TOP sailors from around South Africa have landed in Durban to compete in the MSC Week hosted by Point Yacht Club (PYC) from Monday, July 3 to Friday, July 7.
Three classes are set to compete over the five days, with the L26 Nationals class design, the ORC Nationals and the Multihull Class all getting a chance to stretch their legs in the highly competitive sailing event.
An expected fleet of 23 yachts will line up on the start line where race officer Kevin Bingham will set a variety of challenging courses for the yachts to have a run around, with a maximum of 12 races allowed. Changing things up, Bingham will also have the option of setting a long-haul sail as a variation to the short bursts of racing around the cans.
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The MSC Week, which began in 1976, has had a variety of colourful characters participating, and this year is no different. There is everything from an Olympic sailor to well-decorated coastal skippers who have traversed the South African coastline, to skilful homegrown yachtsmen who are very familiar with local conditions, to ‘fresh on the boat’ newbie sailors who are competing offshore for the very first time.
Welcoming all the competitors, the commodore for the Point Yacht Club, Robin Hulley, stated, “There is no place better than Durban in winter, and in typical Durban fashion, the weather forecast for the upcoming MSC is looking tremendously inviting. We wish all of the sailors a great time out on the water.”
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“The MSC Week is the first of four big offshore sailing events taking place in our warm waters. Next up is the highly competitive, historic Lipton Challenge Cup that welcomes challengers representing yacht clubs from around the country. Following that are the Laser Nationals, and then the fast-flying Hobie 16 Nationals will also be sailed offshore – both Nationals will be hosted by PYC. It certainly is going to be an action-packed season of sailing!”
In the build-up to MSC Week, the majority of the fleet got in some last-minute fine-tuning where they got to shake off their sails before heading offshore, competing in the warm-up event, the Commodore’s Cup, which took place in the bay on Sunday, July 2.
The MSC Week is followed by the Lipton Challenge Cup, taking place from July 11–15. For more info, visit www.pyc.co.za or follow the yacht club on Facebook or Instagram.
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