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ROYAL CAPE YACHT CLUB |24 SEPTEMBER 2021 

On Saturday I had the privilege of setting off on the Novamarine Knysna Rally aboard Pete Sherlock’s Amarula. All the boats made it safely through the Heads and are now moored at the Knysna Yacht Club. While the cruisers made their way to Knysna, some of our members took part in the Cape Point Challenge.
 
On the international front, the Star Sailing League (SSL) Team South Africa successfully competed in and won the inaugural Test Event.  Sailing under the nickname “Team UBUNTU” they finished 2,4,1,1,2 in the Eliminator Series against Tahiti, Turkey, and France, and then achieved a hard-fought victory in the Final against Thailand, Ukraine and Malaysia.
 
Team UBUNTU consisted of Helmsman Asenathi Jim, Tactician Paul Willcox, Mainsheet Gareth Blankenburg, Upwind Trim Matthew Whitehead, Downwind Trim Sean Van Rensburg, Grinder Marlon Jones, Pit/Halyards Alexander Ham, Floater Howard Leoto, Bowman Joweal Klasse, Team Captain Ian Ainslie, Manager Anthony Spillebeen, and PR Manager Lars Bocking.
 
Siyanda Vato and Michaela Robinson are doing exceptionally well in the Marina Militare Nastra Rosa Tour. They came 5th in the Mixed Offshore European Championship and are currently competing in the Double Mixed Offshore World Championship, which makes up the second half of the Nastra Rosa Tour.
 
I am looking forward to the start of the season and our Opening cruise on the 9th. The theme of this year’s sail through the Waterfront is ‘Venice, city of water’ in combination with the first floating sculpture exhibition ever, by Marco Olivier Art. There are some fantastic prizes up for grabs and we hope to see all of you on the water.
 
A reminder to view our social media platforms to keep up to date with news, events, restaurant offering and competitions.
  
I always look forward to seeing you at the Yacht Club.


Yours in sailing

 

 

SSL Sailing Team South Africa wins the SSL Gold Cup Test Event 1, Grandson Switzerland

On a weekend that the South African Rugby Team suffered a second defeat at the hands of fierce rivals Australia, the Star Sailing League (SSL) Team South Africa successfully competed in and won the inaugural Test Event. The SSL Gold Cup was created to promote and position sailing as a spectator sport with a truly national identity, billed as the “Football World Cup in Sailing”. The event did exactly what it set out to do.

Eight teams representing Turkey, Mexico, France, Ukraine, Malaysia, Thailand, Tahiti, and South Africa took part in Event 1. Each team was allowed to field nine sailors per race on their boat. The important stipulation was that all participating sailors had to be nationals of the country they were representing and be selected using the acclaimed SSL Ranking system which allocates points based on global event performance of each sailor, the more you sail, the more you progress up the ranking individually. A captain’s pick further supplemented the skills level on the boats and ensured that there was no bias toward established Olympic classes and considered the skills of crew and not only Olympic class sailors.

The four boats provided by the SSL Gold Cup Organisation are matched SSL47’s, a derivative of the highly successful RC44’s. The boats are rotated through the teams, who raced in two fleets of four Nations, in a best of five Races Elimination series. At the completion of each fleet’s Elimination Series the top 2 nations then progressed to the Final, with the bottom two Nations competing in the Petite Final. Teams competed in national colours embellished with each athlete’s name, creating a clearly identifiable “TEAM” feeling not unlike that seen in National Football, Rugby, and Cricket teams globally. 

Team Captain Ian Ainslie, a long-time champion of “Sailing for All”, a three-time Olympian Athlete and Dutch Coach on three occasions, assembled the team, using the ranking system and his allowed captain’s pick privilege. He put together a team of athletes that truly represents the current top level of sailors competing both locally in South Africa and abroad. A truly diverse and representative group of individuals who gelled into a cohesive and collaborative team in a very short time.

Sailing under the nickname “Team UBUNTU” they took the opportunity and delivered a master class in patience, teamwork, and trust. Sailing in tricky conditions over the duration of the six races sailed, the team delivered an impressive set of results. Finishing 2,4,1,1,2 in the Eliminator Series against Tahiti, Turkey, and France, and then achieved a hard-fought victory in the Final against Thailand, Ukraine and Malaysia.

Making up the team were:
Helmsman Asenathi Jim, Tactician Paul Willcox, Mainsheet Gareth Blankenburg, Upwind Trim Matthew Whitehead, Downwind Trim Sean Van Rensburg, Grinder Marlon Jones, Pit/Halyards Alexander Ham, Floater Howard Leoto, Bowman Joweal Klasse, Team Captain Ian Ainslie, Manager Anthony Spillebeen, and PR Manager Lars Bocking.
 
