23 October 2014
Greetings from the Rear Commodore of Sailing – Luke Scott
Ahoy Royal Capers!
Unprecedented?!
With just 8 of a possible 35 Club Championship races sailed so far in the 2014/15 season, it is a staggering and marvellously
proud statistic to note that we already have a massive 93 yachts who have participated in the Champs to date. Well done
Royal Capers, together we are reinvigorating keelboat sailing in Cape Town and South Africa.
If that is not enough: the coastal cruising division has sat up and noticed, and in true cruising style, they're offering all
newcomers to the Lufthansa Twilight Series (those who have not participated in the last two years) a bottle of wine in
gratitude for making the effort to come sailing. This is not confined to participants in the new Coastal Cruising and Cool Cats
Division in the Lufthansa Twilight Series, it applies to all newcomers in all twilight divisions. For good measure, we'll backdate
that offer to the start of the current series.
Last night’s Lufthansa Twilight Race 02 had a fantastic turnout of 62 yachts, sailing in foggy westerly’s up the promenade and
Atlantic Seaboard. There is a full race report here. The race is on between the Cool Cats & Cruisers [7], IRC fleet [9], and the
Miuras [9] to fill out the biggest “class” fleet on the water! My money is on the Cool Cats & Cruisers!
Just a quick word on the cats and cruisers: while you must obviously sail safe and within the rules of sailing, this is really going
to be a fun place to sail. You will be set kind courses, and we encourage the banter. Here are some pearlers I overheard from
some of the noisier cruisers after sailing last week:
•
“I dragged anchor faster than you sailed”
•
“Know your polars” – take this to mean “frosties”.
•
“There was furious action aboard…as we opened a bottle”
•
“Strategy: Hold back, conserve, with an explosive finish”
•
“Tack” = turn the chops and wors.
The Harken Round Robben Island Pursuit Race was sailed in sublime conditions on Saturday, and there is a full race report
here. Great to see the lower handicaps in with a shout this time, and well done to the really little guys on H23's for coming
back and scoring a finish after some disappointments in the past with either too much or too little wind. The top three
finishers were Nuthr Witch, A-L and Far-Med, who incidentally also won their respective divisions. It is not often in our
pursuit races that the top three positions represent all three club divisions. Well done to the winners, and to the entire
participating fleet. There were 62 entries and 50 finishers - I am still wondering why the 12 yachts, who entered-but-did-notsail, missed this one as it was an absolute blast in perfect conditions! Thanks Ankie Roux and the Harken team.
This weekend, the club pushes the glamour button for the RiskSA Regatta. This is a limited entry high profile event that
benefits the coffers of the Sailing Academy. Note entries closed for this event some time back.
Next weekend is the Italian Ambassadors Perennial Trophy, which also benefits the Sailing Academy. This event will also be a
bay pursuit race and will encourage youth participation in yachting. After the event, all are welcome to raft up in the V&AW
for the opening celebrations of the Volvo Ocean Race Village, in front of the Table Bay Hotel. There will be a light show, live
music and a festive Italian Picnic. Let's enter a bumper fleet for this excellent event.
On the horizon, the One Eighty X-Chromosome Regatta is fast approaching for the all the female members and sailors out
there. Get your team entered and ready to race in this unique Ladies Only event.
The Rob Meek Overnight Race is to be held 28/29 November. NOW is the time to start preparing for offshore overnight
racing, ensuring your safety and navigational equipment is adequate and functional. Preparation, they say, is 9/10ths of
winning the race. The yachts that regularly do well underline this time and again. Here are some pictures of the cruising gin
palace Malu’Lani [she is exquisite down below] getting her bottom cleaned the day before the Harken Round Robben Island
Race. She went on to score a top ten finish. I can hear the cruisers wailing “Protest: They cleaned their bottom!”
Every yacht that starts a race at Royal Cape is bound by the ISAF Racing Rules of Sailing. We are seeing tremendous turnouts
on the water this summer, and now is a good time to refresh yourself with the racing rules. For the next three weeks, we will
issue extracts from the rules to assist, but please read the full set of rules. See HERE for extract one.
