In the just completed ABYC Sailing week, sailed from 27 April to 1 May, the L26 Orion Express sailed by Rob Archibald emerged triumphant in Fleet 1.

The rule of thumb for any wind in Algoa Bay is that every month with an ‘R’ in it has wind and April certainly demonstrated that with a mini gale on Sunday 28 April which resulted in many damages to competing boats after a first day with no wind at all.

The total of seven races for Fleet 1 and 3 races for Fleet 2 over the five days of the regatta were all sailed on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday’s cut off time of 1:00 pm was just too early as the North Easter began to fill in as the fleets were sent home after bobbing in Algoa Bay for over three hours waiting for Port Elizabeth’ s famous wind to make it’s appearance.

Monday’s sailing was completed in a westerly breeze that swung to south west after the second race for Fleet 2 and in a steady breeze that increased from 8 to 14 knots sailors had a long and rewarding day in the flat sea.

Fleet 2 – for the cruising boats – once again had their course set to a top mark, then they were off to an offset mark off of Shark Rock Pier, to the Bell Buoy, back to the Pier, a return to the Bell Buoy, around the bottom mark for Fleet 1 and to the finish. A nice long course.

Fleet 1 had to work a little harder as they did the traditional Olympic course of Sausage, Triangle, Sausage, Finish.

The second day’s sailing of Algoa Bay Week saw Fleet 1 complete three races on the Olympic style course. The L26 Orion Express of Rob Archibald started the day with a 1 point lead over the J27′s who went hunting for low points. Race officer Brian Reynolds set Course 1 with the top mark offshore of Kings Beach, the bottom mark opposite Macarthurs Baths and the Wing mark in line with the harbour wall.

Three races were sailed in ideal conditions with the last race started after the course was reset to accommodate the east shifting and steadily increasing breeze. A 1.3 metre swell made for fast beating and relatively quick downwind legs for the fleet.

Some tight racing took place in Fleet 1 with Orion Express picking the better lines ending the day on top with 9 points off a second and two firsts.

The J27′s of Sean Wiseman (Jellybaby) and Richard Rath (Jouster) had a ding dong battle and swapped places each race with Jellybaby, on 12 points, finally taking the a slender lead of one point over Jouster.

Fleet 2 sailed one long race that took them to the Shark Rock Pier, around the Bell Buoy (twice) and then back to round the Olympic course bottom mark and to the finish. The Olympic course for Fleet 1 was shifted to the east to accommodate a wind shift whilst Fleet 2 were on their way down from the Bell Buoy, resulting in some confusion.

After a lengthy protest at the end of day 4 the second race of the series was abandoned and all competitors scored 0 points.

In the racing division of Fleet 2 the Peterson 33, Seralon (Jerome Putter) emerged triumphant over the Sigma 33, Odelisque (Roger Cady) with the Charger 33, Wings (Eugene Lombard) coming in 3rd place on 3 points adrift.

Wily campaigner, Rob Smith sailing Tikalox II, a Muira, emerged as the overall winner in the cruising division of Fleet 2. Second in the cruising division was the impeccably restored Royal Cape One Design (RCOD), sailed by Hennie Haasbroek, with the Sadler 26 (Morgan Griffiths) finishing in third place on 18 points.

Overall Results:
Fleet 1:

1. Orion Express (L26) Rob Archibald – 9.0
2. Jelly Baby (J27) Sean Wiseman – 12.0
3. Jouster (J27) Richard Rath – 13.0

Fleet 2:
Racer:

1. Seralon II (Peterson 33) Jerome Putter – 12.0
2. Odelisque (Sigma 33) Roger Cady – 12.0
3. Wings (Charger 33) Eugene Lombard – 17.0

Cruiser:

1. Tikalox II (Muira) Rob Smith – 2.0
2. Sewen (RCOD) Hennie Haasbroek – 6.0
3. Fling (Sadler 26) Morgan Griffiths – 7.0

The second day’s sailing of Algoa Bay Week saw Fleet 1 complete three races on the Olympic style course. Race officer Brian Reynolds set Course 1 with the top mark offshore of Kings Beach, the bottom mark opposite Macarthurs Baths and the Wing mark in line with the harbour wall.