When asked about the surprised performance of the team, Captain Ian Ainslie was quick to point out, “This team represented the culmination of many years of training and racing opportunities as well as individual dedications to enhance the sailors in our sport. I hope that this result and any future results will inspire, clubs, organisations, and individuals in South Africa to continue building a strong talent pool. The crew work on board was clearly a vindication of the huge impact local racing in the Cape31, L26, and other classes active in South Africa has had and complemented by the individuals in the team plying their trade globally, it made for a strong foundation.”
 
Two more test events are scheduled to take place over the next few weeks. Test Event 2, taking place from 27 September to 03 October, will feature sailors from Brazil, Switzerland, Israel, Hungary, Argentina, Croatia, Estonia, and Oman. Test Event 3 will feature Spain, Denmark, Poland, Sweden, Austria, Slovenia, Peru, and Serbia and will be held from 11 October to 17 October.
 
We look forward to the SSL Gold Cup Main event scheduled for the European Spring of 2022.

We are very excited to announce we have secured Sable International as our sponsor for the Twilight Series from October to December, and from January to March. Sable provides a range of cross border financial and immigration services. You can find out more about their offerings at www.sableinternational.com.
 
The first race will be on the 13th of October. If you do not have a valid ORC certificate, please make sure you have one before that date. If you are intending to race using your non-spinnaker certificate, you need to let the sailing office know before the 13th as the sailing instructions assume you will use your club certificate. Once you have made your selection it will apply for the whole series.
 
The popular West Coast Offshore race also has a new sponsor called Seajet. Seajet is a premium anti-foul paint manufacturer. You can find out more about their products at seajetpaint.com. All the race documents are now on the RCYC website, so get your entry in early.
 
The Sailing Office have been on a sponsorship roll and we are delighted to announce Gimco will be sponsoring a three day regatta at the beginning of February next year. The regatta will offer a mix of round the cans and medium distance racing with a great crew party on the Saturday night. Make sure you block off the 4th (twilight race) to the 6th of February 2022 in your diary. Gimco’s aim is to have as many boats and sailors on the water and at the club afterwards as possible.
 
Our cruisers are in Knysna at the moment enjoying an action packed itinerary. Nick Leggatt recorded a white-knuckle video of the 43 foot yacht he is on, surfing into the heads at 26 knots over the ground.
 
Be sure to look at the calendar on our website and diarise the events you would like to take part in. We have a very busy season of racing and cruising ahead of us.
The moon the Sun and those who stand below, by Lindani Mchunu

The work we are doing is very difficult work. It takes me back to my delivery days. When I used to deliver boats to Tortola. I would always be the only person of colour on the boat. The first question I would be asked by my crew would be, “how did you get into sailing”? The next one would be “how come you speak so well”? Where are you from? Are you South African?

These questions were quite telling of the assumptions made before I even opened my mouth. Its Heritage Day on Friday, it has been called National Braai day before. Indeed it is a national past time for all South Africans to braai, yet it is not the only thing that defines who we are. Consequently South Africa has 11 official languages, in essence 11 official cultures. I wonder how many South Africans actually know about each other’s cultures.

I would like to share some of my experiences here at the Club with you. Here at the Club all the waiters are black, as a result of being a black man, I often have to tell members that I am not a waiter. The staff at the marina are black and on a few occasions I have had to tell members no, I don’t work as marina staff, but I will get someone to assist you. All of these encounters are informed by the experience of seeing only people of colour in those roles. It draws the conclusion that what you see and experience, is what you believe. We have an issue of a single narrative. Seeing a particular group of people in only one facet. It tends to self-perpetuate and reinforce itself the longer that reality remains true.

At some point human beings believed that the Earth was the center of the universe and everything revolved around us. The Moon and the Sun are above us, so are the Stars. Or are they? I imagine those astronauts in the space station have quite a different view with regards to the positioning of the moon and the stars then we do. The Academy is an opportunity to view and experience other cultures and races from a totally different angle. The world in my view has never been black and white, only on paper maybe, but never in reality. Life has so much grey and it is this grey that brings discomfort.

Currently we are working on implementing a transformation strategy in the Club, one that seeks to bring more women, youth, disabled and people of colour into our community. It has been a very interesting journey tackling this rather contentious issue. The ultimate question for me has been why we need diversity and inclusion in our club? If TNPA woke up tomorrow and gave us a 40 year lease and said you don’t even need to be a level 4 BEE and gave us the lowest rental price one could imagine, would we see the need to transform and invite groups that are missing from our membership?

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The Royal Cape Yacht Club · Duncan Road · Table Bay Harbour · Cape Town, Wc 8001 · South Africa