Testing conditions for provincial regatta sailors

For a number of sailors, the Youth Day long weekend was spent on the water competing in the Hobie 16 and Flying Fifteen Provincials offshore of Durban with the two teams of experienced campaigners taking the win in their classes.

For long time partners, Garth Loudon and Robbie Eduard Betsy, it was a faultless regatta for the two in the Hobie 16 fleet.

The team, who have been sailing together for the last two and a half decades, re-joined forces after an eight year break to compete in the two hander Hobie 16 class. From the get-go the combo of Loudon and Eduard Betsy topped the log in every single race, with a convincing lead over the rest of the boats in the nine races.

Father and son team, Peter and Matthew Hall also had an impressive time on the water, finishing second with six seconds and two thirds and a fourth which was their discard.

They ended their regatta ten points behind Loudon and Eduard Betsy.

Another father and son team, Brandon and Mark Wijtenburg won the final spot on the podium, ten points behind the Hall team. From Johannesburg, The Wijtenburgs relished their time on the warmer waters, notching up two seconds, two thirds, two fourths, two fifths and a sixth spot which was their discard.

“Garth and Robbie were untouchable, they sailed phenomenally, a world class display! We only got to see the back of them the entire time we were on the water. Congrats to them.” Commended second placed, Peter Hall, Hobie representative.

In the Flying Fifteens, another formidable team of Patrick Harris and Jeremy Kriek walked away with the top honours. Harris and Kriek’s names both appear a number of times on the provincial trophy, being long time campaigners in the class.

Entering the regatta, they were unbeaten in the last provincials. The duo scored six firsts out of the 11 races in the 2016 edition with some fiery young blood adding to the mix this year, giving the experienced competitors a run for their money.

Previous winners Paul Changuion (Umdloti) and Tim Duguid finished five points off the winners, with Olympic Laser campaigner Rudy McNeill joining forces with Lipton sailor, Byron Watt pushing the leaders all the way ending their regatta in third spot. The young team proved their mettle in the foreign class scoring two firsts in the last two races, a second, four thirds and a fourth place.

The final class to compete was the extreme Hobies, the Hobie Tigers with three boats getting on the water. Local lads, Struan Campbell and Murray May walked away victorious in the class, winning all but one race when their spinnaker got jammed turning at the bottom mark and they were forced to retire. Up-and-coming Dylan Albert favoured racing the Hobie Tigers over the J22 Youth Nationals, scoring a second overall with Riaan Botha. Another mixed club team of Kobus Fourie and Jaco Labuschagne finished third, three points behind Albert and Botha.

“It’s a great feeling when you push yourself to another level and that level becomes your new normal! Sailing my Hobie Tiger scared me half to death the first time I sailed it, and now 18 knots downwind flying a hull down waves only a Durban NE wind can produce, is merely heart-pumping exciting! What a day of racing, super stoked!” first placed, Struan Campbell enthused.

Rear Commodore for Dinghies from the Point Yacht Club, Myles White commented, “We had a seriously awesome time on the water. We managed to get three days of racing in, with the Flying Fifteens racing on Thursday as well and the Hobie guys only sailing the two days. I’d just like to thank all the teams that travelled for the regatta. 19 guys travelled from Johannesburg and Cape Town to race this weekend, so well done!”

The father and daughter team of Lance and Heidi Burger from Cape Town were a late entry, only deciding on a whim last week Tuesday that they would enter. Heidi, who is more accustomed to racing the faster 29er or 420s had her trapeze gear all packed until she realised on Wednesday morning when she googled the boat they would be competing on that there was no trapezing on a Flying Fifteen.

The next big event for the Point Yacht Club is the upcoming Inter-Varsity Regatta in July, followed by the annual favourite, the MSC Week.

Results

Hobie 16 Fleet

1 Garth Loudon / Robbie Eduard Betsy 8pts, 2 Peter Hall / Matthew Hall 18pts, 3 Brandon Wijtenburg / Mark Wijtenburg 28pts, 4= Sean Fennessy / Rudi Fokkens 40pts, 4= Mark Kopel / Liam Fennessy 40pts, 6 Mike Goodyer / Jennifer Goodyer 53pts, 7 Wayne Smith (Umdloti) / Nathan Constant 54pts, 8 Andrew Heathcote (Ballito) / Sean Hurter, Andrew Butler 56pts, 9 Justin Butler / James Butler 59pts, 10 Henie Swanepoel / Bart Fokkens 74pts, 11 Rudi Rogge / Kristina Rogge 79pts, 12 Stephanie Goodyer / Jessica Howard 89pts, 13 Camryn Doubell / Jessica Schmid 101pts, 14 Mike Everett / Josh Everett 116pts, 15 Ian Modola / Cameron Booth 126pts, 16 Rick Guttierez / Paul Guttierez 137pts, 17 Charles Girard / Gary Hubach 144pts

Flying Fifteen Fleet

1 Patrick Harris / Jeremy Kriek 12pts, 2 Paul Chanuion (Umdloti) / Tim Duguid 17pts, 3 Rudy McNeill / Byron Watt 24pts, 4 Campbell Alexander / Ralph Thomas 33pts, 5 Anthony McMillan / Lorna Daniel 42pts, 6 Myles White / Estelle Buys 54pts, 7 Trent Bingham / Mike McNeill 59pts, 8 Lance Burger / Heidi Burger 60pts, 9 Iain Bowman / Rob Bowman 80pts

Hobie Tigers

1 Struan Campbell / Murray May 8pts, 2 Riaan Botha / Dylan Albert 21pts, 3 Kobus Fourie / Jaco Labuschagne 24pts

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