DINGHY season will officially get underway with the first major sailing event held in the bay on Guy Fawkes Day on Saturday, 5 November. The Point Yacht Club’s Jonsson Cup Pursuit Race will see the slower boats start ahead of the faster boats in the hope that the fleet finish en masse.
The annual race is a longer than normal race, where the smaller boats adventure to various parts of the bay, rounding harbour markers and buoys before crossing the finish line. Dinghies of all shapes and sizes will be on the water to participate, with the Laser and Hobie fleets expected to lead the numbers.
Rear Commodore for Dinghies and passionate Flying Fifteen competitor, Myles White together with his partner Estelle Buys are the defending champions going into this year’s Jonsson Cup. White has had an impressive start to the season, being not only the top PYC sailor on the international leader board for the recent biggest sailing event in the world, the Bart’s Bash but also is the top South African sailor on the Bashboard. White was sailing with accomplished Flying Fifteen crew member Jeremy Kriek on the day.
“Banter among the sailors has been encouraging leading up to the Jonsson Cup. We are hoping for a decent sized fleet out on the bay. We decided to delay the start of the season by a month and open with the historic Jonsson Cup as October has in recent times, been really miserable,” White commented.
The man with the most important job leading up to the event is Hobie sailor Justin Butler from Cowies Hill. Butler will be crunching numbers to perfect the handicap system ahead of the start. He will then assign start times to all the competitors depending on the boat they will be competing on.
