participation in meal of the day at R50/head optional.
Please book at bar before Monday evening as numbers are limited and we are require numbers for catering purposes.

Trivial Pursuit

Thursday 23 June 19h30
Entry R30/head, Meal of the day optional at R50/head.
Please ensure to pre-book at bar as numbers are limited

Sunday Race Results

2011-06-13T08:08:00.000+02:00

We started in ideal conditions at 3:08 with a fair turnout of 6 boats. By 3:30 most of us were being powered by the tide alone., and Quest was first to bail before being washed onto the rocks at Fish-on-the-Rocks. By 3:45 we had 4 DNFs, leaving Hot Ice and Megafreight to finish, who seem to be able to make their own wind. Conditions however, were great for a day out in the open, and a good few beers made it onto the club deck soon after. More next week . . . .

1 Hot Ice
2 Megafreight

More Sunday Race Results!

2011-05-30T11:28:00.001+02:00

A fresh and steady Northwester, slightly cold conditions, and 5 boats ventured out. Course was set as two windward-leewards from Dunes-Chappies, which made fast and exhilirating racing, especially on Faraway, which was short of crew. There was great competition right until the end, where Faraway and Megafreight were both bearing down on Dunes mark before the finish. A sudden burst of Northwester saw Megafreight laid over for a few seconds, while Faraway just roared past with main flapping. As with last week, the pub kept going until late that day . . .

Results on PHRF:
1 Megafreight
2 Faraway
3 Hot Ice
4 Nandi
5 Savannah

Sunday Race Results

2011-05-23T12:46:00.000+02:00

Perfect conditions, a flat sea, and a light but fairly steady SouthWester prevailed on Sunday morning. Sadly only 5 boats pitched, and Faraway had to withdraw being short of crew. Nevertheless, a great race ensued between Hot Ice, Savannah, Aquamaniac and Nandi. Course was set as three windward/leewards between Fish on the Rocks and Dunes Mark, with some tight racing inbetween. After racing, there was a pleasant atmosphere at the clubhouse deck, with wine and food and a short prizegiving running until mid afternoon!

Results on PHRF:
1 Hot Ice
2 Nandi
3 Aquamaniac
4 Savannah

Saturday's Yot Grot!

2011-05-17T14:47:00.000+02:00

Buddies, Budding Millionaires and Bargain Hunters!

Sellers, Socialites and Spenders!

The second Yot-Grot of the year was a great success too. Another one is already being planned for June!

Club Champs Blown Out . . .

2011-05-08T16:59:00.000+02:00

Hout Bay at 09:15 on Sunday morning. White horses and spindrift.

As a rather heavy web user, there is no page I use more than Windguru. And this weekend that extended to 1stweather.com, weathersa.co.za, including the synoptic charts and surface wind prediction models. Must have spent hours on this. Didn't help.

Much as it is an effort to setup something like the club champs, it is with equal reluctance that we called it off, both days, and quite early. Thanks to Chris, Jeremy and Keith (and others) who assisted with the calls, and moral support. Turns out the wind howled both days fairly consistently.

Not that we couldn't have sailed however, but it would have been a quite unpleasant in the somewhat wintery conditions. Half the fleet (2 pacers 27s, a Flamenca and the L26) would have been soaked. Never mind the bridge crew on the marina boat (don't worry about us they said, over umpteen capuccinos in the morning - which was just another way of saying "we aint going nowhere mate - shore-bridge or nutting!"

So Hout Bay's weather gods make their point again - who'd have thought we'd be blown out by the South Easter in mid-may . . .

Club Champs this Weekend!

2011-05-04T12:06:00.000+02:00

left-click for fullsize

Some more pics from the Closing Cruise!

2011-04-19T08:59:00.002+02:00

Maestro Jeremy Nel, Master and Commander and Chief of Parties, preparing to embarass half a dozen members for various things on presentation of a bottle of wine . . .

Nandi reaching at 8.5 knots back into the bay

Skebanga's fine lines, screaming across Kommetjie Bay

The Mad Hatters on Nandi. I think the chief Mad Hatter was taking the picture.

Quest was towed behind to pick up their hats which kept falling in the water.

Thanks to Nick, Sally, Linda and Peter for all these pics!

Thrills and spills of the Closing Cruise!

2011-04-18T11:32:00.003+02:00

The review party doing their best to look innocent! - Commodore Chris Sutton and Rosemary, along with President Dudley Turner and Laurna. Discovery Cat was provided for the occasion by Ian Lamont - who has helped us numerous times in this way.

Closing Cruise Tradition is for passing boats to bombard the review party with water bombs etc, interesting salutes etc. However this review party was armed like a bunch of Somali Pirates, with water filled balloons and the like, and pelted the passing boats mercilessly. And this includes the good ladies aboard I'm afraid to say! The long-range water-pistol on Quest managed to hold them off temporarily, but as we had no motor we were a bit of a sitting duck in the light wind!

