he Mountain Yacht Club recently held its annual Winter Youth Regatta at Ebenezer Dam in Limpopo over the long weekend in June. Despite the winter weather and end-of-term school exams, this event attracted 15 youth from Polokwane, Magoebaskloof, and Tzaneen.Coaching was very professionally conducted by Angela Fraser (PSC) and Matthew Bennett (VLC), who kindly traveled 400 kms north for the long weekend. Formerly top Northvaal Dabchick sailors themselves, they used a combination of theory, practical demonstrations, and on-the-water shepherding as their coaching techniques. This approach paid off well, with parents on the shore commenting on the visible improvements in their youth sailors on the water.
Angie and Matt focused primarily on starting, beating, and running throughout the nine races of the regatta, using both Olympic and America’s Cup–style courses. The junior section, sailing Oppies and 0-9ers, was won by David Morris, with Timothy Elphinstone second and Ayrton Flintham third. The senior section, sailing mostly Dabchicks with one Laser, was won by Keegan Paul, with Georgina Betton second and Tessa Morris third.Many of the MYC youth are already looking ahead to the Northvaal Dabchick Provincials in September, which, for many of them, will be their first real “away” regatta. There were two pleasing signs in this regard.Firstly, Keegan Paul, the winner, is a novice. He has only previously crewed on a Dabchick in two regattas, before skippering his own boat (without crew) for the very first time in this regatta, which he went on to win! Secondly, Stanford Lake College in Haenertsburg, under the guidance of Allan Hart, brought out a team of five novices to start learning to sail, and, since all of them are teenagers, they will soon be on Dabbies as well.
As always, this regatta was made possible by the valuable contributions of all the parents, with special mention going to the Fraser and Bennett families for traveling all the way up, as well as to Brad Bell, Rhetta Patterson, Keith Elphinstone, Mauneen van Wyk, and Nan McGregor.
(Pictures have been uploaded to the gallery section)
