Saturday Sail 20th December 2014

With our regular Saturday sailing, boat had been cleaned up following the recent Summer Regatta with her spic and span again. At the regatta we noted some wear on our mainsail.. We had to retire from that race... (which cost us a podium as there were insufficient races to allow for a discard). We repaired the damage ourselves and the sail was fime for the rest of the regatta...

But to put the sail into proper context... the sail is a membrane sail, with internal taffeta on the one side and film on the other.. it is three years old.. well over 10 000nm on it.. putting that into perspective that can be 10-15years of normal club usage.. the sail is still going strong but the usage is starting to show.. the amazing detail is that the shape is virtually unchanged...

So, before sailing, we decided to go through the sail patching here and there.. to give the sail some extra life... However we will start to look at options of replacing this sail.

Once finished with the sail... we went out for a sail... conditions were ideal with a SW on the bay, a nice flat seaway... with winds between 16-21knots... Yolo broad reached to the Western Side of Robben Island and back. Boat was reveling in those conditions...

It was good to have Yolo out for a social sail.. where everyone gets a chance at everything.

Boat performed well. Aboard were: Dale, Ian, Sieger, Evan, and guest Antoinio.

SUMMER REGATTA-16 December 2014-Day 3

We needed a discard to bring us back into the game as we retired from the previous race with sail damage. So two races were needed for the day to make this happen.
Good SE blowing, gusting just over 30 in the start area. Good start with Yolo hanging in there.. and able to blow off a main competitor. First mark being Harken, round the mark, gybe and hoist of the kite and a nice blast downwind. Boat handled well. We could see the transition zones ahead.. no way around it.. just stalling the inevitable... so we transitioned on the lay line.. and caught a early SW. We managed to keep the boat going and stayed within range. The breeze had died near the mark itself.. holding the big boats back and with us, coming in with new breeze, we managed to keep moving all the time and rounded the mark and started to make for the SE again, but we still had to transition. We kited, then J2'd and then as we got close to the SE did a change to the J4. With hanks it takes longer and it a bare head maneuver.. so it lost us some time, but the right sail choice. Once in the SE.. the winds were between 23-25 knots for most of the beat, hotting upto early 30's towards the finish line.
We rounded two more marks before the finish..
We came second in our class in this race. Giving us good results for the past two races... Unfortunately no second race for the day.. and therefore no chance of a discard to us, keeping us off the podium. Boat performed well. Great to have races in strong breeze again.
Aboard were: dale, Ian, Mark, Ross, Shane, Daphne, Mornay, Catherine.

Pic.. of the boat at the V&A with the crew relaxing before racing.

Summer Regatta 14 December 2014- Day 2

This was the Medium distance race. One could see a SE trying to hold on.. but it was not going very deep in the bay..  A reasonable start.. and a quick kite hoist to transit the light areas to the SE.. Which Yolo entered reasonably...Around the weather mark where around 20 knots was blowing, and a good kite hoist and a fast kite leg to the area where we chose to transition.. We did not want to break too far from our main competition as we were expecting a Westerly. Successfully transitioning and then into the Westerly.. giving good sailing conditions to the rounding mark.. We again had to transition a few times more in the race, but the transition was a lot quicker as the winds had settled down. The crew kept working the boat quite hard.. with us hanging in with the bigger boats for a percentage of the race.. Eventually having us win our class.
Aboard were: Dale, Ian, Mark, Shane, Ross, Daphne, Catherine, Mornay.

SUMMER REGATTA 13th Dec DAY 1

Race 1:
First race was in a SW conditions.. Wind was light, not exactly YOLO's conditions. Unfortunately we were shut out by a weather boat at the start line who did not give way as they should.. causing us to stall. Unfortunately our protest flag was down below having forgotten to have in position. It took some time to get going after the slow start.. but we managed to chose the right end of the course and stayed in range of the bigger boats.. followed by a good downwind leg.. keeping us in range. The next weather leg had the start of a wind shift.. with us probably being not so optimally positioned which meant that the fleet that were ahead was able to make distance. Then on the downwind the breeze started to soften.. so those ahead held it longer or were on a beat making better apparent out of a light breeze. This gave us a bad leg.. In the end we had a poor result of a 6th Place.

