MIRROR IMAGES
NEWSLETTER OF THE MIRROR CLASS ASSOCIATION OF SA - April 2001

Inside this Issue -

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EDITOR'S NOTE

Just a few thoughts I would like to share with the Mirror family. Remember, please, that this is your newsletter and it is only going to be any good if all the regions contribute.

So a special thanks to those who did write for this edition. I can always count on Willie Zevenster, and of course he handles all the printing and posting. Other stars are Lionel Latigan, who writes before he is even asked to, Trygve Roberts and Kuba Miszewski, who both literally provide copy within hours of being asked. Always remember pictures, as Paul Haglich did this time.

I don’t know how much longer I will be doing this job as I have now sold my Mirror, but it would be very useful to me, or my successor, if all those tasked with providing material would do so by the agreed time. The deadline on this issue was March 19 and as I type it is April 24. Now it still has to be printed, inserted, addressed and posted. This means it takes about six to seven weeks from deadline to reaching you. If we can cut down on this we would have a much more up to date newsletter.

On a personal note, Viv and I sold our boat - Miz Mac – with a feeling of great sadness. We learned to sail on her together something like 10 years ago. But she is going to a good home and will remain at TSC. We are also pleased because she is going to a new Mirror family, Tom and Jacquie Johnston, who have young kids. Tom and Jacquie are Hobie 16 sailors and plan to teach their children the ropes on something slightly more manageable.

TSC is a regular venue for mini family weekends and strangely enough Fleet 6 members seem to have a lot in common other than just Mirror sailing - such as collecting. In addition to Tom Johnston, we have two other unrelated Johnsons in the clan as well - chairman Anthony and secretary Paul.

At the same time we tend to collect Ventures. About five or six of us who attend these weekends have them. And quite a few of us have the mini- Weber braai. Which means, I suppose, that we could be termed the Mirror, Venture, Weber, Sailing. Driving, Braai-ing and Wine Drinking Association.

Cheers John MacLennan

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AG PLEEZE, WILLIE!
By Randall Brereton,
Mirror Class Poet Emeritus.

Ag pleez Willie won't you take us on an airplane
We want to sail our MIRRORS on the Irish sea
We know that we are going to donner all the Irishmen
As soon as we have done that you can bring us back again

C H O R U S
Red sails polished boats takkies and lifejackets
Wet suits frozen crews and soaking wet clothes
Ag Willie how we'll miss sailing in our skimpy gear
Underneath South Africa's sunny old sky


Ag pleez Willie won't you take us all to Ireland
It's only twelve hours flying SAA
We're certain that we're going to bliksem all the Englishmen
And when we have done that you can bring us back again

C H O R U S

Ag pleez Willie when you get us there by Ireland
We'll have to have a visit to the Blarney Stone
The luck that we will all get there will blow off the Dutchman
As soon as we have done so you can bring us back again

C H O R U S

Ag pleez Willie do us just another favour
We want to see if we can catch a leprechaun
If we do that then you'll see we're a very splendid team
Leaving all the Aussie boats far astern

C H O R U S

Ag pleez Willie now this song is getting boring
We know that we will show up all the other bods
The Swedes, the Brits, the Irishmen and all the blerrie other yobs
And when we have done that you can bring us back again.

( Ed ’s note. For the benefit of overseas readers, this is supposed to be sung to the tune of an SA song called Ag Pleeze Daddy, Won’t you take us to the Drive In ? -(movie that is) which was something we did here pre-TV. 
No offence intended folks.)

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LIFT OFF..

THE MIRROR is poised for a period of unprecedented growth in South Africa, with young development sailors joining the class in droves.

This is the vision of the out-going Chief Executive Officer of South African Sailing (SAS), Anthony Steward, who has been consulting with clubs across the country on ways to boost participation and turn sailing into a truly non-racial sport. Although Steward will no longer be at the helm of SAS from the beginning of May, he plans to stay involved with a restructured SAS and to continue pushing for the Mirror as the primary boat for development and youth sailing.

THE MAIN DINGHY

After taking stock of the state of sailing in the country during his recent travels, Steward has concluded that the Mirror should be the nation's formative and foremost training dinghy. "The Mirror is still the best training boat in the world and is suited to develop highly competitive sailors," he told Mirror Images . A former Mirror sailor himself, Steward added: "The boat may be challenging to race but it has everything going for it." (He should know, having sailing around the world in an open boat).

HEAD START BOAT

Among the reasons why Steward favours making the Mirror the official youth training boat are the techniques required for successful spinnaker handling, which he believes gives sailors a head start when they move onto other classes. To give practical effect to his vision, Steward - along with colleagues Ian Ainslie and Anthony Spillebeen - have decided to launch a trust to raise funds for the promotion development sailing. Letters have been sent to potential donors to help kick-start the fund. Thereafter the trust will aim to attract corporate sponsorship. Part of the monies raised will be used to buy what Steward calls " decent Mirrors that are truly competitive and fitted for racing." The trust also plans to have multi-boat trailers built which can transport Mirrors used by development sailors to regattas.

SO WHERE NOW?

He sees this as a way of overcoming the logistical hassles confronting the families of many new entrants into the Mirror class and other types of sailing. While every assistance will be given to new entrants, development sailors will also be expected to show commitment in return by signing a contract with the trust for a year. The Mirror Fleet 6 committee in the Western Cape has already had discussions with Steward on supporting his initiative and dovetailing efforts of the proposed trust with those of existing Fleet 6 programmes to promote youth and development sailing. This could include upgrading the existing stock of Fleet 6 boats earmarked for development sailors and drawing up a detailed inventory of Mirrors not being used for social or competitive sailing at the moment. Members of the Fleet 6 committee also met in March with national Mirror chairman Willie Zevenster to discuss ways of accessing existing funds to refurbish training boats and the need for the national committee to approach corporate sponsors to help grow the class and develop. The Fleet 6 committee will be meeting with Steward in May to brainstorm on ways to further develop the Mirror class as a driving force towards non-racial sailing in South Africa.

The ultimate goal: red sails in every sunset across the new South Africa.

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View From the TOP
By Willie Zevenster, President of the IMCASA

The Mirror Nationals, the AGM, plans for the world championship and some existing initiatives were among the main items that filled the first part of the year.

Midmar dam saw the red sails of Mirrors from all over the country during December and will not forget it very quickly. There were nine Mirrors during the Youth Regatta before Christmas and twenty seven at the National Championship thereafter where the results determined the final selection of the RSA Team to the 2001 Mirror World Championship in Ireland.

