Durban: Thursday 27 April
“Awesome, just awesome!”
These were the jubilant words of senior crew member, Gregg Dobson sailing on PYC Dusky after the 46th Vasco da Gama ocean race hosted by Point Yacht Club.
PYC Dusky was part of the front runners who smashed records in this year’s 400NM race to Port Elizabeth that started offshore of Durban at midday on Freedom Day and concluded with all the finishing boats breaking the previous record set by Nicholas Mace on Gumption. The previous record was 54 hours, 58 minutes and 2 seconds.
In a thrilling slide down the coast, line honours went to the Cape Town trimaran, SmartTri40 that was skippered by Durban’s Sean Jones. He was ably assisted with the shared responsibility of skipper by Theunis Potgieter. They bolted across the line in a dazzling time of 42 hours, 58 minutes and 53 seconds.
Smashing the monohull record, the only IRC boat in the fleet, the yacht Rocket simply rocketed her way down in 44 hours, 1 minute and 53 seconds. Johannesburg’s Herbert Karolius helmed the yacht with a crew made up of mates from the Vaal Dam and Cape Town.
Third across the line was PYC Dusky; the oldest boat in the fleet was not expected to be at the front of the hardy, experienced fleet, “We were stoked to beat the bigger boats. During the nights we sailed hard, and upped the tempo and I think that is what we did well. We stuck to our course and had the correct sails which both made a difference. Also, we never reefed when the breeze got up, the other boats reduced their sail size, we bravely didn’t and it worked for us. We also weren’t afraid to fly the kite and did so whenever we could. These bold steps kept us on the podium.”
Dusky raked in the awards, claiming both line and handicap honours in the PHRF class, in a record time of 49 hours, 43 minutes, 29 seconds. Skippered by Jon Marshall, he and team Dusky were awarded with the Dave Cox Memorial Trophy for first in Line Honours, the de Beyer Memorial trophy for the first finishing Point Yacht Club boat and the Paper Pack trophy for first on corrected time (PHRF).
Chatting about the young crew that was onboard, Dobson continued, “It was heart-warming and encouraging to see how the kids grew in this quick, epic adventure. Jon and I both wanted to impart a bit of knowledge and it looks like we did.”
An exhilarated Sean Jones stated, “The sail was beautiful, absolutely beautiful! Never in my forty years of competing in the Vasco race, have I experienced a race like this with such consistent weather, it was downwind all the way. Completely unique for sailing these parts. The excitement onboard, it was just phenomenal.”
Closer to home, the Point Yacht Club celebrates a historic milestone next weekend, on the 14 of May, the club turns 125 years old. On Saturday 13, the club welcomes everyone to enjoy their birthday bash. Band on the Bay kicks off at 4pm where the featured band, the quirky South Jersey Pom Poms will be performing from non-other than a boat moored in the marina. Burgers, Bunnies and Beer will be on offer for all.
For more info or to book tickets, visit www.pyc.co.za.
Line Honours
1 SmartTri40 (Sean Jones / Theunis Potgieter) 42 hours, 58 minutes, 53 seconds NEW RECORD, 2 Rocket (Herbert Karolius) 44 hours, 1 minute and 53 seconds NEW RECORD, 3 PYC Dusky (Jon Marshall) 49 hours, 43 minutes, 29 seconds NEW RECORD, 4 Ocean Spirit (Neville Bransby) 51 hours 13 minutes and 54 seconds, 5 Mafuta (Robin Hulley) 52 hours 01 minutes 02 seconds, 6 Wallbanger (John Tudehope) 53 hours, 04 minutes 17 seconds
IRC Division
1 Rocket (Herbert Karolius) NEW RECORD
PHRF Feet
1 PYC Dusky (Jon Marshall) NEW RECORD, 2 Ocean Spirit (Neville Bransby), 3 Mafuta (Robin Hulley), 4 Wallbanger (John Tudehope)
Multihull Division
1 SmartTri40 (Sean Jones / Theunis Potgieter) NEW RECORD
