Algoa Bay Yacht Club

ABYC - Port Elizabeth's Friendly Sailing Club

Dinghy

Club Members – please diarise 5 November

ABYC Social
ABYC Social
Rounds 3, 4 and 5 of our Dinghy Regatta take place on 5 November. Skippers at 12h00 and first race not before 13h00.

At 15h00 the Victoria Park Steel Band, parents and teachers will be taken to view the racing on Malgas, Warrior and Wallbanger and return to moorings at around 17h30.

The Victoria Park Steel Band will then play from 18h30 to 19h00 (or until the encores cease!) and again from 19h30 to 20h00.

This promises to be a very entertaining event and incorporates a bring and braai for all visitors and sailors.

ABYC will provide the braai fires – thanks Mike, Robbie and Ken.

Those of us with good (or bad) singing voices can then take part in the Karaoke by Vernon from 20h00 until late.

Laser Nationals and EC Provincial Championships – ABYC Sailors fare well

Our local sailors faced some pretty competition at these two concurrently-held regattas. It was held at Swartvlei, Sedgefield, which attracted many Western Cape Sailors, which certainly upped the level of competition. The Laser fleet (Standards, Radials and 4.7s) numbered 70, and included a number of SAS Race Ahead high-performance trainees being coached by Roger Hudson. Some 40 other dinghies took part in the EC Champs: Oppies, Teras, Dapchicks, 29ers, Sonnets and Darts. On the first three days our sailors had to contend with strong winds over 24 knots, but these were testing conditions for these top sailors.

Our club sailors did well in the EC Champs:

  • Open Fleet – 8th Jenna Bailes & Jemima Baun
  • Teras – 1st Luke Weddell, 2nd Cameron Hills
  • Oppies – 16th Emma Lucas
  • Laser Radials – 11th Sigi Bailes, 13th Charlie Hills, 16th Jordan van Zyl, 22nd Chad Bilsbury

Laser Nationals Results (Radials): 11th Charlie Hills, 14th Jordan van Zyl, 18th Sigi Bailes, 27th Chad Bilsbury

Many thanks to the ABYC parents who helped with the logistics and marker/rescue boats.

Full Laser results on www.laser.org.za

Bart’s Bash Dinghy Results

Round 1 of Bart’s Bash was sailed on Saturday 16 September out of the Algoa Bay Yacht Club, Port Elizabeth. This year the Redhouse Yacht Club and ABYC joined forces to sail the Bash.

Race Officer, Ronnie Baer took the fleet of 16 entrants out of the Port of Port Elizabeth to sail offshore. The overcast conditions presented some interesting challenges for some of the open dinghies in the lumpy sea, 10 knot South South East wind and intermittent drizzle.

Divided into two fleets to accommodate Senior (Fleet 1) and Junior (Fleet 2) sailors the courses sailed comprised a Sausage, Triangle, Sausage for Fleet 1 and a Sausage, Triangle for Fleet 2.

Fresh from sailing in the RS Tera World Championships, Redhouse Yacht Club sailor – Sophie Hynch sailed two bullets in a Laser 4.7 dinghy to emerge triumphant in the 12 strong Fleet 1. In second place with two second places were Colin Benadie and Lauren Hynch on Colin’s immaculate Sonnet, closely followed by Algoa Bay Yacht Club’s Charlie Hills on a Laser Radial. Indicative of the difficult sea state we saw a number of retirees by open dinghies who struggled to keep their boats dry and spent more time bailing than sailing.

Fleet 2 featured the RS Tera boats with Cameron Hills showing the four strong fleet a clean pair of heels in both races to finish top of the leaderboard, followed by fellow Algoa Bay Yacht Club sailors, Luke Weddel and Tammy Bailes in second and third places respectively.

The Bart’s Bash regatta is an annual worldwide event held in aid of the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation (ASSF) and in memory of Olympic Gold medallist Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson (crewing for Iain Percy in the Star class 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing) who tragically lost his life in a sailing accident whilst out training for the America’s Cup in San Francisco Bay in 2013.

Over 355 yacht clubs and sailing venues in more over 58 countries signed up to participate this year with Durban’s mighty Point Yacht Club leading the top clubs leaderboard for entry numbers to Barts Bash this year, on a massive 196 and well ahead of their total last year.

Sailors taking part in Bart’s Bash are raising funds for the Foundation whose very specific objective for 2016 is to promote awareness for, and the further development of, disabled sailing globally.

ASAF’s main mission is to “help young people develop the personal skills that will improve their ability to succeed in life and to improve access to jobs and careers within the maritime sector.”

Point and Algoa Bay Yacht Club’s are the hosts for South Africa’s oldest Ocean Race the Vasco Da Gama Ocean Race which will, for the third time in 2017, be sailed from Durban to Port Elizabeth.

In 2014 with 3,600 boats participating across 768 venues around the world, the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation smashed the Guinness World Record for Largest Sailing Race in 24 Hours (Multiple Venues). Results from yacht clubs around the world will be collated and displayed on the official Bart’s Bash website.

FULL RESULTS HERE

https://www.facebook.com/ABYCpe/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1748467825412774

Supporting Disabled Sailing

Support disabled sailing by coming to ABYC and taking part in the annual Barts Bash which is the World’s Largest Sailing Event.

The Dinghy fleet will be celebrating Barts Bash with three races on Saturday 17 September.

Skippers at 13h30.

Followed by a Bring and Braai afterwards.

Bart's Bash 2016 Dinghies
Bart’s Bash 2016 Dinghies

Coca-Cola Inter-Schools – Redhouse Yacht Club 19 to 21 March 2016

Cameron Hills
Cameron Hills

ABYC’s dinghy sailors had to contend with strong winds, racing tides and Monday’s rain, though they managed to get in 8 races.

In the Junior Fleet Cameron Hill took 1st Place for Elsen Academy, Emma Lucas 3rd for Summerwood and Charl Hoogendoon 4th (Joy Homeschool). In the Oppie Fleet, Cameron gained 1st place, Luke Weddell 2nd and Simon Carthew 3rd. In the Senior Lasers Fleet Chad Bilsbury earned 1st Place and Jordan van Zyl 4th, while in Senior Other, Luke Weddell was 1st, Tamryn Bailes 3rd. This all resulted in ABYC sailors winning 1st Senior for Grey High and 2nd for Collegiate High. Full set of results on www.ryc.co.za

The scholars thoroughly enjoyed egging on the ‘old school’ sailors in their Sunday afternoon dash – you know it’s really windy when the Oppie (yes, an Oppie!) Tim Jones was sailing in was planning on the run! A big thank you to the parents who supported their youngsters over the three days and to the well prepared RYC race organisers.