Mike Dann, Mike Robinson and Pieter van Rensburg did a sterling job in getting five Mirrors from Gauteng and rallied two each from Eastern Province and KwaZulu Natal down to Midmar for the youth regatta. Not only did they bring their boats, but they also put their hands deep into their pockets to, among other expenses, provide each sailor with a T-shirt and a prize for participation.

Most of the boats that took part in the youth regatta were back after Christmas to take part in the National Championship. Henley-Midmar Yacht Club provided the infrastructure and Terry Flynn was the race officer. Gauteng did themselves proud by having eleven boats at the event, making up for their no-show at the 1999 championship. The Sprog Class, who also had their National championship, shared the venue. The weather conditions were light and interesting racing took place. The Sprog Class introduced the Mirror sailors, some kicking and screaming, to windward-leeward racing which was new to many, as was evident from some guys not sailing the proper course. Be warned guys, the Mirror World Championship in Ireland will be sailed on varied courses, Olympic, windward/ leeward and trapezoidal. We were also warned that gate starts might be used due to the tides and currents. Interesting times await the Worlds Team. Well done Trevor, our newly crowned National Champion for 2000. Congratulations to the six qualifiers going to the worlds: Trevor Gibb, Waldo Zevenster, Craig Latigan, Roscoe Friend, Kerry Prior and Diether Zevenster with their crews. The results, once again, prove that the Mirror class suits the need of sailors at all levels and that all, regardless of age, can compete on an equal footing. It is heartening that four of the six skippers who qualified are youth sailors. We have one ladies team and in total, half the team is ladies. Well done girls! ! ! Andrew Edwards and Sieraj Jacobs complete the team of eight leaving on 28 July 2001 to Howth Yacht Club and returning on 12 August. We wish them all a very successful regatta.

The AGM brought some interesting and very relevant discussion to the floor. Items covered related to: how the Mirror funds can be used to promote and grow the class, the issue of a separate National Youth Championship, the number of boats to the next world championship in Tasmania and development sailing. The dates for the Mirror National championship 2001 have not yet been finalised as the Optimist and Dabchick classes have decided to change their Championship dates from their normal date before Christmas to 27 December 2000 to 2 January 2001 at Wriggleswade Dam near Stutterheim. These have traditionally been the dates for the Mirror Class Championship. The committee is currently looking at the dates and venues and will inform all as soon as these are finalised.

At the AGM we had two schools of thought regarding National championships. The one school promotes a Mirror Youth National Championship apart from the Mirror "Open" National Championship. Some reasoning for the separate championship is that youth wants to sail against youth with their youth friends as crew. That creates a vibe and will grow the class. The other school feels that youth and open currently compete on an equal footing and that creates the challenge and excitement for them to do better. Youth also sails with experienced skippers and that fosters good skill development. This item still needs to be debated at length to find the right answer. Both carry good arguments. There was strong support for the class to invest in boats for the development of the class. Proposals were called for from the regions to make this a reality. A strong proposal came from Gauteng to run a national competition for youth and development sailors to acquire Mirror kits and with supervision via the Internet, build their boats during the off season. Substantial prizes can be negotiated if sufficient participation is generated. Prizes like a refund on the kit or a suit of sails were mentioned. This is very exciting and will be pursued in the very near future. Watch the press and SA Yachting Magazine for details. A request was also received from Fleet 6 in Western Cape to acquire two boats for development and training. Anthony Steward paid us a visit in Port Elizabeth and expressed a very sincere interest in the class and was going to work with Fleet 6 to promote the development of sailing using the Mirror. A very exciting prospect. If we can get the same kind of effort from all the regions we will see an unbelievable growth in the class. Let’s go for it guys! ! !

The item raised about getting more allocation for the World Championship in Hobart, Tasmania from the International Mirror class was discussed. The rules for allocation are very simple. A maximum of 105 boats is allowed in the World Championship regatta. Each member country is allocated six places and the rest are allocated based on the national membership of the class in each country. The maximum that can be earned by any country is 9. The host country is entitled to 15 entries. The five winners of the different categories from the previous world championship get automatic entry and the five top performers in the pre-worlds regatta that are entered in the International Regatta will earn a place in the championship. The next round of qualifying regattas for the 2003 world championship will start with the 2001 National championship.

There has been a proposal for a small change in the qualifying criteria, which is currently being reviewed. This will be published as soon as it is finalised. For the competitive sailors, use the rest of the year to gear yourself for next year’s qualifying rounds for the worlds. For the not so serious sailors, thank you for always being there to take part and support the different competitions. You help us to make these events very enjoyable.

For the administrators in each region, please use the opportunities in your areas to grow the class and to introduce new people to sailing. Remember that sailing starts at the clubs and that is where we must focus our attention. From regional and national level we will always endeavour to give as much support as possible to achieve the objectives.

A lot of exciting things are happening and we are looking at a fantastic year for the growth of sailing and the Mirror class. May you all have a fantastic year 2001 "

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SA Sailing Crisis

 SA Sailing, the governing body of the sport in this country, is facing a financial crisis and the organisation's CEO Anthony Steward has had to resign because there is literally no money to pay him.

In announcing the resignation, SAS chairman John Levin said in a statement at the end of March: "For all intents and purposes, SAS is in a financial cul de sac and Anthony has had to ask himself, quite rightly, where his salary after next month's is to come from." He added that SAS' financial position is precarious even though it receives R330 000 in annual subscriptions from members.

Levin said that the state of the sport here is fragile. This was underlined by Steward's recent country-wide visit. He visited 51 clubs, organisations and sailing schools around the country, with the exclusion of the Western Cape which he hoped to visit later. The clubs ranged in size from Point in Durban with 1400 members to the De Beers Yacht Club with 60, of whom only 20 members are active.

MANY PROBLEMS
Said Levin: "Virtually every one of these clubs is experiencing difficulties of one sort or another ranging from problems of tenure to finance, ageing memberships and difficulty in attracting new members". Their problems are compounded by the competition being experienced from private marinas whose members seem to have escaped the current sailing structures, both at a club and a national level." Levin said of SAS structures: "I have been convinced for some time now that they are cumbersome, inefficient and impractical. In my opinion, the "working committee" concept has simply not worked." This is because the committees are too large to be effective, they also expect exco merely to rubberstamp their decisions. In spite of the cumbersome machinery most of the work ends up being shouldered by one or two individuals. At the same time communications are bad because the lack of funds makes it impossible for working committee members to meet periodically.

Levin said his stark warning should be seen as a wakeup call. The annual general meeting this year takes place in Port Elizabeth on June 2 and he would like concrete proposals for the future.

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GAUTENG BAUTENG
report by Paul Haglich 

A fleet of 6 Mirrors entered the Pretoria Sailing Club Charity regatta on 27/28 January.

