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| Friday 20th March 2009
Class 2 and cruisers started at 8.30 Class 1 and IRC started at 9.00
.. and the wind did a disappearing act at the start line... |
by Trygve Roberts on Pacer lll The Mykonos offshore is the most popular offshore keelboat event in South Africa - by a very long margin. Quite what makes this event so popular no-one really knows, but each year the numbers increase. This year the organizers applied a few innovations - One of which is that due to many smaller boats not being able to complete the full distance race within the cut-off time, the ORGCOM decided to put a gate in at Dassen Island. Crossing the gate would count as Race 1. Any boats completing the full course (Cape Town to Mykonos) would score for a second race. If I may be so bold as to suggest different cut off time for Class 1 and 2 might be a fairer means to determine class winners. There was a further ambitious plan - to run a fourth race on the Saturday, after the Pursuit Race, but the weather gods rapidly (or was it slowly?) laid that plan to rest. The 2009 event will be remembered as the race of the many holes. They were numerous and almost every boat fell foul of a hole at some point in the regatta. The plus side was that the weather was manageable by the whole fleet and a good vibe prevailed with relaxed onshore activity. The main sponsors Club Mykonos, Puma, Harken , Rocket Signs , Atlantic Yachting , Distell and Starlight Cruises provided lots of freebees. As with all events there is always room for improvement and I will get to those towards the end of this report, but in general it's a serious thumbs up to Hylton Hale and his team for taking some worthwhile risks. It is so important not to rest on ones laurels but keep the innovation and improvement coming year after year to ensure success and sponsor retention. The fleet was divided into several categories - IRC, Class 1 (over 1.000 rating), Class 2 (under 1.000 rating), Class 3 (under 25ft) and Multihulls. A healthy entry of 17 boats made up the IRC fleet and here the competition was really hot with Geoff Meek, Rick Nankin and Mark Sadler making their presence felt. But back to the first race. The fleet was split into two starts. Class 2 and multihulls at 0830 and Class 1 and IRC at 0900. Despite RCYC's considerable start line, it still seemed crowded with 40 boats on the line. A stiff south easter was visible - tantalizingly close to the line, but most boats spent several agonizing minutes almost stationary, waiting for the south easter to fill in. Eventually it came through and we all got going to wards Paarden Island, the first mark of the course, consisting of a half mile beat, before the fleet could ease sheets and put up spinnakers for the long run down to Dassen island. Mixing it up with the yachts were a half dozen Hobie Tigers who seemed to be making heavy work of things in the light conditions, but ultimately they arrived long before anyone else. I noted they were not scored or recorded. Perhaps it is something the ORGCOM need to look at for future races? We already have a multihull division (with only 3 entries) so why not throw them all into one category? The blustery conditions saw many broaches and exciting moments, but the hoped for Cape Doctor fizzled out fairly quickly into a 15 knot breeze and later was to drop even more. Many of the fleet had opted to stay close inshore, but there were a few who didn't and those scored handsomely when they picked up the westerly offshore. On Maestro (Ankie Roux) they had a spinnaker snag which forced them to do a long port gybe offshore, where they were delighted to pick up better pressure and go haring off towards the scoring gate at Dassen to collect a 4th place. The smaller boats were also shaping nicely with the two Pacer 27's and the Beneteau 7.5 collecting top 10 positions. But in the IRC it was the Farr 38 Benba that took 1st overall, followed by Felix the Cat (Pacer 27) and Lapwing (L34) in third place. Amongst the Class 1 fleet the first boat at Dassen gate was Always well followed by Spilhaus and Touch n Go In Class 2 the competition was just as tough with none less than an old RCOD (Reaction) winning from Cabaray and Impact Thomas Boecker had been given the task of anchoring at Waterloo Bay off Dassen to record finishing times and identify boats as they crossed through the gate, which was from a virtual mark on the shore to his anchoring point - a distance of almost two miles. He was having a rough time of things as the boats came streaming through the gate. Even with good binoculars, he was unable to identify all the boats. This was further complicated by far too much radio chatter as skippers wanted their finishing times confirmed (a requirement on the race declaration). Next time the gate needs to be made much smaller - say 1000 meters) and a full team of recorders on board. The breeze built slightly to about 12 knots and backed more to the west allowing for better straight line sailing through to South Head. Conditions were typically West Coast with a freshening breeze, crisp blue skies and the calm waters of the lagoon beckoning (although the usual aquamarine colour was a dirty brown). The final reach in to the finish in a southerly is usually with the wind at around 80 degrees apparent - just too tight for a spinnaker in strong conditions. The well sailed and well prepared Farr 38 Benba took another 1st, with Felix the Cat in 2nd place, followed by Pacer 3 in third place. Amongst the Class 1 fleet it was another first for Always Well followed by Spilhaus and Touch n Go in 2nd and 3rd places respectively. In Class 2 it was the RCOD Reaction taking the victors spoils from Izekwela and Impact. By nightfall the bulk of the fleet had arrived and it was party time for the weary bunch of sailors. Saturday was almost too perfect with a hint of southerly breeze on the bay. It would once again prove to be a disadvantage to the smaller boats starting earlier and I suppose a pursuit race will always have that problem at a coastal venue. To be frank it is much more of a fun race than anything else and it's all part of the Mykonos vibe so we must just live with it. At 10.20 the first boats set off in very light breeze took a long time getting to the weather mark. For the unsuspecting a very large hole lay in waiting near Salamander Point which trapped almost 30 boats in its grip. Starting an hour later gives one the advantage of seeing these things, so some of the boats were able to gybe out to the right and stay in the pressure. Huge gains and losses were encountered along this section. Harry Brehm in 8 Seconds held the lead for a very long time (almost until the NE Bouy) before Puma and Windpower rolled them. The breeze remained below 15 knots the whole race making for enjoyable sailing conditions and almost everyone finished. There was no time left to hold the final race. In the IRC fleet 1st place went to the new Landmark 43 Windpower (Rick Nankin) with Geoff Meek taking 2nd place in the ILC 40 Ponty Point Leisure (Crocs/Gumption) and 3rd place going to Puma Unleashed Prize giving was postponed by an hour and dealt with efficiently and witnessed by a happy and contented bunch of sailors who got plenty of what they came for. It is fantastic to see how many companies are willing to sponsor sailing and the following deserve our recognition and support for making the Mykonos Offshore the premier keelboat sailing event in South Africa:
Some great news is that the organisers are busy negotiating to have the event televised next year. Anyone wanting to read the full unabridged story with photos can do so here |
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