Ahoy Royal Capers! It is Lipton Challenge Cup Week. The three compulsory courses have been sailed, all measuring a minimum 12 miles, and therefore the Challenge is valid. With one day of racing remaining tomorrow, the outcome is still undecided. All to play for tomorrow! The Rectangular Course: This was sailed on Monday, after a bumpy sea and very low wind rendered Sunday’s conditions pretty useless for the first race, which was abandoned before the start. There were big shifts on Monday, and the course was realigned on each of the 3 laps to keep it aligned to the wind. Golden Teapot Winner [for first place on the day]: RCYC, followed by ZVYC and RNYC. ZVYC, who had started a minute behind the fleet after a late sail change, benefitted dramatically from a huge lift on the upwind leg of the third lap, that saw them catapult from a battle for 6

th with FBYC into

2nd

, and challenging for first place at the top mark. They held on for the remaining 4 legs to place their challenge firmly on the table with a solid second – “hooray the vlei!”. HYC lost her rig before the start, and managed to step a borrowed rig in the late afternoon, to be back on the water competing the following day. UCTYC were holed in a collision on the last leeward rounding and were unable to finish. They were given redress, and despite completing her two turn penalty, DYC WP retired from the race in terms of the basic principles of sailing once she established that damage she caused affected UCTYC’s race.

The Triangular Course: A commanding performance by the defenders, FBYC, saw them leading pretty much from start to finish, to record a comfortable win. Some excellent tussles throughout the fleet ensued, and a real battle for second place between RNYC, ZVYC and RCYC. RNYC have shown incredible form and consistency, but have been a little unlucky not to have achieved better results. They’re always in the mix, and have a very young team aboard, which bodes well for their future. Well done! Golden Teapot Winner [for first place on the day]: FBYC, followed by RCYC and ZVYC, with RNYC, UCTYC next.

The Sausage Course: This was sailed in a fresh to strong breeze on Wednesday. This was probably the most challenging course sailed thus far in the Challenge, as it has the most pure VMG sailing, with dead upwind and downwind legs only. The wind, while strong, remained pretty constant in direction. The racing was exciting, with a number of ding dong battles throughout the whole fleet. Seconds separated a number of finishes, and the closest was the fight to the line between DYC WP and KYC right at the back, with literally a second or two separating them. Interestingly, the tracker [which is not attached to the bow] had them finishing the other way around because DYC stalled on the line, but just managed to get their bow over ahead! FBYC sailed the entire last leg with only their jib up, and did incredibly well to lose just one position after a problem with the main headboard, defending their position between HBYC and PYC. The biggest cheer over the finish line came from ZYC, who were ecstatic to have broken into the top ten for the first time in the Challenge. These guys and girls are having an absolute ball. DCYC had a tough day at the office, retiring after a nasty spinnaker wrap at the leeward mark on the first lap. GBYC also retired later in the race with gear failure. This is a very special event, with such great spirit, and it has been a great privilege for me to serve on the committee boat this week. Our club has offered good support to the event, and we wish our team well for the last day of racing on Friday, with racing having been abandoned on Thursday. Please come down to False Bay tomorrow if you can, to celebrate this fantastic Challenge Cup, and see if you can get out on the water to show your support for the event. [Toni Mainprize may be able to fit you onto the RCYC spectator yacht!].

28th

August 2014

News of Royal Capers sailing abroad: James Blakemore, Mike Giles, Gerry Hegie, Harry Brehm, Shaun Parker, Michael Robb, Tim Jordan, Gareth Morgan, Bradley Robinson, Ryan Smith et al, managed a third overall in the IRC Class in the Regatta Palermo Monte Carlo…pretty flashy stuff. This is an offshore race of about 440 miles. They obviously picked up the pace a bit in the second half of the race relative to those around them, after crossing the gate at Porto Cuervo in 9