This regatta is a major event on the NSA calendar and attracts about 120 entries, comprised of many dinghy classes, every year.

On the Saturday the regatta got off to a great start with a decent breeze of about 8-10 knots and we managed 3 races.

It was just as well, because on Sunday the breeze failed to materialise and despite attempts to get at least one race in, it was abandoned when it deteriorated into a typical highveld drifter and much to our disgust, we had to paddle back to shore.

The results for the Mirrors were: 1st Paul and Lorenzo Haglich, 2nd Robert and Mike Dann,3rd Robert Edwards and Brett de Jager.
A week later, 6 Mirrors entered the Round The Island Yacht Race on Vaaldam. This year the wind "pumped" and the Mirrors finished in about 3 hours or so. Megan Edwards had an unfortunate collision with a Hobie, so no guess who came off second best? Megan's Mirror was neatly holed through one tank so she had to retire.

Robert Edwards and Brett de Jager sailed very well to win the Mirror Class and finish 113 on handicap. Second was Jeremy Holdcroft (121) and third Robert Marshall (138).

HIVELD HIJINKS

The year 2001 sees the Highveld Single Handed Championship revived, signalling that the Mirror Class is definitely enjoying some renewed interest in Gauteng. The last time that this event took place was in 1994 when it was won by Paul Haglich....(Ed's note: Who won it again this year.) Incidentally, this trophy was donated by Dave Prentice, a past Chairman of the Mirror Class Association and a very keen and competitive sailor in his own right. His son Nicky Prentice also became Mirror Class National Champion for a number of years and was an excellent sailor.

His crew in those days was Paddy Young, another excellent Mirror sailor and they both competed in the Mirror Worlds in Ireland and UK, if my memory serves me correctly. It's a great pity that these guys have all but disappeared from the sailing scene as they could have taught our up and coming young Mirror sailors a thing or two about making the Mirror go fast!

Ah well, enough of history and lets look at what happened on the day . . . . .

This event was sailed on Sunday 8th April, hosted by East Rand Yacht Club. Despite the miserable weather ten keen skippers turned up and rigged in the pouring rain. It looked like the event would be washed up but, lo and behold, as the white shape was hoisted the rain abated and a nice breeze settled in. We started racing at 10am sharp, hoping to get at least three races in before 2pm. The first race was sailed in light breeze - probably about 6-8 knots and after leading for most of the race, Andrew Edwards fell into a hole which enabled Paul Haglich to catch him on the final downwind leg.

A close tussle ensued but Andrew's boom touched Paul's gun'l and he had to do a 720 which cost Paul three places as Rob Edwards and Phil Bennett overtook whilst he was executing his penalty.

The wind freshened for the second and subsequent races and we were able to get in five races, all of about forty five minutes each, which was fantastic as we were even able to allow a discard. The remaining four races were won by Paul Haglich with the rest of the fleet enjoying some very close and competitive racing with positions changing constantly. Phil Bennett who had borrowed one of the Benoni Sailing Schools' Mirrors improved all the time as he came to grips with sailing a Mirror for the first time! (He normally sails a 505 so it was quite a change for him!) He finished second in two of the races, chasing Paul all the way.

Robert Edwards sailed very well and he continuously challenged Andrew and Phil for 2/3 places. It was nice to see the juniors doing well and improving with each race. Robert Dann also sailed very well and finished in 2nd place in one race.

By the end of the afternoon, we had enjoyed some tremendous sailing. Sailing a Mirror single-handed using a spinnaker is really great fun and quite challenging in a good breeze. All that is allowed is a bungy cord hooked into the aft spinnaker blocks saddles so that it can be quickly hooked across the tiller to hold it steady in amid-ships position while you hoist the spinnaker. Once the spinnaker is hoisted you can steer the boat by moving your weight slightly from one side to the other. The Mirror is very sensitive to this balance and you can easily steer her all the way without touching the tiller. Obviously this also gives you the best speed, as the rudder does not cause any drag because you are not using it to steer the boat. 505 skipper, Phil Bennett, even remarked that he found it challenging and fun. Watch out 'not so young' 505 skippers - you might find yourself sailing a Mirror soon!

After the racing a 'good ol' braai accompanied by Captain Dann's ships ration of Rum & Coke ended a splendid day of sailing and a brief prizegiving was held.

Andrew Edwards donated a very nice trophy, which he had made, for the Junior Single-Handed Champion and Mike Dann very kindly donated more prizes (T-Shirts and Laser pointers, which the kids really loved!). In addition to this, prizes were purchased with the proceeds from entry fee money and so a nice spread of prizes were awarded. My sincere thanks to Mike & Andrew for these very kind donations.

The final results were: Paul Haglich 1, Robert Edwards 2 (1st Junior), Andrew Edwards 3(1st in Race 1), Phil Bennett 4, Robert Dann 5 (2nd Junior), Tom McGrath 6, David Marshall 7, Tony Lane 8, Robert Andrew 9 (3rd Junior), Mike Buchanan 10.

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Border News

From Lionel Latigan

Here on the Border, there have been a few changes. Our old Mirror diehard, Craig Latigan is now working at North Sails in Cape Town, but he is still sailing a Mirror with Fleet 6 whenever he can get to Zeekoeivlei and he is getting experience on keelboats with some of the country's top helmsmen. Craig's crew, Terrence Wales is being kept in trim by ex-Mirror sailor Karl Goddard and Craig and Terrence will be at the Western Province Provincials. Karl has definitely abandoned Mirrors for multihulls, but he has sold his boat to junior Sailing and very sportingly trains the junior Mirror sailors on Saturday mornings.

A few weeks ago, the Old Man of the Sea (myself) creaked his way into the front cockpit of a Mirror with young Martin Struwig skippering for our local interclub Grand Prix 2 regatta. We managed to win the Open Class in spite of my clumsiness. (Five back to back races at sea is hard on old bones!)

Three Border Mirrors took part in the Eastern Province Interschools Regatta at Redhouse near Port Elizabeth, which is a good resurgence of Mirrors for us.

Bruce Herselman had a brand new crew, Warren Ahlschlager and understandably it was a learning curve for them. Munro Hansen and Clayton Vorster, sailing the ex Karl Goddard boat picked up a good fourth place with old orange sails.

Border's best performance was by Martin Struwig with Sanchia Gibson in the front cockpit. In spite of failing to complete one race due to gear failure, they put up an excellent showing to take a close second place.

Watch out, Gang! Bordhaa will be coming raiding into your Province one of these days!!

Provincial Reps, I know we are busy with Worlds preparations, but let's get a time and venue for next Nationals sorted out SOON please!