A nice turnout of 17 boats on the water! - and brilliant weather! This pic is from Roy Mcbride showing Nandi (right) followed by Domicella. The review was followed by an open water cruise to Vulcan Rock and Kommetjie bay, with flat water and a fresh breeze.

automatic bilge pumps would be nice . . .

The cruise was followed by an amazing spectacle of the O9er race. This involved eight middle aged or senior sailors, including a few quite large ones, sailing these minute little wash-basins from the harbour out to the Dunes mark and back. This is a suprisingly difficult thing to do, even without the obligatory refreshment stations on start and finish . . . . One bloke was a bit heavy for the 09er and sailed it mostly underwater on the way back, to the amusement of many onlookers on the North Mole, some with cameras unfortunately.

Another lost his rudder in the water and spent an amusing while circling about under sail before they were happily reunited. Rescue services, on standby, were fortunately not required.

The 09er race was followed by a really good braai on the club deck, with many faces one doesn't routinely see at the club. There was a brilliant music from Herman bakker and Mike Larcombe, both very accomplished on piano and guitar respectively, who jammed together for several hours for us. They seemed to be having more fun than anyone!

During the early evening we held a short prizegiving, firstly for the Summer Series, and then for "Best Salute" (Nandi with their funny hats), 09er race (Rian and Keith, cheats), and a variety of other oddities - including Pierre Albertyn's birthday. Keith Gemell and elicited a handsome donation of a case of Swartberg wine which was awarded for these notable achivements, and mostly consumed on the spot as far as I could tell. . . .

Turned out to be a quite a late night for some of us.

Not for the first time - huge thanks to Jeremy Nel for this all!!!!!!

Megafreight Wins the 2010/11 Summer Series!

2011-04-18T10:37:00.000+02:00

Jendo Ocenasek (left) received the Summer Series Trophy on behalf of Megafreight, for the 2010/11 Summer Series.

(thanks to Roy McBride for the pic!)

In second place was Faraway (Chris Sutton), followed by Nandi (Nick Fairley) in 3rd. The last series has been sailed on PHRF alone (no skippers handicap) and reflects a very competitive fleet in the club. With Hot Ice back in the water and back at the club with Pieter Roelofze, and Pacer-1 in the fleet (Rian Turner), things could get a bit interesting in 2011 . . .

Closing Cruise Sunday 17 April!

2011-04-11T14:25:00.001+02:00

Attention all members, skippers, sailors, cruisers!

HBYC will hold a "Closing Cruise" on Sunday 17 April. Apart from the traditional Sailpast, we will hold a medium distance cruising rally out to Kommetjie or Vulcan in the afternoon, After that there will be a novelty race in O9-ers in the harbour (if you want to see Jendo and Chris Sutton swimming in the harbour nows your chance!). In the late afternoon there will be music and a braai at the club, and we will present the Summer Series Prizegiving around 19:00 Sunday evening. HBYC - its the place to be!

Yot Grot 2011

2011-04-11T09:17:00.000+02:00

Another fun day at the club! Thanks to Jeremy for these pics of the Yot Grot held over the weekend!

2011 AGM

2011-03-25T10:07:00.002+02:00

Many thanks to all members who made the special effort to attend the club AGM last night. It is a vital element of the clubs processes and constitution - we can't go forward without it! Special thanks to those who drove over the mountain to attend as well.

The meeting was short and sweet - all existing incumbents on the committee will serve another year. The books and minutes were all accepted, proposed and seconded, and a few good questions came forward. We are fortunate to announce that Alan Batley has been appointed as the "Club Services Manager" in charge of the running of the Marina (as before), but now also of the systems and infrastructure of the clubhouse. The organisation beneath Alan has been reshaped accordingly. This is a very welcome move in respect of the club organisation, as Alan has many years of professional management experience, and has served on our committee as Commodore and Treasurer on several occasions.

It was announced that the Club has been given a substantial grant from the SA Lotto funds to establish and promote an active development sailing programme. Much detail still to be clarified. This is thanks to the joint efforts of Jeremy Nel and Keith Coleman! Watch that space.

Commodore rang the bell upstairs and we had a very pleasant evening of it!

Commodores Call-box

2011-03-24T10:02:00.001+02:00

Spotted this great example of an oldish Sailor VHF in Chris's office yesterday. Its a "Sailor" VHF Radio Telephone. It reminds me of old war movies and the ICASA course notes . . . In fact its a fully featured marine VHF, with a dual-watch function, manual squelch, and low-power option of 1W (normally the usual 25W). The round channel indicator wheel obviously predates LCD displays - certainly it won't suffer humidity like the modern LCDs. The sound is clear as a bell, and I can also say it sends a great signal as I often used to hear Chris advising the endless string of shipping to use the right channel when trying to contact port control. Note also the "telephone" handset, which is far nicer than a microphone when transmitting. These sets were manufactured in Denmark between 1975 and 1985 approx - they weigh a whopping 9 Kgs!

