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Ma Wyatt / Farrell Series

The 2nd round of the Ma Wyatt and Farrell Trophy races was sailed last Sunday. Only one race was sailed on the first day of this series last September, so these series were wide open. It was cool and cloudy all day, with an occasional smattering of rain. The conditions, together with some of our juniors away at the W. Cape Inter Schools Regatta made for a much reduced turnout - 5 Lasers and a Sonnet in the seniors and 3 Teras and an Optimist in the juniors. An early south wester moderated, but several rain squalls came through during the racing.

David Laing was loaned a Laser to compete on level terms with the other Lasers for a change. He did well in the lighter wind, but discovered deficiencies in boat control in the squalls. John Marc was leading in the first race until the squall came through - Henry Paine took the lead and extended it to win. Similarly in race 2, Henry pulled ahead in a squall. After a tea break, it was decided that there was enough wind for a 3rd race. David took the lead, then the wind faded and John Marc passed in to first place. Henry, David and Malcolm drifted to the finish line - Henry found a bit more pressure to take 2nd place. But with his points from the first race, John Marc wins the Ma Wyatt Trophy.

For the junior sailors last Sunday sailing for the Farrel Trophy, Ashleigh Hellstrom sailed a Tera Pro to line honours in all three races. But it was the Tera Sport of Danielle de Wet who came first on handicap in the first race. In race 2, Jesse Smart on Tera Pro had enough gap over Danielle to claim 2nd place. Then, in race 3, it was new young Optimist sailor James Vonk who kept his boat going in the fading win to get 2nd place on handicap, behind Ashleigh. It is Ashleigh Hellstrom who wins the Farrell Trophy for the 2011/2012 season.

Congratulations to the Glenwood House Prep team for winning the W. Cape Interschools Regatta in the primary school division! Team - Georgou Divaris, James Hellstrom, Chris Brooks. The Glenwood House College team took 7th place in the High Schools division. (Thomas & Jenna Lammers and Rory Laing)

2012 S.A. Sailing S. Cape Interschools Regatta

A great S. Cape Interschools Regatta was held at GLYC last weekend. The event is growing - 67 boats sailed this year, up from 50 last year and 36 in 2010. There were 44 boats in the High School fleet, 19 in the Primary School fleet and 23 in a novices fleet sailing short races in front of the club house.

Two races were sailed in the main fleet in a light southerly on Saturday and three in similar conditions on Sunday. The High School fleet was dominated by the Laser of John Marc Olivier, but the team prize went to Glenwood House College team, who had Ashleigh Hellstrom (Tera Pro), Thomas Lammers (Laser) and Rory Laing (Laser) as their top sailors.

In the Primary Schools fleet, James Hellstrom (Tera Pro) was in first place, from team mates Georgou & Markos Divaris (Optimists). They sailed for Glenwood House Preparatory, who had nine boats in the top ten! They naturally won this division by a big margin.

The novice fleet struggled initially to get around the course, but by Sunday, with lots of patient instruction from the coaches, were able to navigate in an orderly fashion around and between the bouys. Coming out on top was Mcukisi Manyathi of Percy Mdala High, sailing a O-9r.

Full results are available on the GLYC website.

Woodwise / de Klerk Series

Sailing for the second round of races for the Woodwise Trophy (for seniors) and the de Klerk Cup (for juniors) commenced in a very light southerly wind. A big fleet of twenty boats sailed on the senior course. This comprised 14 Lasers, a Fireball, two Sonnets, a Laser II and two Mirrors. The junior fleet comprised a Dabchick, two Mirrors, a Tera Pro and two Tera Sports.

As per form, the fleet was lead by the Fireball of David & Rory Laing. The Lasers had John Marc Olivier up front, followed by Bill Turner and Malcolm Baillie. The junior fleet had James Hellstrom on Tera Pro in front.Soon after the start in the second race, the wind veered southeast and freshened. A bunch of Lasers converged on the first mark, then in the stronger wind, Malcolm Osborne and John Marc Olivier pulled away to establish a big lead. These two fought it out to the end, with Olivier crossing the line two seconds in front. The third race had a reduced fleet, with several deciding that conditions were getting tiring. Olivier and Osborne once again lead the Lasers, with Osborne being first over the line this time.

