Whatshot
Hobie 16 and Flying Fifteen Provincials
Hobie 16 and Flying Fifteen Provincials
For long time partners, Garth Loudon and Robbie Eduard Betsy, it was a faultless regatta for the two in the Hobie 16 fleet. The team who have been sailing together for the last two and a half decades, re-joined forces after an eight year break to compete in the two hander Hobie 16 class.
Father and son team, Peter and Matthew Hall also had an impressive time on the water, finishing second with six seconds and two thirds and a fourth which was their discard. They ended their regatta ten points behind Loudon and Eduard Betsy.
"Garth and Robbie were untouchable, they sailed phenomenally, a world class display! We only got to see the back of them the entire time we were on the water. Congrats to them." Commended second placed, Peter Hall, Hobie representative.
The final class to compete was the extreme Hobies, the Hobie Tigers with three boats getting on the water. Local lads, Struan Campbell and Murray May walked away victorious in the class, winning all but one race when their spinnaker got jammed turning at the bottom mark and they were forced to retire.
"It's a great feeling when you push yourself to another level and that level becomes your new normal! Sailing my Hobie Tiger scared me half to death the first time I sailed it, and now 18 knots downwind flying a hull down waves only a Durban NE wind can produce, is merely heart-pumping exciting! What a day of racing, super stoked!" first placed, Struan Campbell enthused.
The father and daughter team of Lance and Heidi Burger from Cape Town were a late entry, only deciding on a whim last week Tuesday that they would enter. Heidi, who is more accustomed to racing the faster 29er or 420s had her trapeze gear all packed until she realised on Wednesday morning when she googled the boat they would be competing on that there was no trapezing on a Flying Fifteen. ??The next big event for the Point Yacht Club is the upcoming Inter-Varsity Regatta in July, followed by the annual favourite, the MSC Week.