Spray. By Richard Crockett Following on from yesterdays Slocum Centennial, there is more in this part about the man, his yacht and the places he visited. He stopped in Durban and Cape Town where he spoke about celestial navigation, and interestingly how to obtain longitude without an accurate time piece. As a result he was given a free rail pass to tour the country and tell people about celestial navigation. In Pretoria he met President Kruger. The president, who believed the world was flat, greeted the Captain cordially, but when told by Captain Slocum that he was sailing round the world, the ..read more

By Richard Crockett The headline is misleading as there was no devastation, mayhem nor Mayday calls, but rather a Tornado catamaran setting the Round the Island Race alight on the Vaal Dam. It was Garth Boshoff who took line honours in 1991, setting a new course record time, and also taking the rare double of winning overall on corrected time too. Today’s feature is all about the photos in this 4-page report, plus all the names mentioned in the report and results as combined they bring back memories from yesteryear and remind us all of who was sailing back in those days. As always, comments ar ..read more

      pic by Richard Crockett by Richard Crockett Here’s a delightful story. Who knew that Albert Einstein enjoyed sailing? I certainly did not until stumbling upon this delightful piece in the January 1989 issue of SA Yachting mag. It reads as Follows: Eric van Ees, scribe for the Flying Dutchman class, is an experienced journalist with a prominent Dutch news agency. ln a neat bit of investigative reporting he has unearthed an amazing piece of information which he submitted with his class news contribution last month – ‘to promote the class’. “It isn’t generally known ,” he sa ..read more

By Richard Crockett I can clearly remember the build of ‘Thunderchild’ as for some reason it attracted a lot of discussion, all good too. Even today she is a yacht that is regularly mentioned in dispatches – and still races all the major Cape regattas. Maybe she was the talk of town as she was built by her owner Vincent Goldswain and his two sons, and launched just prior to the 1988 Rothmans Week. At 52-foot she was one of the larger club racers. Her designer was Angelo Lavranos. There lots to read about her in this 3-page report. READ IT ALL HERE:  Pages from 1989 01 – SA Yachting – OCR ..read more

By Richard Crockett Since the launch of the first Shearwater 39 in November 1987, Dudley Dix’s creation turned heads and stolen admiring glances. She’s still a beauty that will never age, a remarkably fine sailer too, and a design still in demand the world over. Those who watched the Dudley Dix-designed Shearwater 39 under development at Nebe Boats in Cape Town never doubted that from a practical and aesthetic viewpoint this boat was undoubtedly a cruising man’s dream come true. The one question which haunted every potential buyer was: “Will her performance be as good as her looks?” All these ..read more

Jubilation and high jinks on Joko I as crew hike out Soling-style after winning their class. By Richard Crockett Back in the day Crystic Week was simply one of those regattas that every serious sailor simply had to do – every year. Durban was warm in July while the rest of the country froze, but more importantly a vast array of different classes were catered for, attracting many of the inland sailors who wanted to test their skills “on the groot dam”! Good sailing, great entertainment and overall a vibe that simply attracted people back year in and year out. Today I share the report from the 1 ..read more

Pages from 1985 10 – SA Yachting – 0OCR The big five with ‘White Heather’ in the weather berth and ‘Britannia’ immediately to leeward with ‘Westward’, ‘Shamrock’ and ‘Lulworth’ astern. by Richard Crockett Charles Paice was a prolific writer back in the day, and a really good guy too, who could not help but look back at how the J-Boat sailors of yesterday went about their business. And, he found it difficult not to compare ‘Apple Macintosh’s’ line honours victory in the 1985 race to Uruguay as the boat was brand new and bristling with the latest and greatest sails, fittings and electronics. He ..read more

by Richard Crockett Due to the stormy weather on the South African coast a few days ago, this article may well be timeous and a pertinent reminder, indeed a refresher, on actions one may take when caught in a viscous storm. It was written by Robin Knox-Johnston, so the authors credentials are impeccable. “When the prevailing weather conditions reach the point where it is no longer safe or comfortable to continue sailing, the time has come to heave-to. This means taking the way off the boat and allowing her to lie as comfortably as possible” said Knox-Johnston. It’s a good read, a good refreshe ..read more

by Richard Crockett I am always in awe of those who are able to weigh anchor and head seaward on adventures to place few people ever venture. One of these is Bernhard Diebold who took ‘Diel’ to the Antarctic Circle. The 17.4 m .aluminium alloy ketch ‘Diel’, designed, built and owned by Bernhard Diebold, had a successful racing record around the South African coast. She also performed well in the 1982 South Atlantic race. In stead of participating in the ’85 race, Bernhard took his yacht to one of the more remote areas of the world, the Antarctic Peninsula, south of Cape Horn. He was awarded th ..read more

                                                  by Richard Crockett Random searches through old magazines in my archives turned up the Holiday 23 yesterday, and today the Formula 1. It’s hard to believe that the Formula 1 has been around for over 50 years now, with boats still sailing and racing in the Gauteng area and on the Vaal Dam. They were also active in the old Crystic Week regattas. The 1985 review shared today and written by Alex Stone, refers to her as a big ..read more