Boat Building Plans And Kits | Cape to Rio 2014

Boat Building Plans And Kits

Four days after the start, this most recent Cape to Rio 2014 is already being talked about on the same terms as the Fastnet race of 1979, the Sydney Hobart of 1998 and the Vasco da Gama Race of 1984. To be fair, the weather wasnt quite as extreme, but conditions did result in sustained Force 8 Winds and 6m seas, resulting in a quarter of competitors (9/36) retiring in the first few days. Widespread damage was reported across the fleet. One crewman tragically died onboard SV Bille (Bavaria 54) during their dismasting. Rescues were mounted by naval frigate SA Islandwana, Tug Miriam Makeba, NSRI Station 3, and several fellow competitors.

Start of Cape to Rio 2014

Picture credited to my friend Louis Louw

Notable casualties included:

Black Cat: Suffered a major capsize in heavy seas, loss of rudder, followed by a subsequent complete roll in a giant wave that collapsed on them, and fair mayhem in the boat. Despite a remarkable recovery from the experienced crew they were unable to continue and started making their way to Saldanha slowly. NSRI 3 later assisted with a tow back to Cape Town. Besides sprains and bruises, they are all ok, and the boat is easily repairable. Watch this one in subsequent races as she was looking extremely quick until the crash. See Dudley Dixs account on his blog (skipper, designer, original builder of the vessel). The official race report said "BLACK CAT has reported a broken rudder and is proceeding back to Cape Town, one crew has a sprained ankle and all are well." Cant accuse them of being verbose I suppose!!

See Black cat tell their story courtesy of Steve Searles video. This is a must see!

Bille:  Bille is a 54 Bavaria with Angolan Crew and flag (along with Mussulo III, she was one two Angolan Bavaria 54s in the race). Sadly she seems to have suffered the worst damage with a dismasting and loss of a crew member, plus a M.O.B. situation. All remaining crew (including the deceased) were evacuated by the Frigate SA Isandlwana, and are now safe.

Ava: A Miura 31 sailed by father and daughter team Colin and Belinda Horton, suffered damage and flooding (details unclear to me at this stage). They lost electrical power and all comms for a day or two, causing widespread concern, especially after an EPIRB signal was received from them. Their track log looked equally curious during this time and the worst was feared. Competitor yacht SV DODO (Fortuna 37) diverted to look for them. They were eventually spotted by the Frigate who found them in good shape, besides the lack of systems. AVA made it back into Saldanha Bay unassisted a day or so later, I was able to hear their comms and Channel 16 from the South of Cape Town 100 kms away, so I guess they managed to regain at least the main VHF. Well done Ava, and viva la Miura!

Peekay: A Beneteau 51, suffered a variety of sail problems (probably more detail we dont yet have) and limped back to Saldanha Bay. The skipper has decided to leave the boat and is looking for a replacement, according to some reports.

Isla: A large Wilderness Cat, lost both engines and had some flooding in one engine compartment. Container vessel "Bosun" standing by for them, followed by tug Smit Madura, which may tow them home to Cape Town. I am not clear what eventually transpired , but Isla tracker shows her back in Cape Town at time of writing. (Update: she was towed in, the last bit by NSRI). A PAN-PAN was issued by Isla at some stage and received by Peekay. I see two of my HBYC clubmates were aboard, Rian Turner and Dave Mills.

Avocet: A Beneteau 45, disappeared from the track log for a while, she appears to also have lost comms for a day or so. She did however make it back to Cape Town somehow without serious injury, as far as I can tell at this stage.

Indaba: Stadt 34, skippered by the very experienced John Levin, and with Angelo Lavranos aboard, has had to return to Saldanha bay with an injured crewman. They arrived safely last night sometime.

EXPLORA: An Open 60, reported engine flooding but were able to continue and are doing very well in the continuing race.

Dodo: Fortuna 37, despite standing by for AVA, also suffered loss of steering and engine. They have made it back to Saldanha Bay unassisted, and appear to be tied up at Club Mykonos according to the tracker, no doubt swopping tales with Indaba.

