Newsletter September 2008
Editor: Kris Steyn 082 619 5511 krissteyn@gmail.com
Last Months Meeting
Our divergent overworked committee met for the first time in the new club year with only Gillian, Niel and Kris. All others were elsewhere with other fish to fry. And to crown it all Gillian is off on 2 months holiday (how do retired ladies of leisure get holiday?) to USA. The forthcoming regatta was discussed and for various reasons was postponed - again watch this space...
At that stage the Lipton Cup was still underway - so we were still watching the progress eagerly.
Our Speaker of the evening...
Our honoured guest James Collocott gave us a detailed and fascinating explanation as to the origins, evolution and current state of the Lighthouses of Africa and more specifically, South Africa. Trends internationally and how South Africa is being involved were explained. The South African waters remain a very important element in the trade between east and west and James had all the facts and figures to bring us up to date on the status and safety of the offshore craft that ply our waters..
During question time , the current governments attitude and plans were discussed and James left us feeling much more positive about the future.
New terms were introduced to us - pity Jack Clarke missed the talk - he would have loved it.
How about :- Pharologist - One who studies or is interested in lighthouses from the ancient Pharos of Alexandria.
All-in-all an excellent talk. Thanks again James Collocott
LIPTON Cup Report by Barry Wolf
The weigh-in was on Saturday and as in horse racing all competitors and in our case, their boats are weighed and where required extra ingots of lead are put into the bilges of their boats.
Competition is extremely fierce and here is an example of how far a competitor will go... The club will remain nameless.
After a practice sail on Saturday morning their team went to the weigh-in only to find that they were 200 grams over the limit.
Now normally crew would go to a sauna or simply diet for a few days or simply not eat for that morning but there was no time for that.
All the crew were in their trunks only as they knew that it would be a close shave being rather tall chaps as they were.
As I said competition is fierce and one of the crew without hesitation offered to remove his trunks and reweigh.
His trunks were wet from the sail and happened to weigh exactly 200 grams.
The weigh-masters were in fact ladies who quickly reported to all in sundry of the great sportsmanship of this tall good looking young man.
The first race. Remember there are 31 entries this year and I'm happy to report that our boys are doing well.
They came 6th but at the end of the day there was one protest which disqualified them from the race.
Such if the competitive spirit of this prestigious event.
Another interesting point is that you can watch all the races live at the Royal Cape as they now have for the first time a direct link to the club.
 Thanks to Larry on AMBRE for the pictures
Shore Leave (Social Calendar)
September Meeting :-
OUR NEXT MEETING :-
Last Thursday Of The Month 25th September 7pm at our usual spot - the Atlantic Underwater Club Mouille Point .
Scuttlebutt
Our founder member Brian Bradfield's birthday is 4th September
Let us all wish him a happy birthday - he now has an email address, please do send him a greeting... bradfieldbrian@gmail.com
Our Future meeting place is the hot topic; we are evaluating this month and will report at the next meeting.
If anybody has a bright suggestion - please let us know.
Fire Side Chat
From the SAILNET FORUM USA
I'm an experienced sailor that has owned several yachts but I've come across an problem I've never seen before. I have a 33ft cruiser. Nothing special but a nice little yacht. She has furling job and in mast furling. However there is something going very wrong with the main sail trim. I'll explain the situation.
Sailing close to the wind in say a 3-4 she sails wonderfully. Nicely balanced, sails quite close to the wind (for a cruiser), all seems very happy. HOWEVER .. As soon as the wind come round to the beam i.e. any sort of reach she slows right down. Obviously I trim the sails accordingly but she just goes slower. As well as slowing down she doesn't feel right. She's thrown off by the smallest wave, isn't balanced ect just feels horrid.
NOW HERES the kicker. I was playing with her mainsail trim last weekend, I had a 3-4 on the beam and she was playing up again. So just as a laugh I let the main out until it started to luff (back of the main flapping like crazy), and what would happen SHE SPEEDS UP. Yes I know ?? she actually sped up with the main luffing. I test this over and over again and the same result. Somehow the back of the sail seems to working against itself on a beam reach? I've never seen this before. True I've not had much experience with in mast furling (hate them really), so has anyone out there got ideas about what's going on?
I suspect the rigging is out somehow but looking at all my book about rigging nothing mentions this situation.
Click here to view original discussion on SAILNET
From the Crow's Nest (Editors' Bit)
Our esteemed Founder Member, Charles Paice , has resigned from the committee. We have indeed been fortunate to have had a long and fruitful relationship and it is definitely the clubs loss.
We shall miss you Charles - please remember you are always welcome.
This brings me to an associated matter. We need new members and most importantly, new committee members.
Whilst a few of you are past committee members and have served your time, others have plenty to contribute to the club. This club cannot exist merely with donations/subscriptions. We urgently need new passion and crazy-ness. Our Commodore is serving a fourth term:
Please guys, time for you to try a new crew position...
Please remember "ASK NOT WHAT YOUR COUNTRY CAN DO FOR YOU, BUT WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY" and put that thought into the realm of the TBA.
And on a similar vein ... where-oh-where are the feminine yachties ... what have we done to chase them away ?
Smalls
FOR RENT :-
YACHT BUILDING PREMISES + Big Studio Flat + Lockup Garage : near CT.
I have a large residential property in Milnerton where I was going to build my yacht.
Times have changed and this is now available to another dream-maker.
The property has easy access to the road and could take a yacht up to 45' comfortably. The lockup garage has extra high roll-up doors and is secure.
The upstairs studio apartment is huge - with a walk-out patio - good to relax on...
Excellent views - only double story house in the vicinity.
I have some furniture - but it could be un-furnished.
3 phase electricity
Quiet neighbourhood - so wouldn't be good to make too much noise after hours - key here is reasonableness - but its perfectly legal to build your own boat in your yard.
Dog friendly - Full ADT security - garden maintenance....
would suit a single person - or a couple.
Rent would be commensurate with boat-builders requirements - ie state of boat.
and a suitable deposit - also commensurate with the tenants requirements.
I am keen on a good tenant - this is not a rip-off.
Please understand that if a tenant "disappears" - getting rid of a "project boat" can be very expensive ??? (I have experience ! )
Contact the Editor if interested
See you all at the next meeting ...
TBA Committee
| Commodore | Peter Theunissen | 0826282102 | peter23@telkomsa.net |
| Rear Commodore | Neil Lavin | 0215593081 | neil@dpmanagement.co.za |
| Purser/Editor | Kris Steyn | 0826195511 | krissteyn@gmail.com |
| Scribe | Gillian Shapley | 0793994055 | |
| Website | Pam Newby | 0825646257 | pam@dragonboat.org.za |
| 