th. Some amazing yachts on display, with

very sexy branding! More here…Well done guys! Harry Brehm gives an in depth report later in this newsletter. Last weekend, we sailed the second race date in the Kling Double-Handed Series in fantastic weather for sailing. A really enjoyable day out and close racing…There is a full report of the action here. This weekend is the fourth and final date in Club Winter Series. We are using technology a bit more smartly and have introduced courses by SMS, so you will need to enter accurately on the notice board for each race date. Relevant amendments to the club’s race documents have been ported. We hope this will assist to eliminate confusion and lessen our reliance on VHF course announcements. Also talking technology, if you are interested, try to download the “RaceQS” app on your smartphone, and track your racing. Your track then gets uploaded to the RaceQS database and synchronized with the other yachts in the fleet that are using the same app. One can then replay the all the action, as simulated by the platform in Google Earth. About 8 yachts have tried this so far - very interesting stuff, well worth investigating further…with very useful potential for learning and analysis. Gaul Regatta will be sailed 5-7 September. NoR and SI’s are here. Spring Regatta is scheduled for 20, 21 and 24 September. Notice of Race is expected shortly. RCYC will again hold the Rock-to-Rock Challenge from 29 August – 19 September, as a time trial feeder – where you pick your weather window to deliver under sail against the clock. This year, it will be held between Barkers and Bellows Rocks. RCYC Opening Cruise, celebrating 100 hundred years of the Royal Charter, will take place on Saturday 11 October, and will include a sail through the V&AW. Our Opening Cruise will form a part of the activities supporting the Cape Town Boat Show, which will be taking place over that same weekend. Lots to look forward to! See you on the water. Lukw

By Harry Brehm As I have been away for 10 days, to do the Palermo to Monte Carlo Yacht race in the Med, I only could follow the Lipton Cup through the WhatsApp messages when I had reception. It was a hard decision for me to do some sailing on my own and leave my students behind for a while. On the other hand I would have backed off during Lipton racing anyway. There is nothing worse than putting your own standard of racing on younger sailors. I can bring them to a good race level but then they have to decide themselves how dedicated they want to race. I did explain our teams in the beginning that they will have to carry their own weight during

Lipton. The students have been involved from finding sponsors to make the boats race ready. Our raffle at the club was also very successful and raised R 15k. The idea behind it was to prepare the students to run their own racing campaigns in future. They know now how hard it is to get on top of the whole preparation and hopefully will appreciate the events more in future. At our last sail training 2 weeks before Lipton, we were forced to do another crew change as the team lost the helmsman due to work commitments. Sieraj Jacobs came to the rescue and filled in the spot. When we had our last crew chat before the event, we did not focus too much on a possible outcome of the event. I did not want to build too much pressure on our young team. I only told them that they should not sell themselves too cheaply.

From the crew and boat preparation they should be able to manage a top three position if no major drama will happen. Our focus was on sailing well instead of wanting to win. The rest will follow anyway. Lipton has its own challenges and surprises as we all know. The first two results of 2nd and third started promising. The well-earned 2nd place in the third race after a titanic battle with the RCYC oldies is another stepping stone for our students. They are really getting better by the day. Two RCYC teams are battling it out for Lipton. In the last 6 month our students showed a steady progress and this all that counts. They are supposed to learn as much as they can during this Lipton. And this is exactly what they are doing, brilliant. They are currently on second place and were often the only team in the fleet to match the speed of the highly experienced RCYC Team. Greg Davis, you better watch out next year ;-)

RCYC Team is currently leading the fleet by 3 points with all to play for on the last day of racing tomorrow It has been quite a dramatic Lipton Cup in False Bay this year, with broken masts, heavy seas and close races. Our RCYC Team have been consistent throughout the week being closely followed by our RCYC Academy boys sailing for ZVYC. For more information, fantastic pictures and live feeds, click on the following links: Lipton Cup 2014 Homepage Trevor Wilkins Photography Live Tracking

Results so far

RCYC’s Friday Night Lucky Draw is now at R14 500. The draw takes place around 7.30 to 7.45 every Friday evening in the club bar, and you have to be a fully paid up member and present at the time to win. Last week Ms Julia Swain was drawn but was not present. Come on down and join the fun.

Final Race 4 in the Club Winter Series will take place this Saturday, 30th

August with a small Prize Giving held after racing. So far 25 Boats have taken part in this growing

series. The club’s Summer Series starts on Saturday, 31 January and we welcome a new sponsor on board, Glacier by Sanlam. This will run through

to 9th

May 2015.

First Race start at 13:00

Please note there have been a few changes to the dates of the Winter Wednesday Night Talk:

Rick Nankin and Team Windpower, who recently took part in the Ilhabela Sailing Week in Brazil, sailing the one class design Soto 40, will be here to share their experiences with us on Wednesday, 3

rd September.

