RISA SA Regatta 23/24 October

This event is put on jointly between RCYC and the RISK SA magazine, predominately for the insurance and allied industry. This focus's on all boats having a percentage of those aboard from the industry. YOLO was teamed up with Altech Netstar.. and a good bunch they were too.
Friday night consisted of a normal Wed night format.. But the breeze was gusting 30 at times.. making for conservative sailing.. It was a one class start.. which had all the big boats sailing over Yolo's head... making for a frustrating leg... Once around Harken.. a comfortable downwind with the pole.. getting a good gybe at Milnerton and then off to Landfall.. on a reach.. which was a reasonable leg.. and then a beat to the finish..
Yolo came 5th in this race.
The evening was capped of with a cocktail function..

Saturday Race was in better conditions where kites were allowed. Yolo got out of the blocks nicely, but had to wait for the stb tackers to tack first.. they tend to hold on a lot longer then they needed to, costing them lots of time. Then a nice fetch to Landfall followed by a reach to a laid mark at Table View and then a beat to Landfall again. Yolo was having a great beat, till the winds went lighter and headed.. and then lost out some.. once around the mark, a nice tight reach with the kite to the finish. Yolo came 4th in this Race.

Overall a 3rd place.. and in the prizes.. yay.. Prize to be used to crew entertainment etc...
Aboard: Dale, Ian, Shane and Cath plus 4 guests from Altech Netstar.

Photo's to follow once available.

MINI WORK PARTY -21 Oct

With IRC Nationals around the corner and Wednesday night racing cancelled due to the strong winds.. the crew met aboard to do some odd jobs in preparation:

• Cleaned boat.
• Removed any unnecessary items.
• Repacked interior
• Removed all sails not required for IRC Nationals.

See pic of sails being taken off the boat for storage.

ROUND ROBBEN ISLAND RACE 17 October 2015

As a crew, we were unsure as to whether to race this race. We were aware of the weather conditions and the potential to be played with by the winds.. making for a frustrating day. Eventually Cath made the call to race.. stating that we will still have fun sailing and so right she is. Almost no wind on the start line, making for a slow crossing and trying to pick up the wisps of wind coming through, putting in a few tacks to get into the clear.. The decision was taken to round the island to Port.. One in the wind, Yolo set of for a Soldiers course.. working to keep as much speed in the boat as possible... hoisting a downwind sail when getting closer the the island. A bit less wind in the lee of the island and then perhpas a early shift back to the jib, only to find the wind shifting around the island. a few tacks and then around the island, after which the winds shifted and when getting close the the coast again the winds started dropping.. Up till this time we were set for a second over the line.. winds were coming from all sides.. with some of the smaller boats picking up a SE and making their way over the line.. On Yolo we could see NW puffs on the water... and had to just sit and wait for it.. which came with other boats behind us who were able to ride it in.. then we got going again.. and crossed the line. IN the end we scored a 3rd in our class. Nice sailing.. Perhaps the last 30 minutes were a bit frustrating. Aboard: Dale, Shane, Cath and  two guests.. Wesley and Luke supplied by the club.

WED NITE RACE -14 October 2015

First Wed night race of the season. Conditions were blustery with gusts and shifts.. We opted to take things conservatively using our J4 for the racing which was about right. A good start with Yolo working hard to try and hang in with the Class one boats as long as possible. Around PAarden Island and a downwind leg, which was quite mundane.. A gybe at Milnerton and then a superb fetch across the bay to Number 4 mark, with YOLO really holding her ground.. Lots of trimming and hiking happening... Winds ranged between 12-25 knots during the race. Nice rounding of Number 4, cleared our air and tacked to lay the finish. YOLO won the race in her class. Aboard were: Dale, Sieger, Shane, Cath and Guests from the UK Army and Royal Navy, TIM and Steve. All well aboard.

RCYC Opening Cruise 10 October 2015

The biggest event of the Sailing Social calendar every year is the RCYC opening cruise. This year the chosen theme was Oktober Fest... with the usual formalities, followed by the sailpast which was in good attendance and then back to the club for a proper Oktober party.. Bratwurst and all. These events continue to draw numbers.. with the Yolo crew having a good time. This year under the leadership of Cath, the boat went full swing to dress up, with her and Shane working till midnight the previous night to "wrap" the boat... unfortunately overnight winds destroyed all their efforts.. Aboard were: Dale, Sieger, Shane, Cath, Guests Sophie and Jimmy Melville.

IRC NATIONALS

Check out www.ircsa.co.za for info on the upcoming IRC nationals.

DELIVERY -Simonstown to Cape Town.

On Team Yolo, everyone takes their turn on getting involved with Deliveries. This time it was Dale, Cath and Shane's turn....(or volunteered) on this occasion it was Shane's birthday, so kudo's to him for giving up his special day. Morning started with Sieger who had volunteered to assist with the lifting getting all to Simonstown... Immediately aboard and casting off lines at around 06h45 with a really great Motor to Cape Point with Glassy flat seas.. and the sun making itself known.. Around Cape Point and a gentle 5-6knots SW with a SW swell, so continued motoring with the Mainsail up.. and cutting in over SW reefs as the conditions allowed... once over the winds picked up a bit, but because of the direction and the worsening sea state the decision was taken to continue to motor sail in order to make good progress... motor sailing as close to the wind as possible. Vulcan and Rockstar were also out with us all rounding Cape Point within minutes of each other.  The clouds were overcast with rain from time to time... Around the Slagkop area the winds increased to 25knots for a short while.. and then gradually started to taper down.. with the last hour in under 6 knots.... with the final good winds coming at Green Point Lighthouse to the harbour.. With Yolo docking at around 4:45pm.. making for quite a long crossing. Aboard were: Dale, Shane and Cath. All went well aboard.