Sailing with a catch
The Great Fish Race hosted by Point Yacht Club took place offshore of Durban on Sunday, 2 August.
IT was a sailing race with a difference for the first of its kind: The Great Fish Race, hosted by Point Yacht Club, took place offshore of Durban on Sunday, 2 August.
This event was inspired by six-year-old Sean Kavanagh, who sails with his parents, Michael and Heidi, on Ray of Light. The keen fisherman takes every opportunity to fish while his parents sail.
The fun event had entries of 11 keelboats with 11 Hobies joining them on a sublime winter’s day with a light 10 knots filling in.
The tag line for the event was ‘Sailing with a Catch’; the keelboats were tasked with trawling a line behind their boats and the first boat to catch a fish and return with it was the winner. This title was won by the enthusiastic duo competing on My Way. Helmed by Clynt de Fin and his partner, Jackie Barnard, the duo had a line dragging off the back of their small monohull. Half an hour into the race, My Way sent through a photo to the race officer, Ron Pet, and radioed in to announce they were on their way back with their prize.
The winning fish the couple caught was a small Bonito, with Barnard boasting about making it into a curry when she got home. Second to catch a fish, the combined schools team, sailing on Container World, had a fantastic time reeling in two fish, the second getting hooked metres away from the finish line.
Pet sent the boats offshore in the fun event, with the start and finish line set just off Addington Beach. The fleets made their way to the fairway marker with the instructions – if they caught a fish they could either carry on going in the hopes of catching a bigger prize after notifying the bridge boat of their successes, or turn around and head back to the finish directly after they caught their fish. All unsuccessful boats would turn around the fairway mark and head back to the finish in a nice there-and-back race that stretched their legs a bit.
The Hobie 14 sailors joined the keelers on the water, getting in two races in the Hobie 14 Shake Down Race ahead of their Regional Championships this coming weekend.
Taking line honours in the first race was Greg de Beyer, who showed great class on the water. Sporting a new sail, Sean Fennessy streaked to first in the second race.
Great Fish Race final results
A division: 1 Container World (Brendan Humphreys), 2 Donna Mia (Gavin Smith), 3 PYC Challenger (Denmar Nel), 4 Ray of Light (Michael Kavanagh).
C division: 1 Mafuta (Robin Hulley), 2 Shiloh (Rob Bowman), 3 Maia, 4 Alkistis (Greg Donkin), 5 Bellissima (Vernon Goss), 6 Hobitt (Sean Keogh).
E division: 1 My Way (Clynt de Fyn).
Multi-hull division: 1 Ladybird (Andrew Dolloway).
Hobie 14 Shake-Down Race: 1 Greg de Beyer – 4 points, 2 Clint du Toit – 6, 2 Murray May – 6, 4 Justin Butler – 11, 5 Sean Fennessy – 13, 6 Peta Harrison – 15, 7 Sven Paton / Elin Paton – 15, 8 Aldino Gorlei – 17, 9 Nik Albert – 18, 10 Alan Tintinger – 19, 11 Struan Campbell – 24.