Another interesting race!

2011-03-24T09:45:00.000+02:00

The North-Wester produces some of the ebst sailing conditions Hout bay has to offer, last night was a good example. Slightly cool, *flat" water, 12-15 knots of wind. Due to limited daylight hours, the race officers set a fairly short course around the three inner marks, allowing 45 minutes of brisk racing. Start was at Fish on the Rocks, a beat up to Dunes, and then on to Ore Jetty for two triangles.

Quest and Megafreight jumped the start line and were duly recalled, costing them dearly and they went on to finish 5th and 4th respectively. Faraway sailed a cracking race, only to be outdone by Nandi (even more cracking and second over the line), while it was the veteran Shosholoza, sailed by Pat West with a junior crew, who took 1st place on handicap. They seemed to get faster and faster during the race . . .

Final results:
1 Shosholoza
2 Nandi
3 Faraway
4 Megafreight
5 Quest

Farway wins again!

2011-03-17T09:56:00.000+02:00

Faraway, after a cracking start, was the only finisher, in a fleet that included Megafreight, Savannah, and 2 pacers. Conditions up near the Chappies mark were quite horrendous, while there was hardly a breath near the beach and the club. One by one the fleet retired due to the strong winds, which Faraway just seemed to love! The bottle of wine went home with Mark if anyone wants to know!

Meanwile, the bridge was hard at work on the club deck, looking as officious as ever. Chief bridge officer is the man with the red shirt on the right, having a quick energy supplement (we''ll call him Jeremy for now), while the race observers can be seen at the far corner, complete with radio station. Backup teams are patiently seated around the tables.

Ride the BEAST again!

2011-03-10T16:08:00.000+02:00

Its that time of the year again when our closet motorcyclists let their hair down! Ride the BEAST!
SUNDAY 3rd APRIL - Diarise now and add your name to the list on the club noticeboard now!
Details to follow!
PS – Cars also welcome!

Wed night sailing results

2011-03-10T16:03:00.000+02:00

Last nights results! Well done to those who turned out - I think it must have been quite fresh. Nice win for Faraway!

Faraway No 3 Chris Sutton 1.120 1 09-Mar-11 19:01:28 1.000 3795
Pacer One Rian D Turner 1.080 2 09-Mar-11 19:03:40 2.000 3802
Savannah Keith Gemmell 0.910 3 09-Mar-11 19:16:32 3.000 3906
Shosholoza Pat West 0.925 4 09-Mar-11 19:18:03 4.000 4054
Nandi Nick Fairley 1.005 5 09-Mar-11 19:14:54 5.000 4215
Aquamania Dudley Turner 1.000 6 09-Mar-11 19:16:06 6.000 4266

Ham Radio, Maritime Rescue, Spraydust, Tom Morgan

2011-03-08T20:27:00.001+02:00

This story relates to the role of radio hams in maritime events, in this case it was Tom Morgan in trouble near Tristan. Event is recounted in the words of Graham Griggs, who recently took over the lead of SA Maritime Net from Allistair.
-------------------------------------
Yacht crew rescued. Spraydust