Race: 2:\
There was a race in a SW which started, but soon after the start the winds started to die.. in the interim were were catching up nicely with the fleet.. The race was abandoned... and a new course was set for the "now building SE"

We could see it was going to be strong breeze... We put up the correct jib in readiness.. the crew were looking forward to a good breezy race. Breeze was in the upper 20's... Yolo managed a good start.. and was hanging in where we wanted to be... when we look up and saw a little tear in the mainsail.. near the batten.. We decided that the mainsail would be damaged further if we continued.. so we had no choice but to retire from the race. This giving us a RTD on the scorecard.  We repaired the mainsail ourselves with Kevlar sticky back.

Aboard were: Dale, Ian, Sieger, Daphne, Shane, Mornay, Catherine, Ross.

Pic: Courtesy of Trevor Wilkins

Rudder Calibrations

HAving done rudder calibrations in the water... it is very difficult to measure up accurately, so this time it was decided to remove the boat from the water and do the job with the boat hanging in the slings.

A great experience. On arriving at the hard early to check if they were still on time, they advised that they were ahead of time and we could bring the boat to the crane. This we did. On arrival, club staff were waiting to sling and hoist her..

After lifting her, we immediately got to work, measured up rudders, made some adjustments, locked it off.. We then put the boat back in the water.

From water to water, it was less then 30 minutes.. Well done to the club staff who made it a great experience.

We will now see how the calibrations fare in the upcoming Summer regatta this weekend.

DOUBLE HANDED RACE -Sat 6th December 2014

With a nice SE breeze building on the bay, typical summer conditions with a freshening SE. Yolo got a good start and was able to hang onto the big boats to the weather mark.. On the bear away immediately hoisted the kite and sailed through the larger boats quite quickly as they had not yet decided on using the kite.. We kept on opening our gap between us and the fleet making good speeds downwind.. The highest gusts on the downwind was in the early thirties. Some of the boats behind us tried using their kites, to varying degrees of success.. or broaches. Yolo made the Leeward mark struck kite and began the beat to weather, well ahead of the larger boats. The larger boats were quite a bit faster on the beat but only managed to pass Yolo just before the weather mark.. then two short legs to the finish. Yolo won this race. After the race, Yolo took a sail across the sail and back as it was still quite early. Hopefully we will get longer races in the future. Aboard Were: Dale and Ian. Boat performed well.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT RACE/PRIZE GIVING 3 December 2014

With the last race of the series being cancelled due to strong South Easters, the Club held the Prizergiving for the first series of Wednesday night races(first half of season).
Yolo came third in her division...

See pic of Ian Coward at the presentations.. Pic -Courtesy of Trevor Wilkins

Saturday Sail 27th November 2014

A glorious day in Cape Town.. With a light breeze, clear sky, flat seas and warm conditions.. One of those days that make sailing great.
Onboard we had some guests... experienced sailors.. so we let them take control... and the regulars could sit back and enjoy... On departing the harbour, it was felt that a SE might build and went to what looked like the wind line, instead a SW/NW was found.. so sailed in this to just past Daeyang where Yolo tacked and was planing on heading up a bit further and then a bear away and a kite hoist.. but soon after the tack the winds started to head and the SE filled in over the bay at a nice steady 15 knots.. making for great sailing. Nice sail back to the harbour. Aboard were: Ian, Dale, Sieger and guests: John, Noel, Rob. Boat performed well..

Wed nite racing -26th November

Great sailing conditions, with a nice technical sea.. 18- 20 knots at the start.. with it becoming 15 or so during the race. Yolo was 4 up, so a bit light.. With all the big boats "bullying their way" on the start line, Yolo took a conservative approach.. and ended up sailing from the back.... followed by a good upwind beat.. which kept us in range and a nice downwind leg... if not a bit too square for our liking.
IN the end, we came in second in our class...
That being said.. we are very dissapointed that there were only 3 boats in our class.. and if one notes the overall results, only one boat has actually sailed all the races.. So for all intended purposes, a bit of a disappointment, the class numbers have dwindled . the top three are those that have raced the most races in the series...
Boat performed well... Aboard were: Dale, Ian, Sieger and Evan.