FTI Flyer: A Charger 33, well known campaigner in our local club races and veteran of the Rio Race, adopted a unique and very northerly route for reasons I am not clear on (possibly to avoid worst weather and be close to shore). They headed back after two days and made it safely into Cape Town unassisted. I hope to get the story from skipper Keith Mattison at some stage.

Avanti: A Vickers 41, also returned to Saldanha Bay, and is tied up at Club Mykonos, after apparently spending some time at Kraal Bay if the tracker is to be believed? Avantis story still unknown to me at this stage, but bots like this dont give up this kind of race without extremely good reasons...

Anecdotally, services from the SA Navyand the NSRI have been very commendable, as has the seamanship of fellow competitors and even passing commercial traffic.

The satellite weather image of Sunday 6 Jan 2014

Links:

• Cape to Rio official race website here
• Cape to Rio race live online tracker.
• RCYC Facebook group on the Rio Race
• Blog of Yolo SA6130 Sunfast 3200
• Blog of CiaoBella (Simonis 35 with family Robinson)

I would be grateful for all and any further info, or race accounts, or corrections for inclusion here. Please email me here. Contributions and accounts from competitors especially will be appreciated. Many thanks!

Commentary:
The outcome of this storm could have been significantly worse. It is a huge credit to the crews and vessels that nearly all boats survived or were able to get back unassisted, despite loss of sails, rudders, engines and electronics. It should be noted that these vessels are all very seaworthy and well scrutineered for a race of this nature. Many of these vessels are well accustomed to the very challenging conditions of the Cape waters. Many of the crew are veterans of ocean racing and several have done this race multiple times. Normally, the Cape to Rio race is thought of as a Trade Wind "milk run", but long races always bring suprises, and Cape Waters bring them all too frequently. These boats and crews have shown extreme seamanship, and there will not be need for any kind of review into "what went wrong". This was all well done. Thats what ocean racing is all about.....

I will add detail and stories as they become available. 

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Wood Boat Plans And Kits | Thanks to John Ryall for this superb write up of the Hobie Event!

Wood Boat Plans And Kits

Hobies Back in Hout Bay after 20 Years

When an event ends with no results it is not often deemed a success – although lacking in results the Hout Bay Long Haul was an unqualified success! For some reason I was given a bottle of wine at the prize giving and when I turned round it really hit me how many people were there and who had been enticed out of the woodwork for the event, and it was not just looking full because we were sharing the event with the Keel Boat Sailors sailing in the Admirals Cup Regatta being run concurrently with ours.

Seen on the beach were Eddie Scarper – who worked with John Whitmore I understand. Alison Ball, looking as fabulous and if anything fitter than ever, came looking for a sail if one was available. We had Zac and Cody Wessels first time out on a Hobie 16 together – good to see you Zac – William – Cody is the ideal Tiger Crew for you. Stewart Walker had yet another good looking crew in the form of Megan Bagshaw while Sue crewed for Andrew on the Tiger – brave girl. The Du Plessis family eventually found the road out of Langebaan and made it to Cape Town although only Jaco and Shannon sailed. Martin Fine crewed for son Robert on his 16 - now with nicely refurbished carbon rudders. By design Belinda had Perry Harrison-Hyde of Laser fame on the foredeck – Belinda take him out in 20knots at Fishhoek and make him look under the tramp on the trapeze like Shaun if you really want to show him ! It was great to see our esteemed sponsor Simon van Nimwegen sailing with John Gilberg – we hope to see more of you both - thank you for the very generous sponsorship. Ian Dunt turned the clock back pitching up with Sarah Wallace and yet another Hobie 16 from his fleet of boats. Klaas (Old Sea Dog) de Rooy thought he could see his boat and car on the 1988 poster advertising the event – it seems he has always liked brightly coloured sails. The Wijtenburg Clan stayed down in CT after the Tiger Nationals, Mark sailing the Tiger with Andrew Fourie (we think it was Andrew – hard to tell) while Brandon and Todd practised for the youth Worlds. Petrol on the N1 was at a premium when they went home on Tuesday  – towing a Tiger with a 16 on top behind 5.5 litres of Mercedes makes your eyes water at the thought of the fuel bill. It was great to see Andre and Michele Diener on the water – more please next year and Andrew Hulsman sailing with Marijke Honig was another Hobie sailor we would love to see more of. Mike and Emma Roberts were a welcome addition – we have not met them before I believe. Martin (goes sailing) was the lone Mosquito. The Obree’s Mark and Sarah and Matthew Whitehead represented Hobie 16 sailors normally seen on the Grand Slam circuit. Well done to Andrew Walker and Jeremy Nel for getting such an eclectic line up.

