COMMODORES CORNER
Holger Bischoff

Dear friends and members, a very warm welcome to all of you from myself, to the start of the 2010 / 2011 sailing and rowing season.

Firstly, a very huge thank you is owed to our previous commodore, Jennifer Burger and her committee, for guiding this club of ours over the past three years through some economically challenging times, whilst still being able to offer the usual great sailing, rowing and social activities to its members.

I am happy to say that, with most of the previous committee members agreeing to serve another term (or two) there should be sufficient continuity to enable the new committee to carry on the good work. For those members who have stood down, I am confident to say that we have found more than able replacements for them. We thus welcome Alistair Keytel to the sailing portfolio, and we understand that he will be assisted with ideas and advice from his predecessor, Keith Morris, in ensuring that there will be plenty of exciting sailing action for all in the new season.

Our previous Vice Commodore, Perry Harrison-Hyde (he of the famous Marguerites), has indicated an interest in expanding and promoting the social side of our club, which I believe is a good cause and one for which he is suitably talented. We believe that the social side of the club has dropped off somewhat of late, and is in need of revival. We urge all members to readily support any social activities which are put on offer – bring along your family and friends as well!

One issue of concern to myself and to the committee, is the noticeable drop-off in the number of new junior sailors at novice and intermediate level. We attribute this to the fact that some of the other Cape Town sailing clubs (specifically MAC and FBYC) have introduced very successful junior training programs of their own, thus ‘pinching’ potential junior sailors from ZVYC. As we fully realize the importance of maintaining a healthy number of junior sailors, for the medium and long term benefit of the club, we are determined to counter this trend in whichever way possible, for example by hosting an Open Day for kids and their families, which will be advertised / promoted at the local primary schools.

Finally, all that remains for me to say is: may you all enjoy a great 2010/11 sailing and rowing season, whether at competitive level, or simply for fun and enjoyment of the sport. May the weather gods be good to all of us!

ROWING
Richard Moolenschot

MELCK RUN: One of our main winter events is the annual long row on the Berg River, known as the MELCK RUN, which took place on Sunday, 20 June 2010. The Melck Run starts from the farm of Julian Melck on the banks of the lower stretches of the Berg River and ends a further 17km downstream at another farm, belonging to a cousin of Julian. Boats were packed on the Friday and towed up to the farm by Mark Swartz, one of our disabled rowers. It was Mark’s wedding anniversary and he planned to row the club training boat “Thirsty Bertie” the full distance with his wife as a passenger.

Some of us stayed in the guest houses of Julian’s farm, KERSEFONTEIN, and were treated on Saturday night to a sumptuous three course meal in the main dining room of the historic farmhouse. The main course was Wild Boar which Julian hunts on his farm. The weather on the Sunday was perfect with a low mist hanging over the river. There were 14 participants, consisting of two quads, five single scullers and Mark in the tub. It is a credit to Mark that he completed the full distance without assistance. After packing the boat trailer, we all gathered at KERSEFONTEIN for an afternoon braai before heading home. It was a memorable weekend.

MARLEEN’S TRIP TO THE HEIDELBERG REGATTA: Marleen Potgieter of the Alfred Rowing Club joined an Old Eds team to row at the Annual Heidelberg Regatta in Heidelberg, Germany, held in May 2010. The tour to Heidelberg was organized by Adrian Higgins of Old Eds. Marleen has known Adrian for some time, due to her involvement in rowing and he extended an invitation to her when he arranged the trip.

90 clubs participate in this event – an event that is held from the Old Bridge in Heidelberg for either 1000 or 2000 meters upriver. As the Neckar is one of the major rivers flowing through Germany to the sea, rowing events have to break to allow ships and large barges to pass in their journey to the sea. Rowers come from all over Germany – and some from France and the Czech Republic – and camp along the banks of the Neckar for the duration of the Regatta weekend.

As is to be expected, the Regatta ran with expected German efficiency – completely on time. Marleen participated in a mixed quad, where she was fortunate enough to row in a crew with two German National rowers, and in a double with Adrian Higgins, of ROWSA and Old Eds, and they came third in their race. The hospitality of the Heidelberger Ruderklub was unsurpassed. The rowers returned to South Africa laden with gifts, having been welcomed with open arms and having all their expenses – board and lodging fully paid for by local club members. It would be wonderful to extend the same courtesy to rowers coming to South Africa from Germany in the future.

The President of the Rowing Club, Holger Xandry, has expressed an interest in forging a formal “friendship” with Old Eds and Alfred Rowing Club, which means reciprocity of hosting rowers and inviting each other to important regattas.

FROM THE OFFICE
Lorna Norris & Millicent Kellett

OPENING CRUISE: Previous Committees have discussed changing the timing and format of the Opening Cruise to enable us to have more members attend an interesting event whilst retaining traditions.  To this end the date this year will be Saturday September 4^th so that it does not clash with the L26 Nationals and is not followed by 2 weeks of no club sailing due to the Lipton Cup. The format will be as follows and the Galley will be open from 10h00:

13h00  The Commodore will break open the Burgee and declare the Season open.

13h30   The first flight of the MDM Team Racing will start.

16h00   The guests will arrive and tea and cake will be served.

Once the last flight of the MDM Team Racing has been completed the sailors and rowers will congregate at a designated buoy for Gluewine and then sail past the Jetty to salute the Commodore and guests.