Pics Courtesy: Dave Mabin

VOLVO PRO AM RACE

Yolo Skipper was fortunate to have received an invite from Xtra-Link and Cobham to sail aboard on the Pro-Am Race scheduled for Friday the 14th November.
Weather was cloudy, with winds blowing in the late 20's.. touching 30 at times. The sea was bumpy as the sea built up in the NW breeze.
The bridge decided no racing, but the Boats went sailing anyway.
Boat speeds were maintained easily between 17-22knots.. just beam reaching across the bay.. with one reef and a J2 set.

Sailing was wet with the boat punching through the chop.. with the additional water from the bow spray.

Pic. Dale Kushner at Helm of SCA, with Sam Davies.(pic Courtesy of Team:SCA)

WEDNESDAY NIGHT RACE- 12th November 2014

A Nice NW on the bay with about 20knots blowing and a lumpy seaway, Overcast conditions with the odd raincloud..
Yolo had aboard some guests.. so took it conservatively... and ended up being very late for the start.. Being at the back, we could see ahead a ship making it's final approach for port and realized that this would be an obstacle later tacked off early and made the long beat for Landfall, Nicely powered up and working the waves, Yolo caught up.. together with reading the shifts... Coming onto the mark there was a 40 footer on starboard to our lee that was pinching and a Simonis on Port.. The 40 footer could not lay the mark and tacked with very little speed and essentially stalled on the new tack and the Simonis came through just below them... Although on Starboard, we needed to avoid a collision.. and quickly depowered and sailed below them.. and immediately rounded the mark.. In a proper race.. they would have to do a penalty each.. Thereafter a downwind.. and a beat to Number 4 and finish.. Yolo had worked to the front of her class...
Aboard were: Dale, Sieger, Evan, Guests Loauy HAbib, Geoff Grills, Yuri(the Russian, but not that one).,
Boat performed well.

MORE IRC Regatta PICS-Courtesy Dave Mabin

IRC NATIONALS

IRC was a well organized event.. this time the location was out of the V&A as part of the VOR festivities.. it brought considerable public interest and put our sport int eh public domain. Prior to the event we did a lot of boat preparation..

Day 1:
Light conditions with two races being held.. We managed a first and a third.. We were quite pleased with this.. as the conditions were definitely

not ideal for a Sunfast 3200 which has a large wetted surface which drags with it's wide stern in the lighter conditions...

Day 2:
This was the double points medium distance race.. Conditions started off with twelve knots.. with nice starting conditions but by the time we got near the Sea Point Pavilion(after tacking up the shore line) the wind had died.. with little puffs coming once in a while.. Yolo lost some distance at this point, but caught a puff to round the bouy.. and sail back to the light.. after a while new breeze started to set in.. with the boats in front getting first and pulling away..  Towards the latter part of the race we caught up with the class leader but we did not cover.. allowing them to pull away again.. giving the race back to them.. and us scoring a second..

Day 3:
Due to time pressures and possinle wind shifts the course set was a short one... Yolo sailed a good first beat and started to pull nicely on the downwind.. with Just the J sailing faster.. however we ended up sailing into a "hole" and while the J sailed around it and the little boats were able to catch us on time in the new breeze... So a 4th place.. (to be our discard) The last race.. breeze had come through.. 25knots and counting. Yolo got a good start and although they should not have.. gave some room for the J at the committee boat..(could have pushed them out) First half of the beat was good.. but suffered on the starboard tack as the big boats came through to weather and dropped dirty airs.. between that and dodging kelp and plastic on that leg we fell back a bit.. With all that we did not focus on the downwind.. Round the mark.. Kite up.. and off we went.. 15plus knots of boat speed... boat was happy... but the gybe angle was coming up.. and the wind was gusting 38 where we were... so we decided the gybe was too risky, if we got it wrong, there would have been carnage, few boats had kites up, those that did some were in trouble.  We dropped and gybed..
In hind site we should have tried. Yolo got a 3rd in this race.

Overall before discards  15 points(winners had 17 points) after discards we were level on points with the winners, but the tie split determines the winner giving them a well deserved win..

Event was enjoyed by full crew, both abaord and ashore.. Well done to the organizers and the bridge..

