We had two academy teams competing in the Fling regatta last weekend. The team on ‘Escape’ were the more experienced

students and the other team on ‘Mac a Tini’ has been a mix up of the remaining available students. We all knew that Peter

Bam on ‘Hors de Oeuvre’ would be very consistent throughout the races. To all our surprise the team on ‘Escape’ did not

dominate the class as we thought they would. In fact the backup up team on ‘Mac a Tini’ stole the show on a lot of occasions.

They were often in front right from the start and did hold their own against the other two L26.

Most of our students were not able to participate often in the sail training during the last three month. First the exams, then

the holidays and last but not least the Grand Slam dinghy events kept our students busy otherwise. The two teams from our

academy were only put together one week before the event and therefore the boats and the teams lacked the necessary

preparation. Especially for our rock star team on ‘Escape’, it was a hard lesson to be learnt. Even as an experienced sailor you

can’t just jump on a boat without proper preparation and expect to do well in a race. It comes down to time on the water

and boat preparation. Our teams were lacking in both departments during this event.

We are often surprised to see the same boats winning all the silverware throughout the sailing season. To me this is no

surprise as the top teams are able to keep a group of likeminded sailors in the team throughout the year. They don’t spare

any effort to stay on a highly competitive level and it shows. Most of the time the top boats lead from the start and extend

their lead throughout the races. Boat preparation, solid crew work and tactics are the backbone of any successful racing

campaign. Even the most talented sailors will not succeed if one element is missing.

Since I was laying marks on ‘Cape Lass’ instead of racing myself, I got a nice view over the entire fleet throughout the races. It

proved my theory that the top boats sail consistently fast throughout the races, trailing the rest of the fleet behind them.

The big boats dominated in IRC 1. My guess is, good crew work and tactics played a bigger role than the size of the boat. It

just happens that the bigger and faster boats attract the best sailors and are often run with the help of professional crew. Of

course they also have the latest “go fast” gadgets.

12 February 2015

RCYC Sailing Academy News – Harry Brehm

Whenever ‘Al’ enters in a regatta, the rest of the fleet automatically counts their position from two upwards. In fact I can’t

remember when Robbie and his team lost an event during the last couple of years. So it came as a surprise when the team on

‘Yolo’ claimed three bullets and put some serious pressure on ‘Al’ in IRC 2. Only a lost protest hearing from ‘Yolo’ in race No.3

did put the usual pecking order in place again and “Al” on top of the leaderboard. It was refreshing to see

that Dale Kushner and his team were able to lift up their game during the last 3 month, to put ‘Al’ under

serious pressure.

We will go back to the drawing board after the Fling regatta to lay out a feasible training schedule for the

month ahead. A lot of our students are interested to be part of a Lipton campaign and we have to lift up

our game considerably until July.

_______________________________________

OUTBOARD MOTOR NEEDED! The RCYC Sailing Academy has recently received the very kind donation of a 4.5m semi-rigid duck which the Academy hopes to use for on water training for their L26 fleet. The Academy however looking for a suitable replacement (90hp) outboard to fit onto the donated hull. Do you have a suitable motor that you’re willing to part with? If so please contact Harry Brehm academy@rcyc.co.za

MID-SUMMER FLING REGATTA - 06 - 08 February 2015

Prep Down and LOOOOOOOOONG HORN…!!! The 5th Mid-Summer Regatta was raced in outstanding conditions this last weekend. A competitive fleet of 19 IRC yachts and 16 club yachts raced 7 races over the regatta weekend, starting with a middle distance Friday twilight bay race in gusty south east conditions. Read more…

RCYC DOUBLE HANDED SERIES - 14 February

This is race 2 - 14 Feb of the RCYC Double Handed Series.

12h30 Skippers Briefing

14h00 Race Start

Division 1 Club Handicap of 1.005 and above

Division 2 Club handicap of 1.000 and below

Upcoming Events

Past Events

LUCKY DRAW ROLL OVER

Join us for the RCYC’s Friday Night Lucky Draw which is now at R13 000. The winner was

Mr Roy Lombard, who was unfortunately not present. The draw takes place around 19H45

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.

Our LUFTHANSA TWILIGHT SERIES is well under way for the upcoming season.

For more information please click here _____________________________

Please note that prize giving and lucky draw will take place after the flag

officers Twilight race on Wednesday, 11 March.

MYKONOS OFFSHORE 20 - 21 February 2015 THURSDAY – 19th FEBRUARY Registration in the RCYC Main Hall from 16H00 to 18H00 Compulsory Skippers Briefing in the Main Hall at 18H00 FRIDAY 20

th FEBRUARY

Pursuit Race in Saldanha Bay Prize Giving at 18H30 – Complimentary Dinner and Party straight after prize giving

Please click here for Notice of Race and Entry Form

Please remember entries close on

Friday 13th February.