Three races were sailed in ideal conditions with the last race started after the course was reset to accommodate the east shifting and steadily increasing breeze. A 1.3 metre swell made for fast beating and relatively quick downwind legs for the fleet.

Fleet 2 sailed one long race that took them to the Shark Rock Pier, around the Bell Buoy (twice) and then back to round the Olympic course bottom mark and to the finish. The Olympic course for Fleet 1 was shifted to the east to accommodate a wind shift whilst Fleet 2 were on their way down from the Bell Buoy, resulting in some confusion and the sailors did what they do best – sail a longer course around everything “just because they could!”.

Some tight racing took place in Fleet 1 with Orion Express picking the better lines ending the day on top with 9 points off a second and two firsts.

The J27′s of Sean Wiseman (Jellybaby) and Richard Rath (Jouster) had a ding dong battle and swapped places each race with Jellybaby, on 12 points, finally taking the a slender lead of one point over Jouster.

The Royal Cape One Design (RCOD), sailed by Hennie Haasbroek, continues to dominate the cruising division in Fleet 2 and with 6 points is way ahead of second placed Tikalox II (Rob Smith) on 14 points and the Sadler 26 (Morgan Griffiths) on 18 points.

In the racing division of Fleet 2 the Peterson 33 (Jerome Putter) is in for some competition as the Sigma 33 (Roger Cady) is on the same points as Seralon and Wings (Eugene Lombard) lies 6 points adrift.

ABYC Week concludes tomorrow with racing starting not before 10:00 am.

Overall Results:

Fleet 1:

1. Orion Express (L26) Rob Archibald – 9.0
2. Jelly Baby (J27) Sean Wiseman – 12.0
3. Jouster (J27) Richard Rath – 13.0

Fleet 2:

Racer:

1. Seralon II (Peterson 33) Jerome Putter - 12.0
2. Odelisque (Sigma 33) Roger Cady – 12.0
3. Wings (Charger 33) Eugene Lombard – 17.0

Cruiser:

1. Sewen (RCOD) Hennie Haasbroek – 6.0
2. Tikalox II (Muira) Rob Smith – 14.0
3. Fling (Sadler 26) Morgan Griffiths – 18.0

After four races yesterday on 29 April, the final day of the 505 fleet sailing presented fine sailing conditions. An East North East of 10 knots saw race officer Brian Reynolds set Course 1 with the top mark offshore of Kings Beach, the bottom mark opposite Macarthurs Baths and the Wing mark in line with the harbour wall.

3 races were sailed in ideal conditions with the last race started after the course was reset to accommodate the east shifting and steadily increasing breeze. A 1.3 metre swell made for fast beating and relatively quick downwind legs for the fleet.

Today was the final day for the 505 fleet and racing was finished for the day at 2:00 pm.

In an about turn from the first day’s racing, yesterday’s leading team of Thomas and Peter Funke, sailing for PRetoria Sailing Club (PSC), slipped back into second place after Kyle Klaas and Robert von Greunewaldt, sailing for Pretoria Yacht Club (PYC), dominated the fleet with three firsts to end on nine points and honours for the greater number of firsts during the seven races sailed.

After the decimation of the fleet in Saturday’s gale the 505 champs were downgraded fom a National Championships as only 6 boats were able to continue sailing in Algoa Bay and not the required minimum of 10 boats.

The top three finishers:

1. PSC – Kyle Klaas and Robert von Greunewaldt
2. PYC – Thomas and Peter Funke
3. PSC – Jonathan and Warwick Ham

Fleet 1 and Fleet 2 racing in Algoa Bay continues to-morrow and the 505′s return for their NAtional Championships in 2014.