In the overall results for the Woodwise Trophy, it was Cundell P Statt who came out in front to claim victory. He sailed the first series on a Mirror, changing to Laser 4.7 this day. With a win last time and winning the last race on handicap, he was able to come out three points clear of the second place boat, a Mirror sailed by Cundell and Tracy Statt. They had the advantage of a win in the second race of the day. They tied on points with John Marc Olivier, but came out ahead on the basis of race wins.

For the de Klerk Cup, Georgou Divaris won all three races in the first series, but James Hellstrom didn't sail. This time, Georgou wasn't sailing here (he was sailing points series at Theewaters Sports Club). James won all today's races, so these two tied on points. This gets split on the basis of winner of the last race, so James Hellstrom receives the de Klerk Cup. Julian Leggatt (Optimist) sailed into second places in each of the two races he sailed. Sarah Young was third on Tera Sport.

President Trophy

With the cold front and associated strong wind having passed through on Saturday, lighter wind was forecast for Sunday. White horses were evident out to sea in the morning, but conditions on Island Lake were much calmer. The wind was still from the south west, gusty as usual.

The senior fleet mustered eight Lasers, four Sonnets and a Fireball. The junior fleet was much smaller - an Optimist and three Teras. In the first race, the Fireball of David & Rory Laing pulled out a good lead, ahead of the Lasers. The Lasers had veteran Bill Turner and Malcolm Osborne ahead of the rest, with Bill leading at one stage. A favourable lift put Malcolm in the lead for the Lasers, to be the first of this class, ahead of Bill. Handicap scoring gave first place in the race to Malcolm, 5 seconds ahead of the Laing Fireball. Bill got third and fourth place went the Laser 4.7 sailed by Seth Young. In the juniors, the Tera Sport of James Hellstrom took line honours, but Georgou Divaris (Optimist) was the winner on handicap.

The second race, sailed in a fading wind, saw the Laings having a bad start to be behind several of the Lasers at the first mark. This was bad for their handicap position and although they soon got ahead of the fleet, they were never far enough ahead to feature in the final results - they were 5th on handicap. Malcolm Osborne was the leading Laser for most of the race. With the wind getting lighter, the race was shortened half way. A puff of wind down the run compressed the bunch of Lasers, with Bill, Evelyn and Thomas Lammers catching up to Malcolm by the bottom mark. In the light conditions going to the finish line, Malcolm headed to a puff of wind that arrived too late. Evelyn got the wind on the other side to finish first, followed by Bill and Thomas. Once again, James Hellstrom was first across the line in the small junior fleet, with Georgou first on handicap. The third race was not sailed due to lack of wind.

In the President Trophy series, Evelyn was the leader after the first races of this series, sailed in October last year, tied on points with Anthony Parker. The latter chose to play golf yesterday, leaving it to Evelyn to defend her lead. She only scored sixth in the first race, which put her title chances in jeopardy, but the win in the last race with Malcolm back in fourth secured the trophy.

Millenium Trophy

The second series of races for the Millenium Trophy took place at George Lakes Yacht Club on Sunday, 29 January.

With the leaders from the first series away, it was up to the rest of the fleet to contend for this trophy. Anthony Parker chose to compete at Hermanus Yacht Club in the W. Cape Points Series on his Fireball (where he won in the Open Class) and Alastair Fraser competed at Knysna in the third Buffalo Challenge. The George Lakes Laser fleet welcomed some new young members coming up from the junior classes - Jenna Lammers and James Hellstrom. There were four Sonnets sailing - Di, Joop, Maurits and Tony.