This will be followed on Wednesday, 10

th September, by “Cape Summer Yacht Racing Series” presented by the IRC Class

Association. Wednesday, 17

th September will see Robbie Van Rooyen and William Crockett presenting “Apps and Instrumentation”.

Wednesday, 24

th September will be our ever popular Quiz Night.

Finally on Wednesday 1

st October Andrea Giovannini’s and his team, who recently won the Dennis Conner International Yacht

Club Challenge in New York, will be presenting their regatta to us.

Starting tomorrow the Rock-to-Rock Challenge from 29 August – 19 September, is a time trial feeder – where you pick your weather window to deliver under sail against the clock. This year, it will be held between Barkers and Bellows Rocks. DETAILS ON WEBSITE

Gordon’s Bay Yacht Club will be hosting the annual Gaul Regatta. This will take place from the 5th

to 7th

September.

You can find the Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions here

Don’t forget our hugely popular JAZZ ON THE DECK on 7 September 2014 We have the fabulous River Boat Jazz Band playing. Don’t miss out – Booking is essential

Race 3 of the Double Handed Series will be held Saturday, 13

th September.

Full details for these events are on the website.

COMING UP FAST – OPENING CRUISE – SATURDAY 11 OCTOBER 2014

We will be celebrating our 100 year Royal Charter

ARE YOU READY?

The Royal Cape Yacht Club will again be hosting the Risk SA Regatta on the 25 October 2014. Hot on the heels of last year’s success, folk from all over South Africa will be flocking to Cape Town for the biggest corporate sailing regatta this side of the Atlantic. Once again you will be treated to a grand dinner and awesome after party. There are no less than 5 massive cash prizes and all entrants stand a chance to get their hands on a piece of the loot. RISKSA will also be making a bountiful contribution to the Royal Cape Yacht Club sailing Academy.

Space is limited. For more information please chat to Toni Mainprize, or follow the line on www.risksa.com

Click on the calendar for all the upcoming events. This can be viewed on our website along with a newly active google calendar...

DOUBLE HANDED

SATURDAY 23rd

August: Report by Luke Scott

Every time we wash up after a double-handed duel date, it seems like it was the best one yet…continue reading

.

Palermo-Monte Carlo Offshore 2014 - Great results for James Blakemore and his SA team on Music who achieved 3

rd place in the

IRC class flying under a South African Flag for the Royal Cape Yacht Club. Click here for the results Next up for the Music Team is the Rolex Swan Cup in Sardinia on the 08

th – 14

th September

IMPORTANT NOTICE: The accounts department would like to remind all members to use their account/membership numbers/ Name and Surname as a Beneficiary Statement Reference/ Description, when making payments. ( NOT SUBS 2014/2015).

Also to those making use of our debit orders - You will receive 2 statements. One for the debit order account and one for membership.

WATER CONSUMPTION

In our continued efforts to reduce on the Clubs environmental impact and in further reducing the high

volumes of domestic water consumed on our hard and marinas, as of Monday 25th

August all hoses used by

staff, members and contractors must be fitted with a suitable trigger nozzles.

The RCYC Marina staff will be reminding all users of this requirement over the following week but will be

suspending the use of any non-trigger hoses as of Monday 25th

August.

SAFETY VEST – MEMBERS

The Club has seen very successful adeherence by our contractors in their comliance towards

the RCYC Safety and Health policy of wearing safety vest while on RCYC property.

The Club will now require the same compliance by all members who intend accessing the hard

area. The hard area has been designated an RCYC Danger Zone, and as such has been

demarcated by a visible red danger line surrounding the area. Any persons entering the hard

area are required to be wear the appropriate safety vests. All persons not wearing the safety

vest will be asked to leave the Zone. For any enquiries please contact the Marina Managers Office

LIPTON 1972 – Picture and Brochure sent in by RCYC Member Martin Compton

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT ARE : Allan Collins, Boy Faber, Ronnie Chadburn, unidentified and Martin Compton.

PAVING: CLUB FRONTAGE The GENCOM are pleased to announce that the Club Frontage (current tarred walkway) will become paved. The Project is due to commence as soon as weather permitting. Management regret any interruptions the paving work may cause.

PLEASE NOTE – The SAFETY VESTS are now

for sale at the reception for R40