In conclusion, another punt for the free RaceQS race tracking app that you can download for your Apple or Android
smartphone. Use it, it is awesome, and a great deal of fun and learning in the replay…very easy to use, and FREE!
Flares and whistles
Luke
News from our RCYC Sailing Academy – Harry Brehm
Well done to our academy team sailing on 'Regardless' last Saturday.
With 3 students under 15 and 2 more under 18, we were seriously light
on the weather rail and probably were not doing our best possible boat
speed. Who cares in a fun event anyway? The lack of weight was easily
compensated by the enthusiasm of the whole crew.
6th overall in a fleet of 50 boats is nothing to be ashamed of. If we
wouldn't have lost time directly after the start when our genoa came undone on the tack and got completely pulled out of
the Tuff Luff, who knows where we could have ended up. Unfortunately the race turned out to be a drag race and we could
not really compensate for the time we have lost earlier on.
A lot more of our students have been crewing on other boats that day. Volker Vierhaus and Wayne Hennings volunteered to
take some of our students out for the day. Normally I do get requests from boat owners to send over some of our most
experienced students. Wayne and Volker on the other hand told me that they would take any students out with pleasure,
even if they are novices. What a great gesture of these two true gentlemen. With this kind of attitude from boat owners it
would be a lot easier for me to get more students involved in our club events.
Before the race we
had a visit from E-TV
News. They wanted
to have an interview
about our academy.
It is quite nice that a
lot of people are
taking interested in
what we do and a bit
of publicity will most
definitely help our
cause. I do like the
“just
wing
it”
attitude from Ronald
Masingha, he is the
face of E-TV News.
Hopefully I can find
out
about
the
broadcasting times. I
am sure our students would love to see themselves on TV.
After the race we were also celebrating Cathleen's 19th birthday. All the best Cathleen and it was great that you shared your
birthday with our crazy patchwork family. For me it is well worth the effort if our students like to come to the club, to share
their time with the other students and club members. All we have to do is associating good memories with sailing and it will
be a win win for all of us.
Past Events
HARKEN ROUND ROBBEN ISLAND RACE was another successful trip around the famous prison island last Saturday, Perfect
conditions for all sizes of boats this year. For the full race report click here
Thanks again Harken for supporting another great sailing event at RCYC!
Lufthansa Twilight Series Race 2 saw 62 boats on the water!!
Welcome to all the new “twilighters” who happily received a complimentary
bottle of Provoyeur Shiraz 2008.
 Did you know … that Cruising class are offering any new boat, who
hasn’t taken part in Twilight sailing for the past two years, a complimentary
bottle of wine? SEE HERE
 Did you know that the last Lufthansa Lucky Draw prize winner went
to Russia? See HERE
 Did you know… to celebrate the start of our direct flight from Cape
Town, Lufthansa are giving you R550 off your next flight with them. Follow
this link to receive your individual voucher: https://promotion.lufthansa.com/cape-town See HERE for T&C’s.
Let Lufthansa fly you to great destinations in Europe and around the world
Whether you’re travelling to Munich for some Alpine adventure, exploring the cobbled courtyards of Spain, on a culinary
voyage of Italy or on a journey from the City of Angels to the Big Apple, you’ll love the way Lufthansa flies.
With a choice of flights to over 200 Lufthansa destinations in 82 countries, Lufthansa boasts one of the world’s largest route
networks: the ultimate in flight flexibility when planning your trip.
Known for its quality, reliability and expertise within the travel industry,
Lufthansa is well established and prides itself on outstanding service on the
ground and in the air. When it comes to the German national carrier, we
expect nothing less.
Upcoming Events
LUCKY DRAW ROLL OVER
RCYC’s Friday Night Lucky Draw is now at R18 500. The draw takes place
around 7.30 to 7.45 every Friday evening in the club bar. You have to be a
fully paid up RCYC member and present at the time to qualify for the win.
Come on down and join the fun.
RISK SA REGATTA - Saturday 25th October
RISK SA Regatta entries have now closed.
Thanks to those who entered on time.