18h00   There will be an address by the Commodore and a Guest Speaker where after the bar will be opened.

19h00   Supper will be on sale and the party will begin!!!

We trust that Members will turn out in their numbers to sail and have fun!

OFFICE HOURS: Lorna is on leave until August 12^th.  Millicent will return your calls and respond to your e-mails daily.

On her return from leave Lorna will be changing her office hours slightly for a trial period of 3 months and will continue to be in the office on a Monday, Thursday and Friday but will no longer be in the office on a Saturday unless there is an event on.  On Sundays she will work from 9h00 to 16h00 but will not return in the late afternoon.  She will however work additional hours as required whenever there is an event on.

JUNIORS
Nicky Stock

I hope that you have all had a wonderful break full of no school, lots of soccer and complete relaxation!

Our Junior Coaching season for the Oppies is going to start fairly soon. We will be doing the registration for the courses on Sunday 15th August from 09h00 to 10h00. And then we’ll get you out onto the water or busy with your 1st lesson with your coaches.

Please book your places on the course; and boats if you need them; through the office right away.

Local sailing over the winter has been quite quiet, Zeekoe Vlei is empty – very pretty with sandy beaches, and loads of wading birds, but not ideal for sailing. During the 2nd term though, our sailors were invited to sail in a youth regatta spread over a few weekends at MAC. Quite a few of our A fleet took up the challenge and had some good sailing in mixed breezes. Their coach (Philip) was able to be there too which added huge value to the event. Hermanus Yacht Club has also hosted a youth event – Oppie training during a week’s camp. This should be drawing to a close as I write this. I am sure that it was well supported as it was an excellent opportunity to be immersed in sailing. The African Optimist Champs start on 31 July in Kilifi Kenya – we wish Cara Stubbs and the rest of the team all the best for this regatta.

So, I’ll see you on Sunday 15th August. We are looking forward to a successful training season for you all.

SAILING
Alistair Keytel

The start of the new sailing season will soon be upon us and as with previous years it promises to be packed with a wide variety of exciting sailing events. So be sure to get your boats ready in time to enjoy the fun.

This season, look out for;

• The new format for the opening of the sailing season
• Changes to the format of the MDM Team Racing series to include all those sailors wishing to take part.
• Sponsored events are back including a new sponsor in Seaport who I’d like to welcome and thank for their support; the format of each of the 3 events will be slightly different to keep things interesting.
• Inter-club challenges with both Hermanus and Milnerton
• Point Series; check the sailing calendar for venues and dates
• Sunday club racing series and leader boards posted on the ZVYC website www.zvyc.org.za

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Keith Morris for all his hard work and effort he has put into sailing at the club in the last few years in his role as Rear Commodore Sailing.

Sailing season opening

The opening of the season will be on Saturday the 4^th of September. This year we’ve decided to try something new and to sail the first 2 rounds of the MDM team racing on the same day. The start will be at 13:30 and after the 1^st & 2^nd rounds are complete there will be the traditional sail past at 17:00 followed by speeches and party.

Sponsored events

Thank you to our sponsors for their continued support of sailing at Zeekoevlei.

• North sails, 17 October 2010 – the aim of the day will be to sail 4 races, 2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. The races will be between 50 and 60 mins long and the 2^nd and 4^th races will finish in “Home Bay” at the club.
• Seaport, 14 November 2010 – aim to sail 6 shorter races on the Sunday each race lasting between 30 and 40 minutes.
• DNG Interiors, 22 January 2011 – same format as the previous year with a pursuit race in the morning and a revised rating for the afternoon race based on the mornings results.

MDM team racing

In an effort to include more sailors in the racing Keith has devised a new format for the popular MDM team racing event. The number of teams participating has been reduced back to 4 and there will only be 3 rounds with an additional 4^th day for the final.

For those that are not incorporated into a team but would like to sail and be part of the fun the 4 team captains will select them to represent the teams in their own handicap race to be raced in conjunction with the team racing.

The result of the handicap race will earn 1 bonus point for the best team.

Look out for more details closer to the time.

Point series regattas

• Points Regatta 1 – Southern Spars Spring Regatta at ZVYC on the 11^th and 12^th of September
• Points Regatta 2 – Vogelvlei on the 6^th and 7^th of November
• Points Regatta 3 – Theewaters on the 4^th and 5^th of December
• Points Regatta 4 – Hermanus 29^th and 30^th of January
• Points Regatta 5 – Milnerton (MAC) 26^th and 27^th of February

Inter clubs

Look out for 2 Inter club challenges this year between ourselves and Hermanus Yacht Club to be sailed at Zeekoevlei; the other with MAC to be sailed at their club. Further details relating to these events will be sent out closer to the time.

Club racing series

Apart from all the other events on the calendar there are 8 Sundays that have been scheduled for club sailing to form a club series. On each of the days we’ll have one race only with a morning start. Each of the races (including a discard) will count towards the Club Series with Trophies for the winners in each of the classes.

ZVYC website

Don’t forget to go to our website www.zvyc.org.za to get all the information about our sailing such as the 2010/2011 sailing calendar which is available for you to view, download and print. You can also find useful information about upcoming events as well as pictures and reports of past events.

All the Series leader boards will be available on the website for the point series, MDM team racing and the club racing series including the sponsored events.

• Leave a comment...