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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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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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......

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CROCS! In every sense of the word.....

The annual Crocs Summer Regatta has just been completed. There is a comprehensive write up with lots of excellent pics here: www.pacer27.co.za

Man Over Board

SAILING PERFECTION
Every now and then Cape Town dishes up a perfect sailing day – a respite from the tedious south easterlies – and this race was strangely supported by less than 10 boats. For those that did not make it, you missed out on a near perfect day on the water. No kelp, no plastic bags and a moderate to fresh south westerly kissing a sparkling ocean. Add to that a drag race up the Sea Point promenade and a quick visit to Clifton . Great stuff.

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Trapped by an oil rig in a 35 knot gale

There we were trying to exhibit first class seamanship when things started going awry very quickly - right inside the harbour.....

"Must be the season of the witch" sang the 70's rock group 'Bloomfield Kooper Blues Band' which very few of you will remember. It's that time of year when the Cape Doctor pumps for days on end and sets the populations' nerves on edge; of exam times and of end of year stress. I found this bit of information on our famous summer breeze via Google:

The prevailing Spring and early Summer wind , the South-Easter (otherwise known as the "Cape Doctor") arises as a spin-off from anticyclones deep in the Southern ocean. It arrives at the peninsula by way of False Bay, its velocity often being given a boost by the "corner effect" round Cape Hangklip. One arm of the South-Easter sweeps around the eastern flanks of Table Mountain, where its moisture, picked up from the ocean and the warm waters of False Bay, helps to keep the vegetation green through the heat of summer. It is also a vital factor in the pollination of many plants, including the Silvertrees. The South-Easter continues on around Devil's Peak, before descending on the city. There, it behaves somewhat in the manner of a trapped tiger, careering around in the bowl between mountain and sea. A couple of days of this is enough to purge the city's air - nowadays it is the smog instead of the plague of old which is banished. The South-Easter tends to overdo the cure, outstaying its welcome. A possible record was its performance in November 1936, when it howled without a break for 15 days, ravaging suburban gardens and penning the staff in the upper cable station for 5 days.
So there we were at the yacht club having arrived from the Northern Suburbs where there was only a hint of breeze to arrive at the embattled and windy foreshore where the car park ar RCYC was a cauldron of airborne sand being whipped up by a 30 knot south easterly. The last two races have been cancelled due to excessive wind. Was this going to be the third one in a row?


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