LIPTON CHALLENGE CUP

RCYC, the defending Lipton Champions will be hosting the Lipton Challenge Cup

2015.

DATES: 10 – 17 July 2015

(Please Note that this will be taking place in the school/university holiday)

If you are able to volunteer in anyway please contact our sailing office.

NOTIC OF CONTENTS

FORMAL NOTICE OF ENTRY

FLAG OFFICERS RACE – 11 MARCH 2015

This event forms part of the final Twilight Series for the season and the fleet is split as set out below.

Division 1 A-L Mount Gay Rum Morning Glory Jacana Me2Me Vulcan

Mwah Nitro Tenacity Windpower First 40

Thunderchild Bad Habit Sheshisa Maestro Corum

Monkeys in the Mist Unzipped Unleashed Silky Rocket

One Eighty Picasso Cape Fling License to Chill Voodoo

Division 2

Hill Billy Touch N Go Nuthr Witch Ebb Tide Scarlet Sun

Regardless Jazzman Always Well Yolo Lapwing

Freedom Ambeloui Vortex Argonaut Majimoto II

Sungazer Scatterling Bateleur Cathy R Tulliana

Division 3

Cabaray Far-med Shadowfax FTI FLyer Hors d'Oeuvre

Apricot MaluLani Wings Derbygum Ava

Gandalf Carousel Albacore Storm Saiorse

Paprika Chen Phantom Bandit Matador

Anastasia Iechyd Da Sizwe Wings Impact

Antares Wave Dancer

.

TWILIGHT RACING SERIES - IMPORTANT NOTICE

ALL Boat Owners/Skippers MUST sign in their guests for the Wednesday Evening Twilight Racing.

Please make use of our

online registration on our

website (www.rcyc.co.za) to

save time.

KINDLY NOTE: Twilight Racing will only be called once the Bridge Officer is on the Bridge

General

The Royal Cape Yacht Club seeks an applicant for the position of

Sailing Administrator

Sadly the RCYC Sailing Office are having to say good bye to Adrian Spencer-Jones as he

departs South African shores for new ventures on British shores. I wish him the best of the

best in my home country and all the successes that he is looking for, but it will leave a huge hole in our sailing office. I now

start the difficult task of looking for his successor. See the ad below if you would be interested in, or know someone that

would be interested in, the role of Sailing Administrator at RCYC.

Previous sailing experience would definitely be a huge advantage, send your CV to sailing@rcyc.co.za.

Read more about the requirements for the position here

KILLER WHALES SPOTTED IN SIMON’S TOWN

Written by: Morne Hardenberg

In January 2015 we got a report from a friend in Simon’s Town that a pod of killer whales (orca) had just swam past his house moving in the direction of Cape Point. Click here to continue reading

HARKEN NEWS

“Harken South Africa are now running a Facebook page and a twitter feed.

Please visit our pages where you will find the

latest Harken news and updates on local events. Find us on Facebook at

facebook.com/HarkenSA and on twitter

at twitter.com/HarkenSA” – reg. Thomas Meek

AN EXPLANATION OF HOW IT WORKS: CLUB 500 LUCKY DRAW:

We have had one or two members enquire as to how exactly the lucky draw system

works on Friday evenings. As such, here’s a brief description:

- The Membership base (all membership categories) is listed in alphabetical order of surname from Mr Abbott to Mrs Zulu, and numbered from 1 through to 1769.

- 3 Balls are drawn from 3 separate bags. o The first bag has 18 balls (0 – 17) – This may vary in accordance with quantity of club members o The 2

nd bag has 10 balls (0 - 9)

o The 3rd

Bag has 10 balls (0 – 9) - The 1

st ball drawn refers to the first 2 numbers corresponding to the allocated numbers on the alphabetical

membership list - The 2

nd ball drawn refers to the 3rd number corresponding to the allocated numbers on the alphabetical

membership list - The 3

rd ball drawn refers to the 4th number corresponding to the allocated numbers on the alphabetical

membership list.

Example 1 –

Surname First Name Membership No Category Sequence No

Van Zyl Norman 022780 Reduced Fee 1647

- Mr van Zyl wins the draw if: o 1

st ball drawn is 16,

o 2nd

ball drawn 4, o 3

rd ball drawn 7

Example 2 –

Surname First Name Membership No Category Sequence No

Bachmann Brett 015577 Ordinary 0047

- Mr Bachmann wins the draw if: o 1

st ball drawn is 0,

o 2nd

ball drawn 4, o 3

rd ball drawn 7

PLEASE NOTE:

Due to Scheduled Kitchen Renovations and Maintenance, our Galley Trading times for Monday the 16th

&

Tuesday the 17th

February will be from 09h00 – 18h00.

Please click here for more info

Newsletter from the Cruising Association

Click here