Aboard were: Dale, Ian, Sieger, Hans, Shane, Mark, Ross, Daphne. (On the last day Ross was replaced by Mornay as Ross had fallen off his motor cycle.. Hope you get well soon Ross.)
Boat performed well.

Work progress Report

Boat has been antifouled. We have also had the standard decals removed in preparation of Xtra-Link decals.. so the boat will have a new look. top sides polished.. YOLO is starting to look quite "fresh" again. Xtra-Link decals to be applied on Monday and should be back in the water on Tuesday..

YOLO on Hard

Yolo was put on the hard for maintenance on Thursday, 30th October. She is having her bottom cleaned and resprayed to racing surface, anodes replaced, top sides polished and stripe removed. At the same time the Xtra-Link decal will be applied. Yolo is due to go back in the water on Tuesday, 4th November in time for Team training on Wed and IRC nationals.

WEDNESDAY Night Racing -29 October 2014

With a Nice NE type wind... around 12-14 knots.. Yolo took a conservative start as some of the Class one boats pushed over the line and were a bit menacing. This meant sailing in bad airs coming off the bigger boats for a while till the fleet stretched out. A nice, but somewhat bumpy first beat... Round the first mark and then a fetch to Landfall.. following a run to Number 8 which had the longer boats pulling on us from behind and ahead. Coming into Number 8 there was a certain J11.1 in the Class one spinnaker class reaching in at quite a speed with Assym up.. before the three boat lengths we hailed to them NO WATER.. at the three boat lengths we hailed again, but they persisted and as we were running in slowly and they were power reaching so they quickly got inside and we had to give room to them for fear of a collision.. This was disappointing as firstly this boat could easily have gone around the outside given their power and secondly this boat had aboard people who clearly knew their rules and just stone facedly set them aside to force the inside.. We did not bother to protest.. as for us it was a fun night out...But they certainly gave a new meaning to the word sportsmanship. I was particularity disappointing in this teams actions.. as their actions were not consistent to the manner they normally conduct themselves and frankly in a more fierce race would cost the owner a lot of money.
Following number 8 mark, a shy reach to the finish.
We came third overall.. but to qualify that, our fleet is particularity small so not really a notable accomplishment.
Aboard were: Ian, Dale, Sieger, Denise, Shane, Evan, Denis(nice to have back aboard), Guests Peter and Jan(from Israel)

SUNFAST 3200 - IRC boat of the year 2014(in France I think)

http://www.sunfast.fr/news/sun-fast-3200-irc-boat-of-the-year-2014.html

WEDNESDAY NIGHT RACE 22nd October 2014

Nice turnout on the water, with a light, fickle SW blowing. We positioned where we wanted to be on the start line, but the bridge called us over so we had to sail back and restart, we then needed to duck a few boats and got going. We quickly started to make gains in the shifts but then opted to sail what turned out to be a lifting tack, with us on the outside which means coming back on the header, which hurt us. The breeze all the while slowly softening, which allowed the faster guys to hold on their lead. the downwinds were mundane with us not being able to shake the L34's of which some caught right up with us. IN the end, not the greatest race for us.. but nice sailing was had. Boat performed well.  We are concerned aboard though that the class we have chosen has turned out to be very small. Aboard were: Dale, Ian, Sieger, Evan, Denise.

ROUND ROBBEN ISLAND RACE

With a Nice SW setting into the bay, the day was all set for a good sail.
Unfortunately there was confusion at the start.. as the Sailing office had issued new start times as per their notice that final times will be issued at 10am. However with less then 5 minutes to the start we figured out that some boats who should not have started had already started, we put this down to the bridge still using the previous start times.. we quickly got our jib up and made for the start area.. We got an OK start(Pursuit Race) Unfortunately there were still a few boats who were working to the new start times that lost out.
The first leg to the island was mundane with the longer waterline boats slowly catching up. Closing into the island we were the first to hoist out kite which helped hold off the longer boats until they hoisted. As we started to round the island the larger boats were breathing down our neck already.. With us going through the slower boats.  We were quickly overhauled by the Farr... who left all of us behind.. with us jostling with the Simonis 35's.. who had speed on us, with us just holding the inside track. We did an early drop as we rounded the leeward side of the island and Followed the first passing Simonis to the weather of an anchored fishing boat.. where we caught a clump of Kelp.. We immediately realized this, so we backwinded. By this time the other Simonis 35 had sailed through us.. and both dissaapeared int he distance as it was another waterline leg.
This was not the best race for Yolo with two medium wind fetch legs making up the majority of the race.. and with it being a Pursuit race, Race length based on rating differentials would have us completing in 100min.. (which was not the case) It is very difficult to be perfect for a pursuit race.
Fortunately we are not competing for the Club Championships this year(focusing on IRC) so it has no effect for us.. but does effect a number of other boats.
All in all, a great day on the water. Thanks to the generous sponsors.
Aboard were: Ian, Dale, Sieger, Shane, Evan, Michael(New Michael aboard)