I first heard from Tom and Sue Morgan by email about 6 months ago when Tom sent me an email informing me that they would be sailing from Salvador Brazil to Cape Town with one crew member Chris Cadwell and that I should listern out for them.
At that stage I asked them to email me all their information in regard the their yacht “Spray dust”, crew etc, which they did, never thinking that I would need it.
Our first ham radio contact was on the 3 February 2011 at 13:40 SAST at that time they were at 16South and 36West just to the South East of Salvador.
I then kept daily contact with them getting their position and weather conditions and giving them a 4-day wind forecast. All went well until the 22nd February when Tom told me that they had a broken fore stay and asked it I could phone Associated Rigging in Cape Town and ask them a whole list of questions which he gave me. I asked Tom to stand by on frequency while I phoned them. To cut a long story short and after many phone calls back and forth to Tom and the riggers Tom had all the answers he needed. The problem was that they would have to go up the mast to effect the necessary repairs and due to the fact that they were in very strong wind and 4-5m sea swells this was not going to be possible. I told Tom that the winds were going to go up to gail force within the next 8 to 10 hours and that it would remain strong for the next 4 days. Tom at this stage was still hopeful and in good spirits. On the morning of 24 February I received an email from Andy the Chief Radio Officer on Tristan da Cunha Island informing me that Tom “Spraydust” had requested assistance from him and that they required a rescue. When I called Tom at our usual time 13:40 SAST Tom confirmed that they were needing an urgent rescue as the mast with out the fore stay was under severe stress and they feared it may break. I asked Tom to stand by on frequency whilst I phoned the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) to find out if they had received the request. Mark at MRCC told me that he had received it from Andy on Tristan and that he had sent a request to the Brazilian MRCC who in turn had sent it on to the Argentina military for action but they had passed it on to Uruguay Military as Tom was in their area of responsibility. Mark had not heard anything else. I gave Mark all the yachts information required to pass on.
I called Tom and told him the status quo. And also give him an update on the weather, it did not look good. I arranged to call him again at 14:30 to give him an update.
I contacted MRCC and told them when I would next call Tom and asked them to ask the Uruguay Military to call at the same time on our ham radio frequency so they could talk to Tom them selves. When I called to at 14:30 I told him that I had requested the Uruguay Military to come up on our frequency we both called but heard nothing. I took Tom’s Position and weather and arranged to call him again at 20:30 SAST. I emailed Tom position to the MRCC and again asked them to ask the Uruguay Military to come on frequency at 20:30 SAST or 18:30 UTC.
When I called Tom at 20:30 he sounded very tired, we called for the Uruguay Military and back they came. I stayed in the background while Tom talked to them and explained his problem, they asked him to come back on frequency I 1 hours time. That would be at 21:30 SAST. I told Tom that I would also listen in at that time. When the Uruguay military called him at 21:30 I was on frequency and could hear Tom giving them his position and weather and arranging further contacts. After Tom had ended his conversation with them I call him and arranged to call him again at 10:30 SAST the next day. Later that night I got an email from the MRCC informing me that Tom had drifted back in to Brazilian waters and that a ship Jag Lakshita is sailing from their position to rescue the Spray dust crew. When I called Tom at 10:30 SAST I got no reply. Then I got news from Andy on Tristan that the Ship Jag Lakshita had picked the crew from Spraydust and they were well. This was later confirmed by the MRCC. Jag Lakshita is an oil tanker and is now headed for West Africa. I await further news. Thanks Andy ZD9BV Tristan and all for their help. Yet another successful rescue by HAM RADIO and Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC Cape Town)

Graham Griggs, ZS2ABK, South African Maritime Mobile Net. www.sammnet.org
Brigette is Toms daughter in the UK. Message from Tom & Sue Via Brigette's e-mail home e-mail:

Hi All, We will arrive in Africa in about a week. However, not the way we planned. The main forestay broke at the stemhead and the furling gear broke up. So, we were unable to bring the sail down. After several days, and attempts to bring down the sail, I came to the conclusion that we were doomed to sail downwind and never land, just like the Flying Dutchman! The other problem was the mast was moving and liable to fall down at any time. SO a rescue was initiated throuh the SA Maritime Mobile Net. The MRCC system took over and we were picked up very shortly by the tanker Jag Lakshita. They are treating us wonderfully.

We are well but sad to abandon sucha big part of our lives, and Tom had a whole radio station on board. We will have to start up again (number for the bank etc. all lost in the transfer). Will be in touch as soon as we get back to civilization.
Brgs Sue and Tom

Wed Sailing Results

2011-03-03T16:27:00.000+02:00

Regrettably I don't have any pics for this race - there was quite enough action to see! A moderate South Easter was forecast, and in fact was quite light near the beach. The race officers nominated a course around all the four marks in the bay, which would take us up to Chapmans Peak, which has some nice long stretches on the way. Nine boats turned up for the race, including a new entry "Merry Waters" (Tosca 36), and set off in light conditions across the line at Dunes. By Fish on the Rocks the wind was a steady 15 knots, and soon after increased to 25+. Some of the smaller boats were clearly overpowered, with the Pacer Aquamaniac heading off into the sunset at about 10 knots sideways! Quest, my Flamenca, furled the jib to just a small piece, and battled to get around the Chappies mark after much difficult tacking near the mark. Faraway (Farr 38/40), broke each of her jib-sheets as I understand, costing her quite some time. Nandi coped reasonably well in the strong winds but clearly had some work to do as well. Before round two, Quest retired with a damaged genoa, Merry Waters and Savannah retired being out of time, and Aquamaniac retired after a severe mauling in the catabatics under Chapmans Peak. Shosholoza soldiered on and finished honourably, with no notable trauma, as did "Pacer 1" fresh from her win of the Mykonos Race.

It was Megafreight, conservatively sailed, who coped best and went on to take the overall lead, not unusually!