See you all again,

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CAPE OF STORMS

At time of writing many Mirror sailors in the Western Cape and beyond were busy tuning their boats and plotting strategy and tactics for the provincial championships to be held at Theewaterskloof over the Easter weekend.

The interest in the event beyond the grape curtain was not entirely because of the warm hospitality and good sailing normally associated with TSC.

The Western Province champs were also the first qualifying event for the Mirror Worlds in Hobart in 2003. TSC will once again be invaded by Fleet 6 types when we hold our third family weekend of the season – from April 27 to May 2. (The first was held at TSC and the second at Hermanus).

Plans to hold the traditional annual gathering at Langebaan came apart when it emerged that the conveniently situated and economically priced municipal bungalows normally enjoyed by Mirror sailors during visits to the West Coast are about to be torn down.

All in the name of progress and upmarket retirement villages. The committee is investigating possible family weekends at Clanwilliam, Saldanha and the Breede River Mouth later in the year.

Efforts to get the Mirrors included in the popular 24-hour race organised by the Milnerton Aquatic Club on March 18 came to naught. But the committee will push for the inclusion of Fleet 6 in next year's event.

Members of the committee held a highly productive informal meeting with national chairman Willie Zevenster in Cape Town in March. Wide-ranging discussions included the future of the Mirror Images publication and the Mirror website.

Please diarise now: the Fleet Six AGM will be held at 7pm on July 27 at Zeekoevlei.

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MIRROR FUNDS SAFE

By Willie Zevenster

All sorts of horror stories regarding the "collapse" of South African Sailing did the rounds in the days before and even after, the official announcement on the situation in SAS by the chairman of SAS, John Levin.

Many calls were received expressing concern for the safety of the Mirror funds under administration by SAS. Needless to say these horror stories were very alarming.

A few weeks before the rumours and announcement, I received a visit by Anthony Steward to discuss, in his words, "What the customers of SAS were looking for". I was very excited about the ideas tabled. Among other things we spoke about the liquidity, or lack thereof, of SAS and we also discussed the situation of the class funds administered by SAS. I was comforted that these were well looked after as the bulk of it is invested in a call account.

When the news broke, one of the people I spoke to was Ron van der Water, chairman of the Optimist class. They are in the same position as the Mirror Class. He was on his way to Cape Town and undertook to do some investigation. His report-back was positive – an audit was being done. On the Friday before the official news broke, I phoned Graham Snowball, Trustee of SAS. He had spoken to John Levin earlier in the day and was assured that Anthony did not "walk out" and that we are not yet talking about bankruptcy. All was under control and the action taken was precautionary.

Contrary to the stories, Anthony was still with SAS but he decided that, based on his investigations and the current financial situation in SAS, he could not stay on. I spoke to him again after the official announcement and was once again assured that our funds were safe.

How does it happen that an organisation like SAS ends up in this kind of situation?

One of the reasons is income/cash flow. SAS is like any other business, if there is no cash flow, or the cash flow is hampered because clubs/clients withhold their dues until the last moment, and beyond, it cannot survive in the long run. Maybe there were some unconsidered expenses in the past that put a drain on the funds, but looking at the achievements and actions of the current Exco, one can see there is a sincere desire to make good. To do that they need the support and finances from the clubs and every yachtsman in this country. It is our sport and we have to be proud of it. Without funds and a lot of support, they cannot provide a service. Let's give them a chance.

The Mirror class is in a similar situation. We also want to provide a service to our members and grow the class for the benefit of all. The more boats on the water, the more fun we have. There are unfortunately only a few members who pay their subs on time. To date we have received membership fees from 15 members. Most only pay if and when they take part in a regatta where there is a requirement to be a class member.

We, like SAS need members who not only pay their dues, but also put the effort in to make the difference and to help build our sport.

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MORE IS LESS. One of life's hard lessons

By Trygve Roberts

Most readers of Mirror Images will by now know that I mess around in keelboats these days. After only being out of Mirrors for a season, I am already missing the many virtues of the Mirror.

In the last issue I wrote about the costs and how cheap it is "comparatively speaking" to keep a Mirror in top racing condition. Now let's talk about some other advantages of Mirrors over keelboats.

Firstly, my keeler is "dry-moored" on a trailer. The launch/retrieval process involves getting chest deep into the water - this is a lot further than the ankle deep Mirror launch.

Since Christmas we have had plenty of South Easters blowing up at Theewaters and already the sequence of driving up the 100km or so, only to find the wind too strong to sail – is starting to get the better of me and I keep wondering if it would not be a better option having a Mirror close at hand for sailing when the wind is optimal!

ALL THE HASSLE
Then there is the process of removing and replacing the boat cover, which weighs almost what a Mirror weighs complete, the schlep of the outboard, batteries that need to be charged and so on.

Try doing maintenance on a keelboat. Besides the cost of parts, it is just so much easier trundling the Mirror into the garage, with good light, electrical power, a full range of tools at hand, cool, comfortable and wind-free working conditions. I have lost litres of sweat in the hull baking in the summer sun trying to do basic maintenance work on the boat. Even just getting onto a keelboat on a trailer is a mission.

Oh yes, More is Less!

LOVELY AT FIRST
I could always manage my Mirror single-handed in any wind strength, so I figured with a keel underneath, it would be even easier. A few weeks ago, I ventured out single handed and elected to sail to a distant bay. It was lovely, a broad reach, 15 to 18 knots of wind, a warm sun on my back and the promise of a lazy day of reading, music and swimming awaiting me. This all came true. Later in the afternoon however, I noticed the boat was swinging markedly on her anchor and despite the very sheltered spot, I knew that the wind had picked up significantly. Before I lifted the anchor, I thought it prudent to prepare the boat well for the upwind slog back to the yacht club.

This included putting on a life jacket, battening down all the hatches, putting a reef in the main (I didn't worry about furling the genoa as it is a fairly small sail as it is) and generally making sure that everything on the boat was really secure.

FIRST HEAVY SAIL
This was to be the first heavy weather sail in this boat and I didn't want things going wrong out in the open water. Finally I did a really good job of lashing the outboard as high out of the water as possible, to prevent it from shaking off the transom and also to lessen the drag effect.

All went well, till I stuck the nose of the boat into the open water and the full force of the wind. This boat has a generous sail plan and is quite twitchy even in moderate winds, but the first gust took me completely by surprise, knocking the boat over to almost horizontal. At that stage I decided not to cleat the main at all - Mirror style! Two hundred metres further I had a second, vicious knockdown, this time with the main completely unsheeted and only the genoa drawing.

I then realised that I had underestimated the wind strength rather badly and needed to shorten sail up front. This is not as easy as it sounds. In fact, it was a brutal struggle with spray and waves washing over the boat and skipper.

