Durban sailors set to emerge from ‘hibernation’
Boats of all shapes and sizes will gather to cheer in a new sailing season
WITH Spring having sprung, Durban’s sailors are set to come out of their short winter hibernation to kick off the Summer sailing season with the opening cruise organised by Point Yacht Club on Sunday, 10 September.
Boats of all shapes and sizes will gather to salute the new commodore, and cheer in a fabulous new sailing season.
Recently elected Greg de Beyer will be stationary on a boat that is all dressed up with the remainder of the fleet drifting past him in a single-file procession led by honorary life president, Vernon Goss on his beautiful monohull, Bellissima. Once the formalities are all concluded, the sailors will take to the bay in a fun race organised by the returning rear commodore of Keelers, Jon Marshall.
The following weekend sees the world’s biggest sailing event, Bart’s Bash – The Fourth, which sees Point Yacht Club as one of the host clubs where a smorgasbord of yachts is expected on the water. After the tallies for the Bashboard 2016, Point Yacht Club was one of 361 venues represented in 58 countries. The Durban-based yacht club was third in entries received behind the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and Bristol’s Chew Valley Yacht Club. A total of 7,265 sailors participated in the event last year.
The participant figures are looking impressive early on in the lead-up to the fourth running of the fun race, with 577 venues from 76 countries signed up. The total number of participants is over 52,000 sailors ranging from Olympic gold medallists to absolute beginners with over 1,000 types of boat on the water globally. The inaugural Bart’s Bash was awarded a Guinness World Record for staging the largest race in 24 hours. And as in previous years, everyone is invited to join.
Similarly to last year, the awareness campaign is in support of disabled sailing globally after the decision was made to remove sailing from the Paralympics going forward from 2020. The Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation wishes to continue to promote the sport and all the benefits it brings to people of all abilities.
At the announcement of the 2017 event, Bart’s Bash Founding Trustee Sir Ben Ainsley said: “We’re keen to reiterate that this is your club’s bash! Bart has provided us with an unique platform and opportunity to unite the world of sailing, bringing together some of the world’s sailing legends and heroes with club sailors, grassroots youth programmes and even total novices, all combining to produce this one extraordinary event. Bart would be so proud of what is being accomplished.”
Thereafter, the sailing season takes to both the harbour and offshore for dinghy racing on Saturdays and keeler racing on Wednesdays in the bay, and offshore on Sundays. The action hots up with a number of series, pursuit races and the Mauritius to Durban yacht race all taking place in the next 10 months.
For more details, visit www.pyc.co.za or call the club on 031-301-4787.
