Plain sailing for NFH in inter-school regatta’s silver fleet
“We aim to make this an annual event and to see it grow year-on-year..."
SOME 56 budding sailors participated in the inaugural Eikos Sail Africa inter-school regatta that took place in the harbour on Saturday, 9 May.
Six L26s were utilised in the racing, with five schools and the 1st Port Natal Sea Scouts all participating.
In the silver fleet New Forest High School’s B team took the top spot, followed by Eden College’s B team and Rossburgh High School’s B team tying for second place. As the fleet was relatively inexperienced, the light wind was ideal for them.
In the afternoon, all six L26s went out for a highly competitive afternoon of sailing. Glenwood High School’s A team were on their regular boat, Point Yacht Club’s Container World, while their second team competed on Royal Natal Yacht Club’s Realty 1. Teams from uMhlanga College, Eden College, Rossburgh High School and New Forest High School all raced on the Sail Africa boats, and they all had Sail Africa instructors giving them guidance on board.
In the first race both Glenwood High School’s A team and Eden College’s A team were neck and neck on the two required laps, finishing a second apart, with the more experienced boys from Glenwood managing to claim the split-second win. The second race clearly belonged to Glenwood’s A team, with skipper Brendan Humphreys and his team dominating straight from the starting blocks. Eden College kept up the pressure, claiming the third and final race.
“The first race was the deciding one, the mere one second win made it for our boys. Well done to Glenwood High School for taking home the Eikos Sail Africa Inter-Schools Keelboat Trophy for 2015,” said a delighted Ron Pet, master for sailing at Glenwood High School. Pet was also the race officer for the day.
Commodore for Point Yacht Club, Trevor Donald enthused: “It is great to see the schools all getting behind the sport of sailing with this wonderful event. Hats off to all involved who made it a success. Here is to the next generation of sailors.”
Jackie Barnard from Eden College affirmed: “We aim to make this an annual event and to see it grow year-on-year, with more schools taking on sailing as a school sport and participating in the regatta. This first regatta was a great start towards achieving this.”