DRENCHED AND ANGRY
Now thoroughly drenched and angry with myself for not having been better prepared, set about the task of furling the headsail (there were more problems with gear failure and under-sized fittings - I think I've been sailing dinghies too long! ) but eventually, the sail was set down to a more reasonable and manageable size.

All this accomplished with grazed knuckles and a wildly lurching boat perpetually wanting to lie down and drown. Another problem was that I really needed a second reef in the main, but I was running out of water and the shore creeping ever closer, so I just had to play the main all the way. With hindsight (and no crew) the best solution would have been to have turned around at the first sign of trouble and reefed the sails properly in the shelter of the bay. I figured that I would make it back to the safety of the club on one long, starboard tack, but with all the messing around and sailing the boat with too much heel, she had produced progressively more leeway as I made progress upwind. Soon it became clear that I would not clear the headland and a tack was required. At that stage, the wind was gusting up to 40 knots (I've been in worse in a Mirror and felt a lot safer, I might add!) And the waves were thumping down onto a muddy lee shore just 50 metres ahead. As I put the helm down for the tack, I felt that it could not go fully down. A quick glance revealed the tiller touching the outboard motor - What an idiot! - To make matters worse, I had done such a good job of lashing it down, that there was definitely not enough time to undo it. I was actually about to run this expensive piece of fibreglass on to the rocks. The boat simply would not go beyond head to wind.

MYSELF TO BLAME

I didn't even have anyone to blame. So I had a severe, but brief bitching session with myself, which left me with about five seconds to make a decision. Not enough water to gybe – which would probably have dismasted the boat anyway, and then I remembered a racing technique in Mirrors.

If I had understood the windward mark, I would sail at full speed on my course without pinching and just before the mark, release the jib, pull the main in hard, hike the boat flat and luff as high as possible. Mostly this would get me clear of the mark and gain valuable seconds in a race. Now I had to try it under very different circumstances. Well, it worked and I nursed the boat off the lee shore on the opposite tack. It took another 30 minutes of very uncomfortable sailing, doing my best to protect the rig and hull from damage and finally I was in the calm of the bay. It took me some time to regain my composure and it was only by 8pm that evening that the waves and wind had subsided down to a level where it was safe to retrieve it onto the trailer.

ANOTHER HARD LESSON
Yet another sailing lesson learned the hard way. If it hadn't been for my Mirror training, that outing would surely have ended in disaster. I remember years ago when I did my pilot's licence, how the instructor constantly harped about scanning the land below for a suitable emergency landing. Maybe sailors should practice a similar credo. Alf Williams has purchased a new kit from Bell Woodworking in England and is so enthusiastic about his Mirror sailing, that I can feel little pangs of envy again. These are not good signs at all........Oh boy, oh boy!

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MIRROR WORLDS NEWS

The Mirror Worlds continues to attract a high level of enquiries and by the time entries close on July 2, it is confidently expected that over 180 boats will be competing.

Images readers may remember Norm Deane of Tasmania, who took part in the ‘99 worlds at the age of 72? He came in 19th overall out of 73 entries. Norm is now the Secretary of the IMCA and has been in contact with all the various NCAs and informs that Irish, English, South African, Australian, Swedish, Dutch, a couple of Japanese, Canadian and possibly couple of boats from the USA will be competing.

Howth have everything under control and running well for the worlds. See the Howth Yacht Club website at www.hyc.ie for details on accommodation, Notice of Race and the entertainment programme. The organisers have received a considerable boost with the announcement that the Howth-based e-business solutions company Datalex, has agreed to be the major sponsor.

A leading provider of e-business solutions for the global travel industry, Datalex was founded in 1985 and now employs over 510 people in Europe, USA, Asia/Pacific and South Africa.

Its products are used throughout the world by major travel concerns such as Aer Lingus, Air Canada, AMTRAK, British Airways, Irish Continental Group, KLM, Lufthansa, SNCF, as well as travel agencies.

It is hoped that additional support may come from the likes of the Irish Sports Council as the event ranks as one of the biggest sporting events in Ireland this year, attracting hundreds of sailors and their families from far and wide.

From Patricia Kaiser, Howth

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NEWS FROM AUSTRALIA

Busy Schedule for Western Australians The 2000-2001 Mirror summer season has started well, spurred on by the prospect of competing in the Worlds in Ireland. For the sandgropers (as West Aussies are nicknamed) there are four main events. The National Championships, State Championships, Travellers Championship and the Worlds.

Our Travellers Championship is a series of regattas sailed at clubs around the state with small cash prizes. So far this season we have had events at three Perth clubs and one country venue. The Travellers Heat One was sailed at Hillarys where we have great ocean sailing in clean unspoilt waters partially protected by a series of reefs. Here you often sail with dolphins and the occasional seal. This year the event was totally dominated by the Fremantle Club with Torva Mirsky sailing his brand new fibreglass dinghy, No Chance, first, Nic Murray in Black Adder second and Tessa Parkinson in Crescendo third. (You may remember Nic he was the youngest skipper in the SA worlds) The Second and Third Travellers heats were held on the Swan River at Royal Perth and Royal Freshwater Bay.

These race series saw very different conditions, Royal Perth was light shifting winds and Freshy was plus twenty knots every race. There were good fleets with 22 boats at RPYC.

The Fourth Travellers was over a long weekend at Koombana Bay Bunbury. Koombana Bay is known for its pods of dolphins, light fickle breezes and shipping that often interrupts racing. This year we had a very mobile harbour dredge. Twelve Mirrors entered the main event with another five boats in a Little Tackers series. This event saw the first three places go to Vasco fibreglass boats, making the builder, Little John Collova very happy.

WA did very well at the Nationals with five of the first eight places. The overall Championship came down to the last day of the five days of racing.

AUSTRALIAN CHAMPION:

Obsession (G.Collings VIC) 1,
Black Magic (D. Carey South Aust) 2,
No Chance (Torvar Mirsky and Cameron Wallis WA) 3.
LADIES SKIPPER: Steamed Up (Jessica Eastwell and Adam Martin WA)
JUNIORS: , No Chance (Torvar Mirsky and Cameron Wallis WA)
SUB-JUNIOR Vigilante III (Mark OToole and Jack OMahoney WA)
SIBLINGS: BlackAdder (Nick and Michael Murray WA)
VETERANS: Kamikaze (Mark Barrington Tas)
MASTERS: Mirror Magic (G Conquer Qld)
CRUISER WEIGHT: Jesse James (R Fry SAust)
HARMONY Ready (K. Russel ACT)

Our State Championship was held at Royal Perth Yacht Club over the Australia Day Long Weekend. It was a great event with the annual Perth City fireworks show to accompany our barbeque on the first night.

