Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Man Overboard!

One minute we were reasonably under control bursting through the waves at high speed, and a second later I was catapulted off the boat to find myself under water and tangled in ropes. In almost 40 years of helming, I have never fallen off a keel boat before. That's enough to make most people panic. I opened my eyes to see which way UP was and hurriedly freed myself. I surfaced just three meters behind the boat, still coughing up a mouthful of sea water, and immediately made a valiant effort at swimming the gap. Easy? Nope, almost impossible - with a full set of oilies and boots on. Seconds ticked by as the gap between the boat and I increased at an alarming and despairing rate. No-one had yet noticed I wasn't on board.

Read the rest of this story here: Man Overboard!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Intasure Spring Regatta

Sixty six entries entries were received for the annual Spring Regatta hosted by False Bay Yacht Club and sailed in the pristine waters off Simonstown. The 2011 event threw a bit of a curved ball in that the usual public holiday making this a three day event, fell on a Saturday. That put pressure on skippers finding enough crew who could take the Friday off work, school or varsity. Taking into consideration the tough economic climate, the big entry speaks volumes for the popularity of this regatta and that notwithstanding a clash of dates with the Cape Town Boat Show.



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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Horizon job!

Focussed concentration in the cockpit as Regent Express takes 1st overall in the annual PPS Challenge at Royal Cape Yacht Club in Cape Town.
Read the full story here: www.pacer27.co.za

Thursday, March 3, 2011

2011 Pacer 27 National Championships/Mykonos Offshore

Another hugely successful 2011 Pacer 27 nationals saw crews and skippers heading for home very satisfied with the format and quality of racing. Most agreed it was competitive in the extreme with the slightest mistake being punished by a lost place or two. There was drama aplenty, some controversy and a few crew were washed overboard in the frenetic start of the distance race, but the final winner “Unruly” did what was necessary with a consistent performance and placings no lower than 3rd to take the gold medals. Owner Iain Gibson from DAC on the Vaal Dam, had selected his crew cleverly with two Cape Town sailors on board in the form of Richard Tanner on the helm and Davey James trimming. Unruly, all agreed, was the worthy winner.

Read the rest of this story here: http://www.pacer27.co.za/news.html

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Killings and cross dressers all in one big Fling

The word "Fling" conjures up a few immediate mental associations and both are light hearted, although once into the one variety it will probably end up heavy hearted and empty walleted! The Fling Regatta was an idea initiated by Rick Nankin and Irvine Laidlaw, a well known British businessman, who owns a series of yachts all ending in the word Fling. His Cape Town based Corby 49 is aptly named "Cape Fling". Being here on business, he wanted to sail in a summer regatta on his new boat, but the closest event in the Western Cape is the Mykonos Offshore, so he decided to create a new regatta and one that he could compete in whilst in town.

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Thursday, January 27, 2011

The Trilogy

A lot of people have written about trilogies. Our trilogy started about two minutes before the start of the race. A story of things that happen in threes. I am not much into superstition, but the harsh reality of the elements in a rage, does make one think about these things a little differently to when you are on land – cozy and dry! In fact, if I think about matters a little more seriously, there were may be four of five things that combined to provide for a spectacularly insignificant result. But let's start at the beginning, where most good tales don't.

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Saturday, January 22, 2011

Check this video out!

I unearthed this video clip in my archives and have posted it on You Tube. The footage was taken during 2008 on Pacer 2 with Harry Brehm at the helm and is shot in HD. It takes a little while to download but its worth it (like REVLON).

Pacer 27 planing part 1

Pacer 27 planing part 2

New Year starts with a good race

CRASH!Collisions continue unabated during twilight racing despite vigorous attempts by the Sailing Committee to vastly reduce the risks. This week a collision occurred in Class 1 Non-Spinnaker fleet between a Farr 40 and a Farr 38 where the port stern quarter of the Farr 38 collected a major wallop from the 40 footer, causing serious damage - in what initially appears to be a simple port/starboard upwind incident. The protest hearing takes place on Monday. Watch this space......

Read the rest of this story here: http://www.pacer27.co.za/