In the first race, contention at the front was between the Lasers of Henry Paine, Malcolm Osborne and John Marc Olivier. John Marc overtook on the run and went into a lead that he could maintain to the finish. The wind picked up for the second race - here it was Evelyn and Malcolm Osborne and Henry contending at the front of the fleet. Evelyn rounded the last mark in first place, but was overtaken by Malcolm up the last beat. Henry Paine finished third. The Sonnet sailed by veteran Joop Weddepohl came in in fourth place on handicap, ahead of John Marc Olivier.

Race three was contended by Henry and Malcolm, with Evelyn being able to stay ahead of John Marc and Dave Jones. Malcolm lead from the first mark and was then able to use the shifts to stay ahead to the end.

Overall for the Millenium Trophy, first place goes to Malcolm Osborne, who sailed the first series of these races on his Sprog with Chris Brooks. No juniors sailed today, so the Toppies Trophy is awarded to the winner from the first series - Nathan Page (Tera Sport).

Bell / Langvlei and Tom's Tavern Trophy Racing

Once again, a fresh south easter greeted the sailors participating in the races for the Bell / Langvlei Trophy (for seniors) and Tom's Tavern Trophy (juniors). The wind was generally over 20 knots, with a peak gust of 28 knots measured on the race committee boat. This made for arduous conditions for sailing, especially to windward, but exhilarating going fast offwind.

Attendance was down a bit, partly due to some of our sailors participating in Knysna's Buffalo Challenge. Eight boats (Lasers, a Sonnet, GP14 and Fireball) competed in the senior fleet. The junior fleet comprised three Teras and an Optimist.

The first race was started very promptly, to the advantage of those ready waiting. John Marc Olivier (on Laser 4.7) shot off into the lead, followed by the other Lasers and the GP14. Malcolm Osborne (Laser) started late, but managed to pass most of the fleet to finish 2nd, but on handicap, John Marc was first and Jenna Lammers (Laser 4.7) was second. Evelyn Osborne & Di Parker finished this race on GP14, but struggled in the strong conditions. Georgou Divaris (Optimist) was the sole contender in the junior fleet in this race. In race 2, the fleet was joined by the Bowens on Sonnet, but the GP14 retired. Malcolm lead most of this race, closely followed by John Marc. A late capsize by Malcolm allowed John Marc through to take line honours once again. Jenna took third, followed by Tony & Evie Bowen in 4th place. In the junior fleet, the Teras of Nathan & Jedd Page and Danielle de Wet were followed closely by the Optimist of Georgou. Class handicap gave the overall win to Georgou, with Nathan second.

The third race was competed by a bunch of youngsters - and Malcolm! The other seniors had decided the conditions had got the better of them. John Marc and Malcolm went up the first beat together, then Malcolm made use of his bigger sail area to establish a lead, which he was able to hold to the end. However, John Marc was once again the winner on handicap. Jenna was third. In this race, Jedd Page sailed well to establish a lead big enough to be able to win over the line and to win overall from the Optimist of Georgou.

Overall results give the Bell / Langvlei Trophy to John Marc Olivier and the Tom's Tavern Trophy to Georgou Divaris - congratulations!

New Year Regatta

13 races over 3 days! 6 races on Saturday to tire us out for New Years Eve!

13 boats in the senior fleet, inc 3 Fireballs, 3 GP14's, 6 Lasers and a Sonnet. Only two visitors - Jim Foot and Dave Hawkins.

The Fireballs, GP14s and Lasers were trying to race amongst themselves, but also ensuring their overall fleet position wasn't being compromised. The Fireball of Ant & Di Parker was consistently in front, to be able to win overall, except for the race where Di helmed and Ant crewed (a discard!). A GP14 and a Fireball tied on points for 2nd place - tie-break gave this place to Dave & Trent Hawkins, so David & Rory Laing got 3rd place. Jim Foot was first Laser in 4th place.

The junior fleet comprised Teras, a Laser 4.7, a Mirror and a Dabchick. Youth National Champion James Hellstrom (on a Tera Pro) cleaned up, with Georgou Divaris (Tera Sport) in second place and Ashleigh Hellstrom (Tera Pro) in third.

