Masthead News

The 2012 AGM has come and gone, and this is the first Masthead of the new 2012/2013 season …  Thanks to everyone who came to the AGM – there was a good attendance  and the lunch and prize-giving both went off well.  The following were elected to the 2012/2013 Committee:

President – Rob Barker
Vice-President – Robin McIntosh
Commodore – Brenda Tarboton
Vice Commodore Sailing – no-one was elected, so if you’d like the position, please let anyone on the Committee know …
Rear Commodore House – Hes Hamilton
Hon Secretary – Clive Waddy
Hon Treasurer – Peter Forshaw
General Committee members – Anton Ellens, Tony Cockerill, Pierre van Daele, Jeremy Bellengere

Special Projects – Rob Bell

This year your Club has an entry in the Lipton Cup – this is being sailed in L26s again, from  the 17^th to the 24^th August, and HMYC is being represented by Craig Millar and his crew.  Craig is a well-known sailor – he has competed in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, finishing a very creditable second, and his company – Quantum sails – is the main sponsor of the HMYC annual 9 Hour event.  The 2012 HMYC Lipton team sailed together for the first time in the recent L26 KZN Provincials, finishing second, which bodes well for the future.  We are very pleased to have such a team representing HMYC, and wish them well for the Lipton Cup!  Here’s a report on the recent L26 Provincials:

‘This year’s Lipton Cup, to be held out of FBYC, will see the battle of three strong KZN teams, in the hopes that the cup can return to the sunny skies and warm seas of Durban. In the build-up to the Lipton Cup, MSC week hosted the L26 KZN provincials which saw top teams training and racing hard for the podium positions. The tension was palpable the weekend before the regatta as boats were prepped and finishing touches applied. The PYC entry of Choose Life Element came out guns blazing on the first day with a young, local crew on-board. The team landed two wins on the first day of racing while the Royal Natal entry of Orion B2G2 were just behind them with two seconds and a first. Although Craig Millar, Dallen Roos and Ryan Avery on the team Quantum L26 had been training a lot together, the addition of two new crew members in the form of Paul Vivian and Francesco De Vita meant that the crew needed a day or so to iron out some issues and come together as a team. On day two team Quantum showed their true colours and strode to victory in two windy races while Orion B2G2 scored one first place. Day three of racing brought with it very difficult conditions. A course was set in a dying, shifty breeze and a shortened course flag saw the boats heading straight to the finish after the downward mark, permitting Orion B2G2 to nab their third victory of the regatta. Although a second race was started on day three it was quickly abandoned due to a dying breeze and a threat of a storm brewing. Tired and broken crews pitched up to the start of day four, which brought with it another tough days racing and another three hard races. HMYC Colourpress managed to win another two races and Orion B2G2 won one. With a total of ten races sailed, a discard at the end of day four saw Orion B2G2 and HMYC Colourpress on exactly the same points and with the same number of firsts going into the final day of racing. The Choose Life team on-board the PYC entry had all but secured third place. A fight to the finish ensued on day five, seeing Orion B2G2 and team Quantum sailing each other past marks and away from the course as they cover tacked and fought to steal each other’s wind. These games allowed the CT naval entry to sneak through in order to win a race; their first one despite some good sailing and not so great starts on the previous days of racing. Orion B2G2 managed to pull ahead of team Quantum due to their good teamwork gained from their previous Lipton campaign, allowing the Royal Natal entry to beat HMYC Colourpress in both races on the final day to win the L26 class as well as the KZN L26 provincials.’

We’re currently finding that non-members who’ve bought a boat from a HMYC member are gaining access to the Club via the seller’s gate entry disc.  This is obviously not good for your club, as in this way people are enjoying the benefits of the Club, without becoming a member of the Club. The gate entry disc is for HMYC Club members only – this means that if you sell your keelboat or dinghy, and then resign from HMYC, please don’t pass your entry disc on to the new owner.  Please return your gate entry disc to Heather – the Club Administrator.  The person who has bought your boat should join the Club, if they’re not already a member, and get their own gate entry disc. 

If you have a keelboat on a mooring at the Dam – please will you check your mooring?  We’re having some strong winds at the moment; August is traditionally the windy month at Midmar, and already some keelboats have broken away from their moorings.  So if you don’t want to find your keelboat washed up on the bank, please check your mooring. 

If you own a Halcat, and are thinking of selling it, Island Sailing Club is looking for Halcats to buy.  You can contact Graham Weyer at 084 547 0115, or bigg71@ovi.com.

The 2012/2013 Sailing Programme will soon be available – the finishing touches are currently being made to it.  Once again, Marius and Caprice van Vuuren will be organising social sailing for those keelboat owners who don’t want to race, so if you are a social sailor, they will be contacting you soon.  However, the Opening Cruise is scheduled for Sunday 26^th August – please put this into your diary …

If you haven’t yet received an HMYC subs statement for the 2012/2013 season, please will you contact Heather, the Club Administrator, as these subs are now due.  The subs statement was e-Mailed out to members in late May/early June, so it is possible that you have received your statement, but haven’t realised what it is, and so not paid it yet??  Heather will send you another statement if you need it, and she can be contacted on 083 312 7707, or 033 330 4158.  She is at the Club on a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, from 09h00 to 13h00 in the off season.