Hobies set sail in Easter Regatta
The Hobie tribe are eager to get three days of racing in after the gnarly conditions experienced last year.
HAVING a bit of a late start to the summer sailing season, this Easter, Hobie sailors kick off their sailing year in Durban waters to compete in the Easter Regatta hosted by Point Yacht Club.
The Hobie tribe are eager to get three days of racing in after the gnarly conditions experienced last year. The main fleet will be the Hobie 16s competing in their regionals with an open class for other Hobies, who will also be sharing the race track. Race Officer for the event is the Kevin Bingham.
Defending Champion is Durban’s Peter Hall, who competed last year with his son, Matthew. Changing things up this year, Hall will be taking to the water with his daughter Sarah -Ann who has just returned from Europe.
“We have a number of events lined up for this year. Kicking off the calendar will be the regionals here in Durban. Last year we hosted three big Hobie events in Durban. Over Easter, we had 28 boats on the water and got in five races in the extreme weather. Then in June we had 27 Hobie 14s on the water and got in six races. In December we only had 11 entries and with good planning to have racing in the bay, we managed to get in eight races,” said Garth Loudon, KZN’s Chairman for the Hobie Association.
Events that have the Durbanites pondering about getting stamps in their passports are the Hobie Multi European Championships taking place in the seaside resort of Hornbæk, Denmark at the end of July and then the Tanzacat hosted by the Dar es Salaam Yacht Club, in Tanzania in October.
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Adding to the mix, up-and-coming Jethro Brophy-Tintinger, who is quietly racking up a number of titles will be taking on the Hobie ‘heroes’. Brophy-Tintinger, a Matric pupil at Glenwood High School, has had an impressive time, both locally and internationally in the Hobie class. In December, the sailor finished fifth in the Hobie 16 Regionals, sailing with Stephanie Goodyer, and took line honours in the annual Bart’s Bash last September on his Hobie 14. This is the second time he has stayed at the front of the fleet in the Durban leg of the biggest sailing event in the world, claiming honours in September 2015.
Easter for Durban’s sailing community means the Easter Regatta, and this year offshore will be abuzz with Hobies as they participate in the Hobie 16 Regionals and Open Class event hosted by Point Yacht Club.
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