We hope to see our South African friends in Ireland later this year. Twelve Aussies Mirrors are booked to go, eight of them are from WA.

Happy Sailing MCAWA

Letter from beyond the blue horizon...Mark Pitt writes from PERTH

Norm Deane

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Nationals 2000

The 2000 Mirror National Championships at Midmar in December were going to be a knock down, drag out right from the outset. There were the ‘Old Guard’, led by Trevor Gibb, anxious to avenge a hair’s breadth defeat in the Natal Provincials, abetted by Northvaal Champion Paul Haglich and Andrew Edwards of Gauteng, with a few other experienced Mirror sailors. The ‘Young Turks’ were Waldo Zevenster, fresh from second place in the two previous Nationals and a win at Western Province, Craig Latigan with some good results in previous Nationals and a win in Natal Provincials, Roscoe Friend and several other rising young stars.

The courses alternated each day between a sausage / triangle and windward / leeward, the finishes being downwind in each case. On the first day there was the common problem  on a broad reach finish of the bridge not always being able to distinguish mainsail numbers, but the finish line was moved slightly to make competitors harden up to cross the line and from then on every-thing ran smoothly. 

The first four races were sailed in very light to medium light winds and the favoured side of  the first beat was always a lottery in the shifting wind, with the sailors who made the correct choice gaining handsomely but getting no guarantee that the same side would be good on the next beat. 

In the first race, Diether Zevenster with crew Candice Wright went to the extreme right on the first beat and rounded the weather mark first ahead of Trevor Gibb and crew James Hogg who had been more conservative, leaving Waldo Zevenster with crew Katherine Taunton and Craig Latigan with crew Terence Wales who had gone left, trailing. The reach saw some minor place changes, but on the second beat, Craig Latigan moved up from seventh to third, then Trevor Gibb passed Diether Zevenster in the last 50 meters of the final reach for a result of Trevor first, Diether second and Craig in third place. 

The second race was almost a copy of the first with Waldo going well from the start, but on the second beat Craig sailed deeper into the right side of the course than anyone else and climbed from seventh to first, then held his position comfortably on the reaches to finish ahead of Waldo and Trevor. The first windward / leeward course was sailed in the third race which started as a close fight between Trevor, Craig and Andrew Edwards with crew Megan Edwards, but Andrew faded and Kerry Prior with crew Tegan Smith took advantage of the light wind and passed the tall muscular Waldo on the last reach. Craig missed a buoy and had to unwind himself, dropping from second to seventh while Trevor won, followed by Kerry and Waldo, with Roscoe Friend and crew Derryn Friend finishing a strong fourth.

In the fourth race, Trevor and Craig got hopelessly lost on the wrong side but Roscoe never put a tiller wrong, to be followed by Andrea Giovannini with crew Heather Wares who had become tired of sailing in the middle and back of the fleet and "Mr. Consistency" Waldo who came third. After two general recalls in the fifth race the wind picked up and became cold and a mist came in which sometimes hid the entire fleet from land and sailors who had gone out dressed for Natal summer weather came ashore soaked and shivering in near darkness. Most of the fleet, including all of the front runners went to the right side of the course by varying amounts but Andrea went furthest, building a big lead on Craig who was well ahead of the rest. They finished in this order with ‘Old Guard’ Kuba Miszewski and crew Kevin McIntosh using their Western Province heavy weather skills to bring them into third position.

On the next day the wind was fairly light again. The boats which went to the right got a lift which put them ahead at the first weather mark with young Robert Edwards and crew Brett de Jaqer first around, but Craig and Terrence had gone up the centre and were coming on like gangbusters. They sailed through the lee of two boats in the last fifty meters of the beat to round in third position behind Kerry, then went into the lead on the reach while Robert, who was used to following the other boats, was wondering where the next mark was! Craig had the bit between his teeth and on the far right got enough lift to carelessly collide with a Sprog, do a seven twenty and still win, followed by Roscoe, Trevor, Kerry and Waldo. 

Race seven had some mist about and was a straight light weather tussle between the front runners which saw Roscoe win from Trevor, followed by Waldo, Craig and Kerry. 

The last day of the regatta dawned bright and windless. Trevor, in the lead, was content to sit in the shade, Craig wondered if two races could be sailed and if he could somehow overtake Trevor, Waldo hoped for wind so that he could have a final chance to overhaul Craig and Roscoe watched the weather hungrily. Eventually enough wind came up to have one race. It was a disaster for the front three. Trevor, Waldo and Craig all had various troubles at the start and had to work their way up from the back of the fleet. They gained places rapidly but Roscoe was flying and finished first, followed by Brennan Robinson with crew brother Ricky (this pair are so small that they do not have to duck under a Mirror boom during a tack), with Andrea in third place. 

POPULAR WINNER Trevor Gibb had come close to winning the Championship many times and now his nineteen points finally made him and crew James extremely popular winners. They were followed by Roscoe and Derryn second (22 points), Craig and Terence third (26 points), Waldo and Katherine fourth (26 points), Andrea and Heather fifth (49 points) and Kerry and Tegan sixth (50 points).Lionel Latigan

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WESTERN CAPE INTERSCHOOLS 

After a long break from the interchools regatta, Mirrors made an auspicious appearance last year when five of them were seen at Imperial Yacht Club. This year the event was hosted, most successfully, by Milnerton Aquatic Club on March 3 and 4 and seven Mirrors competed.

Interschools is an all class event and it was good to see so many Mirrors participating.

Wynberg Girls entered four, Wynberg Boys, Westerford and Bishops one each. The first race was sailed in a lovely westerly of about 12 knots. Daniel Cairncross, for Wynberg Boys, skippering in a race for the very first time, took first place, followed by Louise Meek of Westerford and Penny Allison of Wynberg Girls.

In the second race the conditions were much the same, with the same results. Sunday saw the start of the third race at 10.30 with the wind at 15 knots from the south. Penny had adjusted her rig and showed who's boss by winning, with Abby Smith of Wynberg Girls taking 2nd. Louise Meek was disqualified for a race error and Daniel and crew took a scenic (misguided) route across the vlei and did not finish.

The fourth race saw the wind, after blasting from the west for 20 minutes, return to southeast and strengthen. Penny once again took the honours, Louise 2nd and Daniel 3rd.

After lunch just one race was held, with the strong southeaster starting to cause problems for the not-so-experienced sailors. Results were Penny 1st, Louise 2nd and Daniel 3rd, which mirrored the overall individual results. Wynberg Girls took the Mirror Team trophy.

Many thanks to MAC for a most enjoyable regatta at a lovely venue.

