Point club hosts Great Fish Race
The tag line for the event was 'Sailing with a Catch', where the keelboats were tasked with trawling a line behind their boat and the first boat to catch a fish and return with it, won.
A FIRST of its kind sailing race, The Great Fish Race hosted by Point Yacht Club took place offshore of Durban on Sunday, 2 August.
The fun event had a fantastic entry 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’, where the keelboats were tasked with trawling a line behind their boat and the first boat to catch a fish and return with it, won.
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. Adding to the successful fisherman, newcomers to the season, Robin Hulley and Mike Bennett from Mafuto, also managed to catch a little fish.
Ron 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 that 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.
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 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. This weekend, Durban sailing community is gearing up for another major event, the South African Sailing Grand Slam event, which includes three venues, both in the harbour and in the bay.
The three-day event has all three yacht clubs working together to make this event happen. For more infomation ,visit www.pyc.co.za.