By invite only the Formal Captain’s Cocktail evening for
skippers to meet with the teams for the flag handover
will be on Friday 24th October, Formal Cocktail dress.
Saturday morning is registration for skippers only in the
Main Hall from 10h30.
Team photographs from 11h30.
Race start at 13h00
All crew and teams invited to the Regatta Centre for
prize giving and sit down dinner, please RSVP numbers
for this event. See website for more details www.risksa.com
Italian Ambassadors Perennial Trophy Regatta
Saturday 1 November 2014
The Italian Ambassador’s fun race is going to be something
really special this year. The weekend starts on Friday 31st
October with the Boat Owners Gala Party at the Ambassador’s
Residence in Bishops Court. The boat owners have the chance
to meet the guests they will be hosting for the race. On
Saturday 1st November Teams and boat crew meet up in the
morning for coffee, photographs and preparation for a 13h00
first start.
After racing the boats will make their way in to the V&A VOR
village for drinks, prize giving, a picnic supper and the opening of the VOR village with lights and live music. It
should be a great evening with a difference.
Sign Up online or on the Notice Board, please specify how many guests you can take. For more info click here
BREAKING NEWS
Joining us for a Lufthansa Twilight evening, on Wednesday 12th
November, the SCA team!
A couple of the SCA ladies team will be joining us for a Q&A
time after sailing and handing out some goodies for the ladies.
The One Eighty X-Chromosome Regatta – Saturday 22nd November
This year we are adding value to our women’s race by creating a regatta for those more
competitive lady sailors.
Still the normal two divisions of Spinnaker and Non-Spinnaker,
But for the Spinnaker class we plan to start at 11h00 and sail three races. The third race
will aim to be a 14h00 start to join the Non-Spinnaker class for their one race at
14h00.
Watch out on the website for more details. If any boat owners are able to make
themselves and their boat available for the regatta, please contact Toni in the
Sailing Office [email protected]
From Saturday 27 Dec to Thursday 1st Jan
RCYC are invited to join the West Coast
Cruise, starting at Dassen Island on 27th
December.
Entry Forms at reception.
Click here for more details
RCYC Members Overseas
QINGDAO ISAF WORLD CUP
Roger Hudson and Asenathi Jim finished 9th overall in the 470 Men’s
division – Well Done!!!
IODA OPTIMIST WORLD
CHAMPIONS
Next up for young Alexander Brooks is the Optimist World Champions being held in San Isidro, ARGENTINA. This
event is being hosted by the Club Nautico San Isidro and runs from October 20 – 31. To follow the results click here
Route De Rhumb
Philippa Hutton-Squire is entering the Route
de Rhumb starting in St Malo and finishing in
Guadeloupe. This is probably the biggest
single handed Transat race….Best of Luck
Phillipa!
To visit the official website click here
General Notices
DEAR MEMBERS:
INTERESTING BOOKS IN
LIBRARY and PLEASE RETURN BOOKS/CD's YOU MAY HAVE!
BOOKS!
1.
Best of sail times ref: 623/NIM
2. Pleasure Islands of South Pacific Ref: 902/SIM
3. England ref: 902/SWI (Wonderful pictures of English places).
4. The Twilight of Sailing Ships. Ref: 387/CAR. (Historically this is a fascinating book with pictures and text.)
5. West Coast ref 902/SCH. (Wonderful photography and, such sumptuous recipes of fish dishes!)
6.
Atlas of Literature ref: 821/ BRA. (Anyone who loves books/reading will find this a fountain of information)
7.
Desperate Voyage ref 910/CAL. (An amazing tale...TRUE of a solo voyage across the Pacific to meet the love of his life!)
BOOKS that are out must be returned within 3 weeks. Those who have books out will be named soon!!!!
CD's that are out, most have been out for some MONTHS...the numbers are:
9, 64, 65, 66, 67 AND 68. One member who lives in Port Owen has some of them!!!!!
The member’s co-operation in this matter will be much appreciated. Just return to reception, and I will do the dirty work of
putting them in the right place.
Many thanks,
Your happy librarian,
Rupert Toms.