Overall results:
Megafreight No 3 Jendo Ocenasek 1.080 1 02-Mar-11 19:12:17 1.000 4360

Faraway No 3 Chris Sutton 1.120 2 02-Mar-11 19:14:23 2.000 4663
Pacer One Rian D Turner 1.080 3 02-Mar-11 19:33:47 3.000 5753
Shosholoza Pat West 0.925 4 02-Mar-11 19:53:01 4.000 5995
Nandi Nick Fairley 1.005 5 02-Mar-11 19:49:40 5.000 6311
Savannah Keith Gemmell 0.910 6 02-Mar-11 DNF DNF 10.000
Quest Justin Phillips 0.840 7 02-Mar-11 DNF DNF 10.000
Aquamania Dudley Turner 1.000 8 02-Mar-11 DNF DNF 10.000
Merry Waters Mervyn Pietersen 0.930 9 02-Mar-11 DNF DNF 10.000

Wed Night Racing

2011-02-24T10:00:00.000+02:00

Only three boats turned out in the heavy mist last night - Megafreight, Nandi and Quest, with apologies from Faraway, now in Cape Town preparing for the Mykonos race. Flat seas, and a light but steady breeze of about 5-8 knots favoured the smaller boats - in a very pleasant evening. Final results were close, with Nandi in 3rd, Megafreight in 2nd, and Quest in the lead on PHRF. Thanks as always to the bridge which is running extremely well!

Governor's Cup TV Screenings

2011-02-20T21:35:00.000+02:00

You should watch this - its great!

Episode One: 17 Feb at 19:00 on SSport Five;
18 Feb at 13:00 on SSport Six;
21 Feb at 15:00 on SSport Five;
22 Feb at 10:00 on SSport One;
23 Feb at 18:00 on SSport Six;
24 Feb at 16:00 on SSport Five

Episode Two: 24 Feb at 19:00 on SSport Six;
25 Feb at 15:00 on SSport Five;
28 Feb at 16:00 on SSport Six;
01 Mar at 14:00 on SSport Six;
02 Mar at 10:00 on SSport One;
03 Mar at 19:00 on SSport Five

SV "Zest" - a Cape Cutter 19

2011-02-19T21:30:00.000+02:00

Spotted here in the Knysna Waterfront, I cant quite make the name out in this pic (another cellphone pic), but I am quite sure this is the original Cape Cutter 19 called Zest that lived in HBYC marina, and belonged to my neighbour Prof Owen Crankshaw of Bokkemanskloof. I couldn't think of a nicer boat for the Knysna Lagoon - lifting keel, low mast, traditional look, comfortable accommodation for two, a small 4-stroke outboard in a well, and trailerable if you like. Fish, sail or gunkhole, take your pic. A few nights sleepout with a mini-weber and a good camera . . .

Owen sailed this boat with us from Hout Bay to Cape Town one year (the Waterfront rally). I remember the winds were quite fresh, and I think he was alone. Similarly coming back. He also sailed often to Llandudno and back from Hout Bay. Quite challenging areas to sail in, he never had any problems with this 19' trailer sailer. Definitely my choice of boat when I move to Thesens Island (when I win the Lotto), unless a Cape Henry 21 comes my way.

See http://www.ckdboats.com/capehenry.asp or http://www.dixdesign.com/ for more info on these beauties!

Allistair Campbell ZS5MU - Silent key

2011-02-18T16:03:00.000+02:00

As reported by the SA Radio League:

@Founder of the SA Maritime Mobile Net Silent Key. Alistair Campbell ZS5MU passed away peacefully in his sleep yesterday afternoon 14 February 2011. Alistair’s interest in marine matters started many years ago when Alistair helped a friend build a yacht. Once the yacht was completed and on the water they kept in contact via ham radio with Alistair giving him the weather conditions. It wasn’t long before other yachts started checking in with Alistair and the South African Maritime Mobile Net was born round about 26 October 1979. Our thought go out to his wife Davina , A special tribute with historic audio clips will be broadcast in Amateur Radio TODAY this Sunday

All cruising yachties will be familiar with Alistair and the SA Maritime Mobile Net, and the twice daily broadcasts Allistair ran for many years. See http://www.sailblogs.com/member/southafricanmaritimemobilenet/ for more background.

I think the net will continue under the able support of Graham Griggs ZS2 ABK (based in Kenton on Sea), and Sam Maree ZS1SAM, (based in Glencairn/Simonstown). The SA Maritime Net is an invaluable aid to cruisers and yachts passing Southern Africa, and frequently has callers from Madagascar and beyond.

See http://www.sailblogs.com/member/southafricanmaritimemobilenet/?xjMsgID=100963 for the history of the SAMM.

