Regatta 2005

IRC ammended results     Cruiser Class 1     Cruiser Class 1

Scribe: Trygve Roberts reporting from his perspective sailing a J27 in IRC Class 2 Pictures: Pam Newby Islands of kelp; convoy's of container ships; towed oil rigs; light and fluky winds; absurdly biased start lines .. these were all hurdles to overcome for competitors in the annual Sedgewicks Old Brown Sherry Regatta held at RCYC over the weekend of 14th/15th May. Tons of kelp had decided to domicile itself in Table Bay. Almost everyone hooked some kelp during the two day event. I felt sorry for those with bulb keels, as once the kelp is down there, that's where it stays until the boat is reversed. Then to add some extra spice we had to dodge container ships and a massive oil rig, crossing our course - or rather us crossing theirs - judging by the five blasts on the ships horn. In the light winds present, it could cost one many places. This event has always attracted a large fleet and is the highlight in the Cape winter sailing calendar. It's a pity that due to some staffing/volunteer problems on the part of RCYC, a proper bridge boat and mark layers were not organised. The club has a large membership with full time staff, so it was disappointing to have to use the fixed line start from the wall. It's a fact that a proper bridge boat with a good R.O. lends status to any regatta. In defence of the race committee, the length and direction of courses chosen were the best under the circumstances. Line bias, barging, shipping and soldiers courses could all have been avoidable had the courses been set manually. There is more than sufficient space in the bay. In most races there was more than 30% starboard bias at the pin end !! Really people .. this is not the way to make for happy sailors! Despite my few criticisms, we still had fun and enjoyed a competitive event. May is probably the month with the lowest average wind speed in Cape Town, so we were expecting light weather. The forecast for snow and strong north westerly winds and 80% rain for the Saturday, did not materialize. We actually sailed in short sleeves most of the weekend in almost calm conditions with pleasant sunshine. Another cold front was expected to arrive during the day on Sunday. We managed to squeeze in four good races over the two days. The 43 boat fleet was split into four divisions - IRC Class 1 & 2; Cruiser Class 1 & 2 with the Cruiser Class 2 attracting the largest fleet. Saturday, 14th May. The cruiser fleets started first on a medium distance bay race in very light and fluky conditions, with Eddie de Villiers taking the Welbourne 46, "Hifidelity" immediately into the lead. They were unable to enter IRC Class 1 due to an invalid IRC certificate. Winners were "Hifidelity" and "Impact" in the cruiser divisions 1 & 2 respectively. Shortly after the cruiser starts, the IRC fleets started their first of three back to back races, all of which were two windward/leeward loops. The first race was won by the Farr 38, "Al" and the J/27 "Smackwater Jack" classes 1 & 2 respectively with some very close racing in IRC Class 2, the lead changing several times between the two J/27's. The IRC fleets immediately sailed Race 2 in very light and fluky conditions with the honours going to "Al" in Class 1 and the J/27 "Hillbilly" in Class 2. Race 3 was another back to back affair as the kelp and light airs and an oil rig across the course, stretched everyone's patience. Winners were (once again) "Al" in Class 1 and this time it was the Laser 28 "UkuZwana" taking the handicap win in Class 2. By 1500 everyone was back in the pub to enjoy the Stormers being thrashed (again!!!) and to sample some of the sponsors beefy soup washed down with some "Obies" and Gluwein. Sunday, 15th May: Overcast; Cold; Wind moderate NW. The morning forecast was for a freshening north westerly reaching 18 knots with 60% chance of rain later. Once again, the forecast was inaccurate and we had pleasant conditions to race in with partly cloudy skies and a 10 to 15 knot North Westerly. For the IRC fleets, it was to be a distance race counting double points, whereas the cruiser fleets had another bay race which was to be the same as the IRC fleet course. Again it was everyone on "kelp watch" as we tried to dodge whole islands of floating kelp. Because of the fixed mark course we were sailing, our first "beat" was actually a fetch which equates into a soldiers course. Nothing more frustrating! At least we had decent breeze for most of the race and everyone enjoyed themselves. Winners in the IRC fleets were (Yeah, you guessed it ) "Al" in Class 1 and the L34, "Sensation" won Class 2. In the cruiser fleets it was "Spilhaus" and the H34 "Celine 111" respectively taking the PHRF honours. We were packed up and in the pub by 1500 and then started a long wait for the results to be processed. There were computer glitches; operator glitches and protests to be heard. When they finally got the results up, they had incorrectly taken a discard into account. The sponsors, C. Sedgewick and Co., whose most famous brand is "Old Brown Sherry" handed out many bottles of their product in generous hamper format. My rating on this event is 6/10 Pam took 267 digital photos of the race with the intention of providing a background slide show at prizegiving. Regretably, the promised projector only arrived at the start of prizegiving ... with no leads. Anyone interested in receiving pictures, the sailing office has been given a cd of them all.

IRC ammended results     Cruiser Class 1     Cruiser Class 1