|
By Kirsten Veenstra
The Western Cape Dinghy Champs, organised by SAS Western Cape, is always an incredibly well-run and organised event, and this year was no exception. The 2010 WC Champs incorporated the Hobie 16 and Mosquito Nationals and had a really great entry of 257 boats. Of these, the biggest classes were the Hobie 16’s (52 entries), Oppie A (30 entries), Dabbie (21 entries) and Laser Radials (20 entries). Sadly missing this year were the Extras and the Fireballs, possibly because many of these sailors decided to leave their dinghies in favour of the Hobie 16 Nationals and were sailing in other classes. A wonderful new edition to the fleet were 19 RS Teras, most from Mossel Bay and False Bay, with many juniors who have just started sailing getting great experience in their first regatta.
There were two separate courses – Course A being the dinghy course and Course B, towards the Iron Ore Jetty, the Hobie, Mosquito, 29er and Flying 15 course.
Di Hutton-Squire was the race officer for the dinghy course, and as usual, ran an impeccably slick and organised bridge. Kudus must go to Di for this – the dinghies got in ten races over the four days and the bridge handled over 40 starts and 600 finishers – no mean feat!
Di Hutton-Squire described the racing very well in her Race Officer’s Report:
“Initially we were worried about the new mussel beds in the middle of the bay, but there was just room on the West and East of these to set the two course, though on the West side there were also two ships moored. Should there be any more mussel bed, we will not have room for 2 courses inside the ore jetty.
This was a light breeze regatta, as is to be expected at this time of the year in the Western Cape. Each morning we had to wait for a suitable breeze, but once it came, it was from a constant direction of about 210 degrees, though at times the pressure was variable. The dinghy trapezoidal course with inner marks works well as we are able to split the faster and slower fleets. There were a few general recalls on the dinghy fleet which makes the procedure of starting longer, but generally the fleets behaved. On the Hobie course, however, the black flag was used on several occasions as the fleet was pushing the line! The dinghies sailed ten very good races so that there were two discards each. The Hobies only sailed nine races.”
The wind was indeed very light for the first three days and racing did not start at 10h00 on any of the days while the fleet stayed on the shore waiting for the wind to come up.
The dinghies got in two races in very light winds on Saturday and the third race was abandoned when the wind died completely. They got in two races on Sunday, again in very light winds and four races on the Monday in moderate breeze of 8-10 knots. On Tuesday the wind picked up nicely to make for more exciting racing and all classes got in two races and the Dabbies three. At one stage mist threatened but it stayed away, making for a great last day’s racing. In general, there was great competitive racing in the Laser, Dabbie, Sonnet and 420 Classes.
A really big Well Done goes to ZVYC on a really great event, and to the very long list of volunteers - from scorers to mark layers to bridge to rescue – who all contributed to making the event such a great success.
We look forward to an even bigger fleet next year at South Africa’s biggest dinghy regatta!
Results
RS Tera
1st – Joshua Woolard (RYC)
2nd – John-Marc Oliver (GLYC)
3rd - Andre Bredenkamp (MBYC)
Oppie A
1st - David Wilson (ZVYC)
2nd –Jonathan Rees (ZVYC)
3rd - Peter Bendan (ZVYC)
Oppie
1st – Michael Lambrecht (ZVYC)
2nd – Keenan Wollheim (MAC)
3rd - Nicholas Lambrecht (ZVYC)
Mirror
1st – Fuad Jacobs and Tashreeq Abrahams (ZVYC)
2nd – Howards Letho and Ronalda (Isivungu)
3rd - Candice and Lauren Smithie (ZVYC)
Dabchick
1st – Timothy Manley (IYC)
2nd – Kevin Foreman (IYC)
3rd - Jonathan Kukard (MAC)
Sonnet
1st – Markus Progli and Kelly Godfrey (ZVYC)
2nd – James Ballentyne and Shireen Smith (HYC)
3rd - Keith and Genevieve Morris (ZVYC)
Laser Radial
1st – Philip Bendan (ZVYC)
2nd –Paul Vivian (MAC)
3rd - Jessica Deary (ZVYC)
Laser Radial
1st – Paul Willcox (ZVYC)
2nd – Alastair Keytel (ZVYC)
3rd - Craig Richards (MAC)
505
1st – Rudolph and Ferdinand Holm (PSC)
2nd – P and Thomas Funke (PSC)
3rd - Alexander and Warwick Ham (PSC)
Open
1st – Greg Davis on a Finn (ZVYC)
2nd – Philip Baum on a Finn (ZVYC)
3rd - Barry Barber on a Finn (ZVYC)
420’s
1st – Asenathi Jim and Ashwyn Daniels (Isivungu)
2nd – Edu Lehtinen and Joshua Rubenstein (ZVYC)
3rd - Sizatu Sibusiso and Simthembile Mbana (Isivungu)
29er
1st – Taariq Jacobs and Neil Malan (ZVYC)
2nd – Brevan Thompson and Callum Kilpin (ZVYC)
3rd - Sieraj Jacobs and Marlon Jones (ZVYC)
Flying 15
1st – Steve Hegerstrom and Greg Dobson (RNYC)
2nd – Pieter von Bredow and David Raines (SBYC)
3rd – Alastair Pedan and Mike Smith (SBYC)
Hobie Dragoon
1st – Murray and Greg Willcocks (HYC)
2nd – Peter Marsh and Shannon du Plessis (LYC)
3rd - Otto Scribeante and Arinda Janse van Rensburg
Hobie 16
1st – William and Lucinda Edwards (KYC)
2nd – Blaine and Roxanne Dodds (KYC)
3rd – Allan and Daniel Lawrence (FBYC)
Mosquito
1st – Kevin Webb and Vaughan Krumbock (VYC)
2nd – Gideon Snyman and Joppie Naude (VYC)
3rd – Ian and Brian MacRobert (ZVYC)
Hobie 14
1st - David Power |
