It has to be stated that both Campbell and myself (Myles) committed ourselves to the left-hand side on the first beat, and for more than half the distance in the light wind it seemed that we had dug ourselves into an extremely deep hole. Having a tough first race at the back of the cockpit Tim Duguid and his daughter Leah achieved some valuable learning which they put to good use over the remainder of the regatta, but they came in ahead of Dominic and Mark Collett onboard ‘Dragonfly,' and then the Deversons. Gregg Hurter was next with Ian West-Lewis making a welcome return to the F15 fleet, while Stuart Clark and Marek Jansen led the Classics on ‘Ffiddler’. Dave Herridge with his 11 year old son Torben took a safe 2 nd place whilst Estelle and myself (Myles) surprised ourselves with a 3 rd over the line, uncharacteristically ahead of Patrick Harris and Jeremy Kriek. Race 1 saw Campbell Alexander and Ralph Thomas take an early lead which they held to the finish without being really challenged, although the rest of the pack was not that far behind. In total there were around 62 dinghies sailing - it has been decades since I last saw that many sails on the water together, and there were many, many happy hearts at HMYC as well as on the WhatsApp groups with whom photographs and results were being shared.
2841 SAIL BREEZE WAY FULL
Ultimately we had a dam full enough to be flowing over the dam wall and plenty of sunshine with the odd cloud to offer respite from the gamma rays, and a steady Easterly breeze ranging between 8 to 15 knots. Thanks to Mike for making his boat available for Craig and Mel to sail. On the Saturday morning however Craig arrived without the boat, a breakage on the trailer prevented her making the trip. Considering that Mike Coldbeck’s super-classic R & G hulled boat was also ready to sail, the reality was that for the first time in a while we were expecting the magical number of 10 boats to be racing. News received the day before kick-off was that Craig Deverson had acquired a boat which he would be bringing down from the Vaal for the event. The venue is about 15 minutes inland from the city of Pietermaritzburg, and just over an hour from the city of Durban where the Flying Fifteen fleet is based. Midmar Dam is arguably the best venue for fresh-water sailing in South Africa. Sadly not all could make it so a few lonely Flying 15’s remained in Durban. The preceding weekend saw frantic activity at Durban based clubs, Point Yacht Club and Royal Natal Yacht Club as boats were loaded onto road trailers and taken to Midmar. Sailed at Henley Midmar Yacht Club at Midmar Dam, South AfricaĪfter several frustrations due to delays brought on largely by Covid, the delayed 2021 SAFFA Nationals were incorporated into the SAS KZN Grand Slam held at Henley Midmar Yacht Club over the weekend of 22 and 23 January 2022.
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