Go well Alistair - you will be missed by so many sailors . . .

www.tempestsailing.co.za

2011-02-11T09:00:00.001+02:00

See the daily positions of the Russian Trimaran at www.tempestsailing.co.za. Karin - who did the PR for Energy Diet - has opened this site and in time will reflect a variety of sailing stuff.

As of this morning (Friday at 08:05), the roaring ruskies were approaching Luderitz . . . not bad!!

Russians leave HBYC in thick mist

2011-02-10T09:31:00.000+02:00

Great pics and and commentary on Roy's blog. Pics by our very own George Wenman. Roys blog has tons of other good stuff too. See http://ckdboats.blogspot.com/2011/02/pictures-for-karin.html, or simply http://ckdboats.blogspot.com

Wed night racing results

2011-02-09T20:58:00.000+02:00

Nice race to Vulcan!

Race Wed 9 Feb 2011
Race officer Jeremy Nel
Race Start Time 18:05:00
Conditions 10 kts flat

Finish Elapsed PHRF Corrected time
1. Megafreight No3 19:34:07 1:29:07 1.0750 5748.03
2. Savannah 19:58:11 1:53:11 0.9100 6179.81
3. Shosholoza 20:01:33 1:56:33 0.9250 6468.53
4. Aquamania 19:56:29 1:51:29 1.0000 6689.00
5. Nandi 19:56:10 1:51:10 1.0050 6703.35
6. Faraway 19:53:57 1:48:57 1.1200 7321.44

EXTREME SAILING VIDEO!

2011-02-06T14:54:00.001+02:00

Featuring our Russian friends as they approached Hout Bay a few days ago. For folk who have had only one sail in Hout Bay this would rate as quite interesting - even by our standards!

The video was posted to YouTube by Johann (Craig's Dad - they NSRI guy who jumped aboard with them, with permission of the crew on Energy Diet).

See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQIiQhTFf30

Russian off again!

2011-02-04T12:28:00.004+02:00

STOP PRESS

Our Russian friends are leaving on Monday 7 Feb now. The leaving ceremony intended for Sunday will not be held. Apologies for the change - there has been much confusion one way and another. We wish them and their craft "Energy Diet" fair winds and calm seas for their next leg up the coast to Namibia!

Good turnout at HBYC for the press-conference with the Russians on Energy Diet.

Our friends the intrepid Russian voyagers are off again on Sunday - this time for Brazil via Namibia - in their amazing inflatable trimaran! They gave us an absolutely amazing talk last night at the yacht club - and showed some INCREDIBLE video footage of their approach to Hout Bay as they surfed over the reefs at outer-kom on their way in. This is sailing footage you will NEVER SEE AGAIN! I will try and post some when I get my hands on it. They tried to explain something about needing to stay inshore because the strong South Easter was blowing them away, but going over the Kommetjie Reefs and kelp in a raging South Easter with 5m breaking swells did seem a bit bold in the circumstances, not to put too fine a point on it. They flew clean over the kelp and simply surfed on! The cameraman had the presence of mind (if thats a suitable phrase) to film it - complete with rolling breakers coming up from behind and going over them. Extreme sportsmen by their own admission . . . I cant relay the whole thing here - suffice to say they wont be getting many paying guests as I see it.

I managed to catch a bit about them not being Gypsies, but crazy Russian travellers! The Captain disagreed - VERY crazy Russian travellers according to him. They aren't quite sure what has motivated their voyage - a combination of a Guiness World Record, lust for adventure, proving what inflatable monohulls can do - or a combination - they aren't sure. I think it might be the "Energy Diet" milkshakes they live on - don't know why anyone hasn't analysed those tubs of white powder properly . . . . However since they got here they'll carry on!

The one with the beard speaks English and is called "Jack", luckily

They are a really cheerful and nice bunch! Sang a lovely sea-shanty to us all at the end (not in English I think), and commended Chris Sutton and the club for all the hospitality. Special mention to our Craig McGiver of NSRI (and well known to us all), for jumping onto their boat out at the Kom and showing them in. They named him "best man in SA" which brought many cheers. They say this gave them tremendous moral support.

Now - undaunted by this all - and after more makeshift repairs involving bits of string, wood, elastic bands and chewing gum (two of them have PhDs in Material Science) - they are leaving again - for Brazil - on Sunday.

We want to give them a good Hout Bay send-off as usual - and will get as many boats on the water to wish them on! Our Commodore has suggested a braai on the water and a bit of a raft-up - bring your boats, sausages, whistles, flags, guests, etc - and be there on Sunday at 10:30 onwards. Paddlers welcome, lilos, canoes, marina boats and dinghies also. The weather looks awesome!

Sunday morning - 10:30 - don't forget!

Invertor/GenSet for sale - bargain

2011-02-01T22:09:00.000+02:00

Our friends on Energy Diet are selling their invertor/charger - its a great piece of kit - around $500 - its a bargain. Roy is selling for them I think. See more detail here.

