I will be stepping down as National Chairman at the end of the year. Its time for new blood, new ideas and energy to take us forward. Please think about who can take the reins over, you will be required to vote in a new chairman at Nationals Midmar 2009. Remember,its the sailors who vote so discuss with your friends and parents and come to the AGM prepared.
Owen
The 2009 WC Provincial Championships were again held at Saldahna Bay over the Easter weekend. Sixteen Dabchicks,
including Alex Ham (Gauteng), Jayan (George Lakes) and Tim Manley (Mossel Bay) participated with half the fleet coming from IYC.
Just on half the fleet were youngsters sailing their first Dabchick provincials. The enthusiasm and commitment shown by them bodes well for the future of the Dabchick class.
Two races were sailed on the Friday in light conditions, three back to back races on the Saturday in steadily increasing winds, and a further four back to back on the Sunday in far stronger conditions. It was really great to see the novices handling some of the stronger winds, while the top five helmsmen were having a real battle. In many of the races mere seconds separated the first few finishers. In fact the bridge commented that they sometimes had some very close calls to make!
There was excellent ground support from the associated parents and other willing helpers who fed, repaired, launched and assisted with other activities. The course was reasonably close to the shore enabling the spectators to watch the exciting races.
Two further races were held on the Monday which allowed for two discards on the eleven races sailed.
Both Jeremy and Kevin Foreman won their first race at a provincial event – congratulations!
The class must thank Dave Manley and his sponsors for arranging sufficient prizes so that each Dabbie sailor obtained a prize at the end of the regatta.
All in all a fantastic event – our thanks to the organising committee and their helpers.
The final placings were
1st Tim Manley (Mossel Bay)
2nd Jonathan Kukard (IYC)
3rd Kevin Foreman (IYC)
4th Chris Boshoff (ZVYC)
5th Jeremy Foreman (IYC)
We hope to see further growth in the Dabchick class in the very near future.
Rob Foreman
Results can be viewed here. Photos of the Dabchick class are attached; for all photos from the event click here.
Dear All
Please receive Info ,
We will also be do Pre measuring for all the Dabbies going to Nationals the following week, Boats will be weighed in M Bay,
AT TSC
TSC will be hosting the (SAS) WCDA Points 3 Series and Western Cape Multihull Regatta on 6 & 7 December. We are hoping for a record number of entries this year!
A fun Sunset Race is scheduled for Friday, 5th December, which is scheduled to start after 17h30.
The official race start time – not before 14h30 on Saturday. Registration will take place after 11h30 on Saturday.
Entry Fees for Regatta:
Single handed: R80.00 & Double Handed: R120.00
Camping Costs:
18 yrs and older R40.00 pp for the weekend, 12-17 years: R35.00 pp for the weekend, R20.00 pp for children under 12
Cafeteria and Bar facilities available.
TSC – Best place for the whole family!
Please visit Website – http://www.theewaters.co.za/
Rob Foreman
The Annual Western Cape Dabchick Training Camp was held at the Imperial Yacht Club, Zandvlei on the weekend of 25th and 26th October 2008.
Nineteen young sailors from various yacht clubs (8 from IYC, 8 from MAC, 2 from ZVYC and 1 from Mossel Bay) registered for the event which started at 13h30 on the Saturday. Lance Dixon (the IYC commodore ) welcomed all the participants and introduced them to the trainer, Gareth Blanckenberg.
The winds on the Saturday afternoon were pretty strong resulting in two-up Dabby sailing (and even then there were numerous capsizes), light on the Sunday morning and ideal on Sunday afternoon – a little of everything for the sailors.
Gareth provided a very professional approach to the weekend concentrating on all aspects – sail setting, setting up the boat in different conditions, boat handling, the mental approach, etc.
Lectures were given in the Clubhouse followed by on the water practice and training. These sessions were recorded for analysis and de-briefing after each session on the water.
On Saturday evening the wind dropped away completely and the sailors could relax and sort out sore limbs. On Sunday morning before the wind arrived the Dabby sailors were allocated the task of constructing a boat out of coke bottles, string, a wooden dowel and some cloth which would be able to reach across our “duck pond”. It was interesting to see the various approaches and designs. One team’s boat actually made it across the pond under sail!
Dabby moms from IYC kept the hungry sailors satisfied and very well fed – thanks to all who gave up their time for the juniors. Again thanks to the many fathers for piloting the rescue and training boats – I’m sure the youngsters appreciated your assistance.
It was quite clear as the weekend progressed how the sailors’ abilities improved due to the intensive coaching and encouragement.
The juniors were collected by their parents around 17h00 on the Sunday.
Thanks once again to Gareth for both his time and sharing his knowledge with our youngsters.
Rob Foreman
This last weekend four Matric Dabchick sailors sailed with Optimist sailors for a morning at ZVYC’s training camp to allow them the chance to try out Dabchick sailing.
Relatively light winds meant that all could sail one up (no capsizes either) while their Optimists were looked after (sailed) by Dabbie sailors who had forgotten just how small an Oppie is…
The feedback from this was great and hopefully the same can happen again soon to give more a chance to realise just how great Dabchicks are.
Cape Rep. Rob Foreman has reported that 7 boats took part in the points regatta (an improvement from previous years – making Dabchicks one of the bigger classes at the event). Light winds prevailed meaning that the two mylar sails present were difficult to compare to the other dacron sails.
After four races the results were:
Rob also writes “We were all very impressed with Jacques Louw & Jason from MAC. The competition at the Junior Nationals at December is heating up.”
The following information about the Vogelvlei Point Series, which takes place this weekend, is avaliable:
Dinghy sailors from West Lancashire Yacht Club in the UK (WLYC) have been challenged by local sailors from around the peninsula in the Inaugural MAC 12 Hour challenge to be sailed at Rietvlei on Saturday September 20th starting at 6am and finishing at 6pm.
Teams from Cape Town Yacht Clubs MAC, Imperial, Zeekoevlei, Royal Cape, False Bay and Izivunguvungu are entering teams of 5 helmsmen who will sail in a relay format for 12 hours in Laser and Dabchick Dinghies.
For many years, annual training camps have been arranged by the Western Cape Youth Committee and the running of these camps naturally falls on the yacht clubs. The Optimist class has always been hosted by Zeekoevlei Yacht Club, while the Dabchick class has been hosted by Imperial Yacht Club on the same weekend.
The purpose of the camp is to improve the skills of the relevant sailors whether they are relative beginners or established sailors. This year the camps are being held on the weekend of 25 / 26 October. The camp is a “sleep over” and adult supervision is arranged with full catering provided. In order to assist with the planning of the event we would appreciate early entries.
We have arranged, as we have done for a number of years, to have Gareth Blanckenberg (one of South Africa’s top sailors) to be responsible for, and to co-ordinate, the training part of the weekend, while we provide the venue, rescue etc.
Click here to download the information leaflet and entry form.