WEDNESDAY Night Racing -15th October 2014

First Wednesday night race of the season.
Yolo is taking a more laid back approach.
Sea was flat with a SE on the water, ranging between 12-18 knots with light winds in the finish area.

Yolo opted to start down the line with clear breeze(as the breeze was still filling in) Good start with Yolo working the boat to get to the first mark first.. Something that she should not normally do with bigger and faster boats on the water. On the downwind Yolo tussled with Regardless to keep breeze clear.. which involved a chase away for the course. the fetch across the bay had Yolo a few boat lengths behind Regardless which she maintained and on the final beat caught up with a few tacks on shifts. just before the finish, there was a header in light breeze which allowed Regardless to beat Yolo by one second.
Yolo came third in her class.
We were dissapointed to see that we were sailing in the smallest class. this makes it less competition.. We will have to reconsider.
Aboard were: Dale, Ian, Siger, Shane, Even Smuts. Boat performed well.

IRC Nationals 2014 -Xtra-Link

Yolo will be racing under the banner of Xtra-Link for the the IRC Nationals which takes place between the 6-8 November 2014.

Xtra-Link is a specialist company which specializes in radio and Satellite communications systems and connectivity. They are linked to offices worldwide which is fed from their distribution centers in Europe and Dubai UAE.
In addition they have a technical support division.

The Company Motto is "NEVER BEYOND REACH"

The CEO, Hans Kuijt of Xtra-Link will be flying in to do the event as well as Clarence Hendricks from the Dubai Office. Both are accomplished sailors with many miles under their belts. Both campaigning regularly out of DOSC in the UAE.

More info on the IRC nationals at www.ircsa.co.za

RCYC Opening Cruise 2014

The Season has begun..
RCYC Opening took place in magnificent style starting at the club with the normal protocols followed by the club cannons being fired.. thereafter an official sailpast which took place in the V&A with the Chavonne battery firing off more cannons, marking the RCYC 111th Season.

Aboard were Dale, Sieger, Ian and the Kushner and Coward families.

Pics Credit: Trevor Wilkins

More Spring Regatta Pics.. Courtesy of Dave Mabin

More Spring Regatta Pics

Pic Credit: Denise White -Crew Aboard YOLO

DELIVERY Simonstown to Cape Town 20th September 2014

Departing Simonstown at around 8:20/30am... Full main and J4.. beating into the bay.. the chop gradually increased.. and the rain started falling non stop... winds were around 16 knots. Going further South the chop gave way to swell and the breeze decreased.. Eventually requiring around 30 minutes of motor Sailing... closing in at the point, the waves were quite steep with the odd one breaking.. Just before Cape Point the rains stopped, Once in line with Cape Point, the breeze immediately increased to 20-25 knots...
Yolo carried a tight course until sure it could clear SW reefs, then bore away to a fetch. Progress was fast.. with the deck awash in the big seas...
Once around SW reefs, Yolo bore away.. and sailed downwind down the coast Poling out the jib. Nice seas with allowed for nice sailing A gybe at Slankop.. Pole up again.. and eventually pole away... reaching in for cape Town. Wind died at Sea Point Pavilion.. but the wind line was ten minutes further... but opted to start the pack away.
Arrived at the breakwater.. with just under 8 hours of sailing, met at the jetty by Sieger who helped with the lines. Aboard were: Dale. Boat performed well. Thank to Sieger for the lifting.

More Spring Regatta Pics -Pic Credits: Dave Mabin