2011 Youth National Championships

Several GLYC youngsters sailed in the 2011 Southern Charter Youth National Championships. They endured strong wind at times - the whole of Wednesday was lost due to wind too strong for racing. Some light wind races were completed as well provide a variety of conditions. Most classes completed 14 races in the week. With 211 boats sailing (the biggest for many years), Stof Vlei was covered edge to edge in sails. The water level was low, so most boats acquired mud decoration when capsizing.

As usual, GLYC's strength was in the RS Tera fleet, which had 25 boats. James Hellstrom established an early lead with a string of firsts. His closest competition came as usual from Nathan Page, who then started stringing his own series of first to start threatening James' lead. But then James came back to lead the last few races to be able to win overall comfortably. Nathan secured 2nd place from MAC's Matthew Allardice. Ashleigh Hellstrom was 1st girl in 9th place, ahead of Jedd Page (11th) and Jenna Lammers (14th) and Danielle de Wett (15th). Then came Sarah Young (21) and Robyn Hellstrom (23).

The Optimists had a huge fleet - 59 in the main fleet and 15 in a novice fleet - total of 74. Our Georgou Divaris came 10th in the main fleet, despite cracking an arm on the off day (skateboard crash!) He nevertheless carried on sailing with his arm in plaster! His brother Markos maintained the average by finishing 10th in the novice fleet.

There was a big fleet of 35 Dabchicks, where our Jayan Smart finished in 19th place. There were 15 Laser Radials and 13 Laser 4.7's, where our John Marc Olivier was in 7th place in the latter fleet. In the 10 boat Mirror fleet, we had Seth Young & James Koegelenberg in 6th place and Chris Brooks & Julian Leggatt in 8th.

Millenium / Toppies Trophy

Something different for the Millenium Trophy - real wind! 18 knots SE made for great sailing conditions.

Quite a long beat from Caravan to National and the Fireballs are talking about it should be longer? Anthony & Diane scorched round the course on Fireball, taking line and handicap honours in all 3 races. Alastair on Laser was being chased by the other Laser standard of Henry Paine in R1 & R2 but stayed ahead.

In the juniors (all Teras today), Nathan Page was always ahead of Jenna Lammers, Jedd Page and Danielle de Wet.

A Sprog was racing at GLYC on Sunday - the first for many years. Malcolm Osborne sailed his Sprog with Chris Brooks as crew. He was able to stay ahead of the Radials and was chasing the leading Lasers. Got 5,4, 2 on handicap, third overall behind Alastair. Rosie Finn and Dave Jones (Radials) are next. Dave Laing & Ferdinand (Fireball) missed the 1st race - scored 3 and 4 in their races.

Chris Thomas / Toppies Trophy Racing

Didn't happen! Heavy rain in the morning, together with school exams, proved to be a major deterrent. A few stalwarts turned up, had lunch, then went home. The rain did clear up in the afternoon and the wind died, but no one was really keen on rigging a boat.
"Sailing is fun in the Sun" - no sun -> no fun!

Kim / York Cup Racing

With strong south easters the previous few days and a strong westerly that came through the area in the early hours of Sunday morning, the sailors of GLYC at least hoped for a modicum of wind for their racing for the Kim Cup (seniors) and York Cup (juniors). But, it was not to be - just a light remnant of a south wester prevailed and only two races could be sailed.
The expected conditions must have frightened off many, as there was a reduced turnout for the racing. Ony one junior (Georgou Divaris) sailed his RS Tera Sport while nine senior stalwarts rigged their boats.
Leading the fleet in both races were the Fireballs of Anthony Parker and David Laing. Parker lead all the way round in race 1, but in race 2, Laing had a lead for most of the lead. However in the light conditions, he lost this lead in the final leg to the finish. Most of the fleet consisted of Lasers - 5 of them. New member Henry Paine lead this class in race one, but had a bad start to race 2. First Laser in race 2 was Malcolm Osborne.
On handicap, the Fireball of Anthony Parker & Ferdinand Holm leads this series. There is great competition for 2nd place - the Lasers of Dave Jones, Henry Paine and Malcolm Osborne are all tied on 7 points. This puts the Fireball of David & Mandy Laing down to 5th place.