Val moves on!

2011-02-01T21:59:00.000+02:00

Roy snapped this rare pic of Val on the "other side". Val has finally retired after 32 years of service! HBYC is extremely indebted to Val (and Anne who is still here) for their outstanidng loyalty and service, working for a different committee each year can't be easy! They are the unsung champions of HBYC! This is a rare opic of Val - she hates the camera - but she owes us at least one, don't you think! See the smile! We wish her all the best.

Energy Diet!

2011-02-01T21:46:00.002+02:00

(thanks to Roy McBride for the pics!)

Notice of Press Conference

Around The World on Three Balloons

On Thursday 27 January 2011 four intrepid Russian sailors rounded Cape Point on the inflatable trimaran “Energy Diet” designed and constructed by the captain of the expedition, Anatoly Kulik. This was part of a project to circumnavigate the world on a custom-built inflatable craft, the first stage from Thailand to the Emirates having been completed in 2008 and the second stage from India to the Seychelles having been completed in 2009. The current third stage is from Mauritius to Namibia and will be followed by stage four – Walvis Bay to Fortaleza (Brasil) - which will include an attempt to set a Guinness World Record for the longest uninterrupted ocean passage on an inflatable trimaran. The trimaran is currently being hosted by Hout Bay Yacht Club, where preparations are being made for the next leg of the expedition up the west coast of Africa to Walvis Bay. Sailing enthusiasts and members of the media are invited to view the boat and attend a presentation on the expedition at the following Venue and Time: Thursday 3 February 2011 18:00 Hout Bay Yacht Club - Club House. For further information contact Karin Solomon: 083 781-2000 or Evgeni Kovalevski: 071 963-7065 For background information on the expedition, visit and run through Google Translate the site: http://www.energydiethd.com/

(information supplied by Karin Solomon)

Wednesday Racing

2011-01-27T16:15:00.000+02:00

pic taken from Quest using mobile phone - Nandi alongside Faraway and Megafreight

Very interesting race last night! here we see Nandi, the DiDi 34 alongside Megafreight (Simonis 35) and Faraway (Farr 38/40) - on 3rd leg of the race. Nandi sailing with roller furling and no bag, and a "Sunday crew". Later the wind came up quite fresh, and she finished very close to the leaders to take 2nd place on corrected time. Faraway spent almost an entire leg on her side, broaching after a fresh gust, and dunking poor Rob Browne quite mercilessly in the Atlantic for a while! Aquamaniac showed her prowess in light airs as usual, being caught later by the big-guns. Savannah and Quest had their usual tussle at the back, with Savannah crossing the line a few seconds ahead, but it was in fact Quest hat went on to take 1st place on TCF eventually. Nice conditions, and a great sail, with just a touch of drama!
Final positions, in a suprising change to the usual order!

1 Quest (Flamenca)
2 Nandi (DiDi 34)
3 Aquamaniac (Pacer 27 Cruise)
4 Savannah (Miura)
5 Megafreight (Simonis 35)
6 Faraway (Farr 38/40)

We now score on PHRF only - no skipper's handicaps - and it seems we have a suitably competitive fleet for this.

2011-01-20T15:05:00.000+02:00

The Friday night draw has roled up to R3-600! As Keith Craxton was not present to collect his fortune!
DJ - DUNCAN Starying Friday at 9pm. Members free, non members admission R50 per head.

See you at the Club! - its the place to be!

Wednesday Night Sailing

2011-01-20T08:19:00.001+02:00

Great sailing last night in perfect conditions. Great turnout of people, though only six boats were available with the L26s both on the hard, Enigma halfway across the pond, and Nandi en route back from Cape Town at the time. Shosholoza was hauled out of retirement to take some folk, and suprised by sailing to a 2nd place! Quest and Savannah had their own race at the back, at times I thought we would need fenders to keep apart! But it was Aquamaniac, superbly sailed by the Turner conspiracy, who shot off in an amazing start, and went on to take line honours if I am not mistaken!

Results:
1 Aquamaniac
2 Shosholoza
3 Megafreight
4 Faraway
5 Quest
6 Savannah

HBYC Marina View

2011-01-18T16:19:00.000+02:00

I snapped this one through the window from the "Lookout" Restaurant this afternoon over a quick lunch, using my cellphone. Later Aquamaniac sailed out - flat seas and 12 knots!

Vacancy at HBYC Club Office

2011-01-18T15:56:00.000+02:00

Val, who has been in charge of the day to day administration of the Yacht Club for more years than she cares to remember, has decided to retire. We now need to find a replacement to start work, in tandem with Val, during February 2011. We are looking for a responsible mature person, preferably with experience in a club environment. A good working knowledge of Pastel, Excel and Word is required.

