Ding dong days for dinghies
POINT Yacht Club’s Rear Commodore for Dinghies, Myles White, summed it up at the prizegiving of the club’s third annual SAS Grand Slam regatta last weekend, saying: “Dinghy sailing in Durban in winter doesn’t get better than this.”
Race officer Kevin Bingham set a short windward leeward course near the Durban Marina to complement the light winds of around 6 knots at the time of the start which built steadily throughout the day, making for tight racing for the 34 dinghies, the largest being the Oppies and the Lasers.
Gregg Dobson (7 points) took the honours in the full rig Lasers followed by JP McCoughlin (10pts), and Siya Vato (18pts), who pipped Denmar Nel by a point for bronze.
Joining them in the full rig was John Eales.
Two sailors from the Henley Midmar Yacht club led the radial fleet which saw Tristan Sommerville staying in front of Tristan Uys while PYC’s Hannah Fokkens took third.
Ten boats contested the Oppies division with nine on the water on Saturday and Iain Bowman joining on Sunday.
Vincent Vermaak led the class with 6 points, followed by Bowman’s younger brother Scott in second place on 15 points and Ethan Hooper from Richards Bay in third.
Also relishing the opportunity to compete were Marcel Vermaak (4th, 24pts), Blaine Dunbar (5th, 30pts), Connor McCoughlin (6th, 34pts), Tayghan Honicke (7th, 34pts), Iain Bowman (8th, 38pts), Thomas Hallum (9th, 42pts) and Matthew Husen (10th, 45pts).
Topping the log with 5 points in the Open Fleet on their 29er were Rob Tarboton from Henley Midmar YC and Mike Dickinson.
Snapping at their heels with 15 points were Thomas Funke and Sean Hurter with PYC’s White and Estelle Buys coming third overall and first Flying Fifteen on 19 points.
Also in the Open Class were Siseko Vato and Mpilo Khoza on an RS Terra (4th, 24pts), sisters Theresa and Maggie Vermaak on their Mirror (5th, also 24pts), newcomers to the Flying Fifteen Class, father and son team, Dominic and Marco Collett, on their Classic (6th, 51pts) and another father and son combo, Iain and Rob Bowman, who only sailed the first day due to a collision.
Struan Campbell and Byron Watt positively blitzed around the course on their Hobie Tiger at the head of the Multihull Fleet scoring 6 points.
They were followed by Wayne Smith and Kate Ellens (Hobie 16) from Richards Bay with 12 points and the UKZN pair of Rudi Fokkens and Ryan Naidoo (Hobie 16) with 20 points in third place.
Then came another father and son pair on their Hobie 14s, dad Sean Fennessy (4th, 21pts) nine points clear of son Liam (6th, 30pts), with Rob Samways (Halcat, 5th, 30pts) and Bill Ellens (Halcat, 7th, 34pts).
The Point Yacht Club annual prizegiving for Keelers, Dinghies and both Hobie classes takes place from 6.30pm tonight in the Islander Room.
The next major event on the PYC calendar is the much anticipated Band on the Bay starting at 3pm on August 9 (Women’s Day Public Holiday) with the ceremonial sail past and a fun bay race to celebrate the club’s 125th anniversary.
The Chatsworth Athletic Club’s Women in Action will host their 5km and 10km run/walk events at the Chatsworth Stadium on August 6. Entry forms are available from Checkout stores. For details call Jay Moodley on 082 4637 816.