Hout Bay was at its capricious best in the weather department – fog, NW wind, dead calm, SW wind and dead calm again. The race officer, Vice Admiral (accent on the Vice) Chrome Hunter confused us all at the skippers briefing by asking at 9.40 who could make a 10.30 start and upon receiving the negative from most sailors then said the start would be at 11 or 12 please could we be on the water by 10am ! Course cards gave GPS coordinates of the marks, all bar the last to be left to starboard but checking these at sea proved to be difficult on a Hobie – next time buoys all round please. Simon Russell could not sail but sent the attached newspaper front page from 1988 showing both the weather and political climate have calmed down.

For professional photos of the event go to Trevor Wilkin’s Photo’s at – some amateur ones above.

https://plus.google.com/photos/117086593120942909819/albums/6009488283225148705

Although there were no results and the organizers were largely unaware of it there were several competitions within the competition – just like a cycling or trial running race there were courses to suit all - Seb. Perhaps if we had a trail run to the start we could even get Richard Ayres to sail. The first competition was a sort of ‘Top Gear challenge’ – drive from Hout Bay to Fishhoek and back to collect your missing sails before the fleet leave the beach. There was just one team entered in this – Carolyn Fulton and Andy Nixon – Andy was first home sailing an Audi I understand, having received an additional challenge at FHBSC finding the garage was locked. Score - Hobies 1, Car 0. Colin Whitehead and Josh Selig won the short course home – turning at the blinder below Chapman’s Peak due to some confusion in the shorten course procedure. They sailed back out to try to go around again in the light airs (I am being diplomatic – it was mostly ‘bobbing’) Klaas (Old Sea Dog) De Rooy and Suzanne Morton won the long course going around the blinder, up to one of the Keel boat marks past our turning mark before Kommetjie, back to the blinder, back to the Hobie mark and then back into Hout Bay beating almost every one back to the beach. Iain Park-Ross scared the hell out of his new crew Tracy Pels by sailing over the blinder – Iain not the way to treat a new crew ! With all boats drifting back to the finish and beach by 1.30pm Chrome (Vice Admiral) Hunter started a 2^nd race over near the Chapman’s Drive shore in the hope of more wind but even there it was not to be. The only highlight was a Hobie 14 beating all but one Tiger to the weather mark.

The generous prizes were given out as lucky draw prizes choreographed by Zac Wessels. Nic Ryall had a great surprise when he won R 500 donated by Dave Power for the first Hobie 14 home. Jeremy Nel, Andrew Walker, Sue Walker & the ever present Marijke Klaver - Registration, Chrome – race officer, Taffy and Shirley Bowen (who came back especially from their world cruise of 14 years) to help and feed, Jurgen Duncker Beach Control and finally Jerry Rogers who had the unenviable task of directing traffic through the dunes – thank you all. Finally the last word to Rob Selig – who else always has the last word ? – ‘that if he saw Caroline R at the 3^rd Hobie Regatta in a row it would rain’ and you all know what happened on Sunday !

We will be shortly sending out a details of events during the offseason including the WCHCA prize giving and Grand Slam Series Winners and the proposed calendar for 2014~2015 – please no weddings on regatta weekends this next year.

John Ryall WCHCA

083 265 2036

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