George Lakes Yacht Club Inter Club Regatta

Sothebys / Junior Championships

The forecast strong wind did not materialise for first races of the Sothebys series, to the disappointment of Deryck Eckersley, making a rare appearance on his Sonnet. However, the wind was SW, rather gusty. It was a toss-up whether to go left or right up the beats to get the shifts correct.

Jayan Smart eagerly accepted the chance to helm Ant Parker's Fireball with Ferdinand (Ant feeling fluey!) He had a good dice against David & Rory Laing. The Laser charge was between Ali Fraser, Bill Turner & Malcolm Osborne, while Deryck lead the Sonnets and Evelyn & Di Parker sailed GP14 - the `new' series II version. They got it right in the last race to win that one. David won race 1 after Jayan had a quick capsize - but they recovered to be able finish 2nd overall. Jayan won race 2. The Fireballs couldn't get away from the rest of the fleet in race 3, allowing the GP14 and the Fraser Laser to take the top spots. Jayan leads the series from David and Evelyn.

In the junior fleet, comprising 8 Tera Sports, competition for first was between Nathan Page and James Hellstrom - Nathan nailed race 1, but James secured races 2 and 3. Jedd Page coped well to get 3rds in races 1 and 2, ahead of Ashleigh Hellstrom, but Ashleigh succeeded in getting 3rd in race 3.

Woodwise / de Klerk Racing

With the Fireballs away at their National Championships in Hermanus, it left the field open for the Lasers to take line honours in the Woodwise races. The 1st race was in a fluky SE, then went SW and improved in strength. John Marc took all the line honours from Evelyn and Sandy, but handicaps gave race 1 win to JM, race 2 to Cundell (jnr) & Michael on Mirror and race 3 to Cundell (sen) & Scooter on Mirror. The former leads the series from John Marc and Evelyn. Georgou (Optimist) and Chris Brooks (Mirror s/h) were the only juniors there. Meanwhile, in Hermanus, the Fireballs had to brave strong wind (and mud!) to compete in the Nationals. No racing on Saturday (gale force wind!). On Sunday the wind was also strong - over 25 knots. 4 races were held in the morning. Our leading team of Anthony Parker & Ferdiand Holm came second - relinquishing the trophy to the veteran team of Rick Nankin and Warren Schmelzer.

Commodores Cup / Jenvey Nissen Racing

Lovely wind at GLYC on a Sunday for a change! Was everyone watching rugby in the morning? - most arrived late! The Laing & Osborne Fireballs were moving pretty fast, Alastair lead the Laser fleet, but John Marc Olivier on a 4.7 won race 1 from Laing on handicap. There was a much reduced fleet for race 2 - this time the Laing Fireball was line honours and handicap winner, with John Marc 2nd, Alastair 3rds in both races. In the Teras, Georgou Divaris won race 1 and James Hellstrom won race 2.

President's Trophy

The usual light wind for the Presidents Trophy races! Did the juniors know this - there were none there! RO Jeremy managed to get 3 races complete. Fleet comprised 2 FBs, 2 Lasers, 1 GP14 & 1 Sonnet.

Ant & Ferdinand got all the line honours on their Fireball. The other FB of David & Rory struggled in the light wind. The GP14 of Evelyn & Diane did well - won races 1 & 2. Did some trawling in race 3 to get 3rd, but lead overall, tieing on points with Ant (2,2,1)

Mossel Bay Interclub Regatta

Mossel Bay Yacht & Boat Club re-instated their Inter Club Regatta after a break of several years. The event attracted a large number of junior and senior sailors from George Lakes Yacht Club. Knysna Yacht Club was only able to enter one boat in the dinghies.

A new feature for an interclub was the participation of three L26 keelboats – one each from Mossel Bay, George Lakes and Knysna. These boats sailed their own series.