Report by Ian Cairncross

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Hints & kinks

Paul Johnson

Seasoned sailors are undoubtedly aware of the existence of two excellent books written for Mirror owners who wish to broaden their knowledge and hone their skills

The first one is "Sailing the Mirror" by Roy Partridge, ISBN 0-906754-01-1,which is an introduction to the boat and whets your appetite for the second book which is "Mirror Racing", ISBN 0-906754-45-3. Both are published by Fernhurst. The latter book has a chapter on "Tuning" which simply describes some ways in which better performance can be attained from your boat. Unashamedly, the following hints and kinks are extracts from these books and this chapter. It is assumed that your suit of sails is the best you can get your hands on (by legal means of course.)

Make sure that your shrouds and forestay are sufficiently tight. The jib halyard should not be so tight as to create a vertical gully, just eliminate creases. The jib fairleads should be inboard, not on the gunwale, located two metres in a straight line from the jib tack and one metre apart, spaced equally from the centre-line, securely fixed to the top of the tanks with stainless steel backing plates and bolts.

Various tests can be performed to establish the exact position (read the book !)

A combined fairlead and clam cleat is a good idea as well as a continuous sheet kept as short as possible.

The boat's pointing ability is affected by the rake of the mast which in turn changes the amount of weatherhelm.The author suggests a measurement of 3750 millimetres from the very top of the gaff to the outer edge of the transom.

Telltales, made of old cassette tape or other light material, affixed to the sails in the correct positions give a very good indication of the windflow across the surface of the sails and enable you to make corrections with visible results. The centreboard, rudder and gaff should be as stiff as possible, probably difficult to change in most cases. The downhaul on the rudder should be a cleated rope.

The hull should be epoxy coated to keep moisture out and overall weight down, remember the minimum of 45.5 kilograms if you are serious about racing. An interesting point is that white paint is heavier for the same volume as black paint.

Don't forget the fur on the dashboard and plastic orange on the aerial, for speed!

All leading booksellers should be able to source these books, good to support the local retailers but the Internet resources are virtually unlimited of course.

Enjoy your boat and your sailing.

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What you need to know about TRUTH

Once again lady luck has looked my way and I'm off to sea to participate in the last two legs of the BT Global Challenge from Cape Town –La Rochelle - South Hampton. This opportunity came with compliments from VERITAS South Africa who were looking for someone who could represent their company, as well as our country, in "The toughest race in the world." The BT Race as you well know is sailed against the trade winds and currents thus making it one of the toughest challenges to date. Imagine beating to windward through the southern ocean, getting stuck in the Doldrums and sailing across the largest stretch of ocean, the Pacific. Seventeen crewmen sail 24 000 nautical miles around the world visiting major ports of call like Boston, Buenos Aires, Wellington, Sydney, Cape Town, La Rochelle and finally back to Southampton in the UK. But what would drive these men and women to beat themselves up over a lousy boat race?

To answer your question, its not just a lousy boat race because half these guys can't or haven't ever sailed before and to them this race is a turning point in their lives.

The Challenge: To conquer the toughest conditions nature can provide. Sometimes these conquerors have to pay a small price. On the boat that I'll be joining here in Cape Town ( VERITAS), two guys got seriously injured just a day out of Sydney and had to return almost immediately. After a massive wave hit the boat two crewmen sitting on the high side got swept into the cockpit, one sliced two of his fingers off and the other broke his leg in three places. This was besides some damage to the boat.

So what am I getting myself into? Well it all started just a few months ago when VERITAS' Regional Director Mr. Nick van Noordwyk came to Cape Town to interview me and students of the RCYC Development Academy for this opportunity of a life time. VERITAS is the third largest software company in the world but have been keeping a low profile till now and were looking for the right person within the sport of sailing to become part of their marketing campaign as well as the only South African competing in the race.

Well, much hype has been made about my participation in the race in newspapers, magazines and on TV. I've had to attend a training camp in San Francisco and will be going to Southampton for another in the first week of April. I hope that this will be the beginning of a bright future for the sport of sailing here in South Africa.

Now you can write directly to the crewmen aboard the yacht VERITAS which is sailing across the Southern Ocean at this very moment. The address is team.veri-tas@veritas.com. Write to Ian Luddington, (Remember to put his name in the subject line otherwise you won't receive a reply.) so go on, find out what it's like to be "bashing your brains out" in the Southern Ocean and for those of you who don't speak Latin, VERITAS translates to "TRUTH".

Sieraj Jacobs

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MEET MIRROR NO 73 - 
Paul Johnson bought her

My hobbies are sailing and amateur radio, both of which got to me pre-teen, for better or for worse! Radio communication, especially in this electronic age, has connotations of being fundamental, no-frills, basic. One thinks of a Morse code signal emanating from a research station in Antarctica, or a distant Pacific atoll, or even a space shuttle orbiting the earth; a tenuous signal battling the elements. There’s a parallel somewhere with dinghy sailing which is also fundamental, no-frills and basic. It also has the characteristic of harnessing and, frequently, fighting with the elements. 

This pioneering aspect inspires me. It also inspires me to collect antique radios and communication equipment. This has been known to occasion comments from the family, along the lines of "packrat" and "Dad’s junk" ,always totally ignored,I must add. Sometime last September, I surfed over to the Mirror Dinghy Info Exchange website (www.pertech.com/mirror/disc1_toc.ht m) via a link on the IMCASA webpage (www.mirror.org.za) where there is a variety of very useful Mirror information including "For Sale" sections. There I observed an ad for Mirror number 73. 

This immediately aroused the collector’s instinct in me as number 73 was obviously one of the very first Mirrors built, dating from the early sixties. "73" has a particular significance in radio; in Morse code( -- ... ...-- ) is used as a friendly greeting, along the lines of "best wishes" or "good luck" and has a musical ring about it,dah dah dit dit dit, dit dit dit dah dah.Telegraphic abbreviation is common in radio as it speeds things up enormously much like the "new" way in which email correspondents use" Netspeak" to express themselves. I sent off an email in response to the advert to the owner, Mike Kerr, of Mirror 73, and discovered that the boat was indeed still for sale.The thought processes then began to work overtime on how to get the boat from Ardingly Reservoir, north of Brighton in West Sussex to Cape Town. 

