Round-up of the GBYC Gaul Regatta 2015
Gordons Bay Yacht Club hosted the annual Gaul Regatta over the weekend of 4 – 6th September in the waters off Gordon’s Bay.
This turned out to be one of the most successful regattas run in the bay to date.
On the first day of racing, the weather didn’t look too promising. The forecast was for light winds with a max of about 4 knots.
Because of the silting problems in the old harbour of Gordon’s Bay, the fleet had to leave moorings at about 07h45.
The wind was extremely light, about two knots, however Tom Ambrose saw puffs across the water and sent out Abri Erasmus (the mark laying boat) to set out a weather mark. After a few wind switches, Ambrose got racing underway in about 4 knots of breeze, this gradually increased for awhile but once again dropped off and it became necessary to shorten the course. The bridge delayed the start of the next race, Tom Ambrose must have got a tip from somewhere, as the breeze filled in nicely at about 12 knots which produced some very close racing. The bridge managed to fit in 4 races for the day and we now had a regatta. The four races kept the bridge officer and his crew on Tony De la Fontaine’s catamaran “Freedom” very busy as the boats were often finishing the races in quick succession. Well done to the time keepers and spotters.
Saturday dawned with hardly a ripple on the water.
The yachts once again left the harbour at high tide around 08h00. However, this was to no avail. The water remained glassy with not a drop of wind. “Bad Habit” and “Wavedancer” rafted up next to each other, lit the braai’s and enjoyed a good lunch. Some of the crew on “Bad Habit” even ventured for a swim in the warm weather. The bridge eventually called off all racing for the day at about 13h30.
On Sunday morning the wind had swung to the North and Tom Ambrose called all the competitors out at 09h00 and instructed them to stand by near “Freedom” as the start would happen as soon as the wind settled. With Abri Erasmus on the power boat “Stealth” standing by, it was only necessary to move the weather mark once due to a shift in wind direction.
With the wind freshening, the bridge managed to complete 3 races, all the yachts returned to harbour to clean up and attend the prize giving.
Race 1 on the first day turned out to be a drifter with the light and variable wind, it became necessary to shorten course in the light breeze. Pure Magic managed to pip Bad habit by 4 minutes on handicap after the corrected time was worked out in Division one.
Division two saw Time Out come from behind to take both handicap and line honours away from Wave Dancer, she revelled in the light wind and was well sailed by Nico Van Wieringen in the trying conditions.
In Division three,Pee Dee Q held the lead from start to finish beating Double Helix by 3 minutes.
The second race of the day saw the wind increasing, much to the relief of the bridge officer as well as the sailing fleet. Div. one saw a ding dong battle between Bad Habit and Joe Van Der Westhuizen on Pure Magic with Bad Habit eventually taking the honours. Races 3 and 4 was much of the same, with Bad Habit nailing firsts with Seaboard and Blue Tango finishing strongly.
The Division two battle was now between Wave Dancer and Time Out, the latter taking the second race as well as the third, with Wave Dancer finishing 24 seconds and 38 seconds behind.
However Wave Dancer redeemed herself with a first in the last race of the day followed by Time Out. Asti, skippered by Ernie Kleynhaus, started to become more consistent after two poor races eventually getting a first and a third.
Division four saw
Pee Dee Q, skippered by Coenie Thiart, dominated Division 3. Coenie managed three firsts both on line and handicap before retiring for the last race. Her main challenger at this stage was Double Helix, skippered by Johan De Winter.
Saturday, as mentioned earlier was eventually abandoned due to no wind.
Sunday arrived and the wind came with it, in Division three, Pee Dee Q once again dominated with only one chink in her armour by ending up with a second in the last race.
In Division two, everything was to play for with only two points separating Wave Dancer and Time Out. In the 5th race of the regatta Tanner was leading, but made a fatal mistake by rounding the leeward mark to Starboard, leaving her to finish in 3rd.
Division one, with the wind up to approx. 30 knots in the last race of the day, saw a couple of incidents on the water, one was between Bad Habit and Blue Tango. Blue Tango broached and collided with Bad Habit, holing her just above the waterline which resulted her in retiring. however she had done enough to secure the win overall for the regatta.
Photos by Marjo De La Fontaine & Team Freedom, assisted by Ronel Bubb.
Source: Gordon’s Bay Yacht Club