Racing on Saturday commenced in a fresh south wester, producing good racing conditions, but challenging for those inexperienced in sea sailing. The wind veered to the south east and lightened as the day progressed. Race Officer Rob Holden had to alter the course accordingly. Three races were completed.

On Sunday, an early start was set in order to get racing in before the forecast wind died. However, the wind died before it was supposed too! A short course was set near the harbour and the race got under way. It had to be abandoned when what little wind there was faded completely. The fleet returned to shore in time to watch the SA – Wales World Cup rugby match. After this match, a light southwester had picked up and the fleet set sail again for one final race.

In the L26 division, the George Lakes boat, helmed by Bruce McCurrach, won two of the races to win overall, from Mossel Bay, helmed by Andre Bredenkamp.

The juniors fielded the largest fleet (16 boats), which comprised Tera Sport, Optimist, Mirror, a GP14 and a 420. Dominant in this fleet was the Optimist of Georgou Divaris (GLYC), who won 3 of the four races. His closest competition came from the Tera Sport of clubmate, James Hellstrom, winner of race 3. Third place went to the GLYC Mirror, sailed by Seth Young and James Koegelenberg. Mossel Bay's highest placed boat in this fleet was the 420, sailed by Andre Bredenkamp and Joppie Naude, in fourth place. Mossel Bay fielded 10 of the entries but fortunately our GLYC sailors were up front to be able to secure the interclub trophy.

The senior fleet comprised 12 boats – Lasers, Mirror, Fireball, Mosquito, Dart. The host club fielded the Dart and Mosquito catamarans. Dominant in this fleet was the GLYC Fireball, sailed by David and Rory Laing. They won the first race and their 2nds in races 2 and 4 secured overall first place. There was close competition for second place between GLYC's Lasers of John Marc Olivier and Malcolm Osborne. Osborne secured overall 2^nd place by winning the last race on handicap. Mossel Bay's challenge comprise the catamarans. The Mosquitos of Gideon and Pieter de Villiers were able to score 2^nd and 3^rd in the fresher wind of the first race, but were not able to perform as well in the subsequent lighter races.

The event proved to be a resounding success for George Lakes, winning all three divisions. The next major regatta is the Eastern Cape Championships, also hosted by Mossel Bay Yacht & Boat Club. This event takes place from 1 to 3 October, 2011.

GLYC Opening Cruise and Frostbite Racing

After the exciting completion of the Lipton Cup Regatta in Mossel Bay, where several GLYC sailors were competing, club sailing got under way on Sunday on Island Lake. A fresh south easter produced tricky conditions – helped to wash away the rust!

The Opening Cruise was attended by 28 boats, with the Rear Commodore leading the fleet past the Commodore in the committee boat anchored off the club house shore. This fleet comprised a large number of junior sailors on Tera, Optimist, Dabchick and Laser, bolstered by seniors on Fireball, GP14, Sonnet, Mirror and Laser.

After a short tea break, racing commenced for the first races in the Frostbite series. Eight boats competed in the Junior fleet. With the results calculated on a handicap basis, the clear winner in both races was Georgou Divaris on Optimist. In the first race, Nathan Page (Tera Sport) was 2nd ahead of James Hellstrom (Tera Pro), but these positions were reversed in the 2nd race. James and Nathan are tied for 2nd place overall.

In the Senior fleet, the Fireball of Anthony Parker and Ferdinand Holm established a big lead over everyone else. The other Fireball of David & Rory Laing fell behind, finding boat handling difficult in the gusty conditions. Malcolm Osborne was the first Laser in both races, but the Laser 4.7s sailed by Cundell Statt and John Marc Olivier performed well to get 2nd & 3rd places on handicap in race 1 and Cundell did a repeat performance in race 2. The Parker / Holm Fireball lead the senior Frostbite series, followed by Cundell Statt and Malcolm Osborne.

GLYC thanks the ladies who provided the delicious soup & rolls at lunch time and for doing the tea later in the afternoon. The day's proceedings concluded with a bring & braai, with a `communal' salad selection provided by the members.