At this point events seemed to conspire to bring Mirror 73 across the ocean. I needed to go to the States on business and would have to stop over in the UK en route, (cheaper to Los Angeles via London does not seem logical but it is true). This seemed an ideal opportunity to visit family in Southampton and Mirror 73 was a "long" stone’s throw away. It seemed predestined that I investigate it. A further link in the conspiracy was the proximity of friends near Southampton who just happened to have a Mirror trailer and were only too happy to help to move it from the reservoir to the shipping agents.  I wasn’t planning an Atlantic solo voyage past Dakar,Senegal ! Getting the boat from Ardingly to Southampton took the best part of a cold, wet, damp, foggy day, the principal delay being British road law which forbids a trailer to travel over 80 km/h - good idea. Perhaps the suggestion of the freight agent, James Pearson of Eculine, would have proved more speedy: to sail down the  A27 to Southampton (you will recall the flooding in the UK last autumn).The drive down English country lanes and through quaint towns and villages was truly delightful however. The boat proved to be more covered in fibreglass patches than I had thought but it did appear that the fundamental structure was sound and as described in the advert, the sails and rigging including two original oars were in very good condition. I am looking for two brass rowlocks,any suggestions or donations to a worthy cause would be most welcome ! ( large hint).The original registration card and a whole host of other books and documents were given to me to complete the history.Mirror numbering appears to have started from Number 10,by the way. 

It is a Mark I Mirror, built in 1963, originally owned by a Squadron Leader Wood of Fife,Scotland. Differences between it and the more modern boats include the wooden mast with the sail laced entirely onto the gaff and mast from top to bottom, with no slot in the gaff. The mainsheet is fitted through nylon fairleads with no pulley blocks and the jibsheets come through wooden fairleads fitted to the inside of the gunwale. The shrouds are tied off, the gunwales are a single strip on the outside with no internal wood; there are also no forward storage compartments and there is no access to the buoyancy tanks,(What ! no hatch covers.) 

The journey to Cape Town took 2 months via Tilbury and Port Elizabeth and an excessively long sojourn in the docks waiting for an import permit as the boat was second hand and not new. Beware of this one if you are thinking of bringing in goods. Apparently there was a loophole for getting foreign currency by importing all manner of worthless junk that was eventually stopped. Then began the painstaking removal of ancient fibreglass and paint of various hues including a large 73 in red on the prow.There is no doubt that fibreglass work must be done in dry conditions as the adhesion is severely affected by moisture and low temperatures.The restoration will continue and hopefully, by the start of the next sailing season Mirror 73,(aka "Mary Rose") will be on the water at Theewaterskloof, having moved from 73 Joubert Road, Green Point. Funny that... how number 73 seems to crop up; the house is also a trifle antique, come to think of it. Mni tnx es cuagn nxt Images 73 de ZS1BR.

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W. P. PROVINCIALS

The 2001 WCDA Championships took place at Theewaterskloof dam over Easter Weekend. Sixteen Mirrors were entered, with two from P.E, namely Waldo and Diether Zevenster, and Craig Latigan from East London, making a very competitive fleet. Sieraj Jacobs was the hot Mirror in the fleet.

Racing started on Good Friday, the 13th, but for most it proved not so good. The new international starting sequence was used for this regatta. The GP 14's started before the Mirrors and had a general recall, which was ignored by all the GP's. This resulted in all but four Mirrors starting on the restart of the GP'S. The remaining Mirrors started in a freshening breeze. Sieraj withdrew during the first beat, the rest followed Waldo Zevenster around the course. Gareth Cairncross was second and Kuba Miszewski was third. The finishing bridge were unaware of the incorrect start, and placed all boats that sailed. This resulted in the first protest of the regatta, to get the results corrected. The protest was upheld. There was much unhappiness in our fleet, as well as the other fleets. The weather mark had also drifted during the race. Had our fleet been more awake, and aware of the rules, the whole race could have been protested out, as done by the Extra class. Only one race took place on Friday. Saturday dawned wet and windy. Three good races were sailed, with Alf Williams showing us some superb boat speed and skill, taking two of the Races, and Sieraj taking one. The whole fleet had close sailing.

Sunday brought us a clear sunny day, with no wind. Eventually a light Westerly wind filled in, and racing resumed. Sieraj ran away from the fleet in the first race. Sieraj's true class was beginning to show. He was fast in light as well as heavier conditions.

Alf was still fast. His beautifully constructed English boat certainly has speed. And so it should - Alf built it in only one week! Unfortunately, me with an Extra, which resulted in Alf tangling with me and the Extra at the weather mark. Kuba bumped both the Extra and Alf who came onto the mark on port. I executed a 720, and protested Alf. Much to everyone's disappointment, both Alf and I were disqualified!

The new rules two boat lengths at the mark is a very harsh rule. Whatever happens, never ever get into a situation of coming in on port because you have no rights whatsoever. This race was a real drifter, some boats did not even make the start, others did not manage to cross the start on time, and some battled to make the time limit. Only two races were sailed, before the bridge sent everyone ashore.

Ashton Sampson was now showing his sailing skill and was well placed in the top three. At 16h00 the race officer canned racing for the day.

Monday was again windless, and the fleet waited on shore, with many starting to pack up their camps. With half an hour to spare, the wind came through from the South, and two races were sailed in near perfect conditions. The last race had a port biased start, with only two boats taking advantage. Diether Zevenster gave Sieraj a run for his money, narrowly coming second.

We had come to the end of some great sailing, some unpleasant protests, and some surprise results. Waldo Zevenster was the only selected member of the 2001 Worlds team to make the top three, Craig Latigan of the Worlds team never found his speed, and seemed to battle in the fresh breeze, and Diether Zevenster seemed to find his form only at the end of the regatta. It was great to welcome the "Go Go" girls from RCYC into our fleet, hope we will see more of you in our fleet!

Sieraj Jacobs, with Gigi Eagleson as crew showed us his world class standard by being first, Ashton Sampson and Nicholas Baigrie showed us that they should be in the World's team by coming second, and Waldo Zevenster confirmed that he is in the Worlds team. Gareth Cairncross drew on points for third showing that luck ran out for him when trying to make the Worlds team !

As an international class we should take our sailing seriously, knowing our rules, and using them, being at the start on time, and racing in every race in a regatta, lets show the rest that we are a serious class, and lets have fun on the water.

1st - Sieraj Jacobs & Gigi Eagleson,2nd - Ashton Sampson and Nicolas Baigrie, 3rd - Waldo Zevenster & K Taunton, 4th –Gareth Cairncross & Henio Miszewski, 5th - Kuba Miszewski & K McIntosh, 6th - Alf Williams & Nicolas Pratt, 7th- Craig Latigan & T Wales, 8th - Fuad Jacobs & M Ackerman, 9th - Louise Meek & Ms Little, 10th - Diether Zevenster & C Wright,11th - Marvin Sampson & Ali Mapker, 12th -Virgil Mpaly & Saskia Kemp, 13th - Kurt Nilsen & Shannon Barrat, 14th - Nigel & Candice Smithie, 15th - Daniel Cairncross & Claudia Meek

By Kuba Miszewski

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