After an appalling two days of no wind and then too much wind ABYC Week finally got underway on Monday 29 April with four races for Fleet 1 and the 505 Fleet and two races for Fleet 2.

Sailed in a westerly breeze that swung to south west after the second race for Fleet 2 and in a steady breeze that increased from 8 to 14 knots sailors had a long and rewarding day in the flat sea.

With the 505 fleet somewhat decimated after Saturday’s gale that put paid to a number of boats sailing further in the regatta we had 6 boats contesting the National Championships and four yachts in Fleet 1 for sportboats.

Fleet 2 – for the cruising boats – once again had their course set to a top mark, then they were off to an offset mark off of Shark Rock Pier, to the Bell Buoy, back to the Pier, a return to the Bell Buoy, around the bottom mark for Fleet 1 and to the finish. A nice long course.

Fleet 1 and the 505′s had to work a little harder as they did the traditional Olympic course of Sausage, Triangle, Sausage, Finish.

In the 505 fleet, Thomas and Peter Funke showed great consistency in securing three bullets after shrugging off a third in the first race and are currently leading the pack on 6 points. If they keep the momentum up they could finish with a perfect score after the discard at race 5.

In Fleet 1 Orion Express – an L26 helmed by Rob Archibald – is demonstrating that consistency pays off even with a string of second places. Archibald was first in Race 1 and collected 3 second places after that to still lead the fleet on 7 points. The top three are extremely close on 7, 8 and then 9 points.

Fleet 2 has been further divided into a racer and cruiser fleet and was the subject of extensive protests by sailors who experienced confusion over their designated marks of the course. In their eagerness to go racing fleet 2 scored eight On Course Side starts and disappointment for all eight as they scored maximum points in this low points scoring regatta. In race 2 only three boats of the cruiser fleet started correctly whilst no boats started correctly in the racer fleet.

Provisional Overall Results:

505 Dinghy

1. Thomas and Peter Funke – 6.0
2. Kyle Klaas and Robert von Greunewaldt – 9.0
3. Richard Hutton Squire and James Largier – 11.0

Sport Boats:

1. Orion Express (L26) Rob Archibald – 7.0
2. Jouster (J27) Richard Rath – 8.0
3. Jelly Baby (J27) Sean Wiseman – 9.0

Fleet 2:

Racer:

1. Seralon II (Peterson 33) Jerome Putter – 9.0

Cruiser:

1. Sewen (RCOD) Hennie Haasbroek – 3.0
2. Tikalox II (Muira) Rob Smith – 13.0
3. Watoo (Astove 31) John Tudehope – 14.0

As at 22 April we have 28 local entries for Fleet 1 and 2 for ABYC Week plus fourteen 505′s entered in the 505 Nationals taking place at the same time. There is still time to enter your boat in ABYC Week that takes place from 29 April to 1 May 2013.

Click here to download the 2013 ABYC Week Sailing Instructions.

2013 ABYC Week Entrants:

1. Steve Arnold – Adamo
2. Tony Bailes – Malgas
3. Jerome Putter – Seralon
4. Eugene Lombard – Wings
5. Bill Lee – Chinnook
6. Roberta Dias – Sereia
7. Hennie Haasbroek – Sewen
8. Alan Van Heerden – Aquabrat
9. Chad Jackson – Fandango
10. Morgan Griffiths – Fling
11. Anton Hautmann – Sea Mole
12. Mark Hewitt – Sea Spirit
13. Mark Potgieter Susanna Maria – Emagine
14. Robert Smith – Tikalox II
15. Philip Stunden – Valiant
16. John Tudehope – Wattoo Kamina
17. Roger Cady – Odalisque
18. Harry Lamprecht – Lady
19. Sean Wiseman – Jelly Baby
20. Richard Rath – Jouster
21. Russel Morgan – Wild Thing
22. Robert Archibald – Orion Express
23. Jim Foot – ABYC Challenger
24. Graham Wentworth – Pacer 27
25. PLUS 14 x 505′s