Duties include

banking of all club income
updating members' accounts
payment of creditors, salaries / wages, VAT etc
control of bar stocks
maintenance of general ledger
preparation of monthly management accounts

The position is part time with a degree of flexibility. A competitive salary is payable with 3 weeks annual leave plus all public holidays.

If you know of anyone who fits the bill, please let them know this vacancy exists.

Cape to Rio Start

2011-01-16T11:15:00.000+02:00

The Cape-to-Rio start yesterday was well attended as always. At least 120 boats out there. Good place to practise your Colregs I think. Faraway and Nandi were there from Hout Bay to see the fun, while Enigma was on the start line as "Spirit of Izivungu". I hope they all remembered their passports.

Boats of HBYC (6)

2011-01-14T14:15:00.000+02:00

Morgan 31 review posted on SA Yacht Blog.

Pink is the new Blue? or what . . . ?

2011-01-13T12:28:00.000+02:00

I was not present when this occurred, whatever it was. I suspect it was to do with the running club as we sailors have preferred blue until now, unless some new developments have overtaken me. If a suitable explanation ever surfaces I will post it promptly.

More Pics from the ARC Start

2011-01-13T12:18:00.000+02:00

Master Gunners having a blast!

Quite a good line up with a little allowance for the wind!

Thanks from World ARC !

2011-01-13T10:14:00.001+02:00

Mr Chris Sutton
Commodore
Hout Bay Yacht Club
P.O. Box 26173,
Hout Bay 7872,
South Africa.
12 January, 2011

Dear Chris,
I write to thank the members and staff of Hout Bay Yacht Club for the tremendous welcome and hospitality shown to crews of the World ARC fleet during their recent visit. It was a fantastic stopover, especially for those who made Hout Bay their home over Christmas and New Year, and one which will be remembered with real fondness.

There is an altogether great atmosphere at the club and we were fortunate to meet and work with some exceptional club members. I would particularly like to thank Jeremy for
orchestrating two great evening functions and Gerard and Peter for ably supporting each with some wonderful food. The start was also a grand event and I was so grateful for the
assistance in laying the marks, providing a committee boat and not to mention the cannon! It was great to see some local boats out on the water, to see the fleet on their way, and I hope they enjoyed the spectacle too.

I would also like to thank the staff of the Club who also contributed immeasurably to the
success of the stopover. I know how hard Alan worked to meet the fleet’s needs, including
the moving of local boats and the installation of extra ground tackle and this was much
appreciated. It was also great to receive such a cheery welcome in the office and bar too.
The entry list for the next edition of World ARC is already open. With nineteen entries
already, I’m sure we will be as busy during the next Rally too! The Rally itinerary will remain approximately the same and I will be in touch with you in due course to discuss including Hout Bay Yacht Club once again.

Again, it was a pleasure to work with the club during this edition of World ARC and I look
forward to seeing you all again during the next visit.

Yours truly,
Paul Tetlow
Event Manager – World ARC
120 High Street T +44 (0) 1983 296060
World Cruising Club is a trading name of
World Cruising Club Limited
Cowes F +44 (0) 1983 295959
Registered Address:
Isle of Wight E mail@worldcruising.com

120 High Street
PO31 7AX Cowes
Isle of Wight, PO31 7AX United Kingdom

Cockles and Mussels alive-alive-oh!

2011-01-12T09:49:00.000+02:00

HBYC was buzzing with ARC crews last Thursday, at the mussel evening organised by Jeremy and co as always. See the pics!

HBYC gets good mention in the World ARC News column

2011-01-10T19:02:00.000+02:00

Hout Bay Yacht Club did its best to welcome and accommodate the visiting ARC boats over the holiday season. This included laying concrete blocks in the marina, moving yachts around, installing additional hot water geysers (Pat West and team), a special function in the yacht club etc (Jeremy of course), besides all the routine stuff to do with tags etc (Alan was kept quite busy too). Special mention to the NSRI who escorted two of the visiting boats nto their moorings in wild conditions one night, and to Charles, Roy and Anna who worked over the break to build a new rudder for one of them. They seem to have survived the extraordinary wind we experienced, including flying roof sheets from the marina office, and it all went quite well. See http://www.worldcruising.com/worldarc2010/news.aspx for their reflections on Hout Bay and HBYC.

Yachts of HBYC Marina (4 and 5)

2011-01-10T18:40:00.001+02:00

The yacht reviews have been copied into a seperate blog - focus will be on South African designed and built yachts. Current list includes the DiDi 34, the Miura, RCOD, Flamenca and the L26. See http://sayachts.blogspot.com. Thanks to Roy McBride, Dudley Dix, and Angelo Lavranos for contributions so far. Many many more to come!