SPRING REGATTA 24th September Race 3, 4, 5.

With Day Two of racing being abandoned, there was lots of pressure on the bridge to ensure 5 races to allow for one discard. Racing started at 10am. Team Yolo met early and prepped the boat. Got going on the water early. There was a N or a Slight NE blowing. Forecast to swing to NW. Yolo did it's test beats and did the numbers.

Summary of Racing for the Day:
Yolo had reasonable starts, occasionally making the error of going wrong side of the course. Eventually finding some of the faster settings on the boat. Crew work was good with very few errors and those were quickly rectified. Occasionally a nice puff downwind made the sailing fun..

In short, it was a good regatta with YOLO coming second overall in IRC class 2, see results here:

http://fbyc.co.za/results/2014/IRC%20Div%202os.html


The crew have been exceptional. With everyone only meeting each other briefly for a 2 hour session a week before the regatta, the crew quickly bonded and got to understand the boat and each other in order to give of their best.

CREW:
Dale
Ian
Sieger
Howard
Daphne
Denise
Shane
David

Boat performed well, with no problems being experienced.

Pic Credit: Trevor Wilkins

Spring Regatta-FBYC 20/21/24 September 2014

Day One:
FBYC was on form and had mustered a good entry for the Spring Regatta. Yolo was relegated to IRC Class 2. Yolo with her Crew were at the Club on time. Prepared the boat and briefed all ready for a good day's racing.

Race One: 
Around 16-18knots of wind. Sea was quite choppy which did not help Yolo as she was racing against boats which had much longer waterlines, which made it easier in the chop and hence better average speeds Everyone was keen on pushing the start, with a lot of emphasis on the bridge boat. Yolo had a fair start and tacked soon after for clear winds.With a few tacks on shifts on the beat.  The weather mark was out of visual range and Yolo ended up over standing.  Once round, Kite up and Off she went, taking advantage of the mini swells to try and catch surf's. Our navigator called the lay and we Gybed. Next was a beat and a shorter weather mark with a Triangle with two reaches, then a finish. Yolo came in second overall in the race which we were happy with.

Race Two:
In this race Yolo tried to secure the bridge boat side of the line, but was squeezed out, forcing her to tack and gybe around and lose some distance and get caught in the bad airs.. A tack away and sailed to clean breeze. In this race the Weather mark had been moved to the right.. With Yolo banging the corner.. and getting a good approach to the weather mark. Breeze had increased somewhat. Good downwind speeds, stalled on the gybe but quick recovery. Next beat was just a matter of getting to the weather mark. On the final reach leg, the swell action and wind angle was too Yolo's liking with the breeze at 25 we had fun ont he final leg.

Day Two:
Racing was abandoned as the winds were blowing 30 plus knots.. probably reaching 40 in places.

Aboard were: Dale, Ian, Sieger, Denise, Daphne, Shane, David, Howard. Boat performed

Pic credits:
Pic 1, 2 and 3 Trevor Wilkins.
Pic 4 David Mabin

well.

Training for Spring Regatta -14 September 2014

With a new crew aboard, a training session was held in Simonstown aboard Yolo where we did a meet and greet and everyone got to meet each other.
Winds were SE 16-24, but away from the mountain a steady 20. Initially Yolo did a long stretch close to Millers Point with tacks on the way, a good hoist was had and a good many gybes all the way to Glencairn, rounded the mark and then a beat to Castor, another hoist and gybe sail to Glencairn and with a good rounding.. We had been training for over two hours... A good session, we proceeded back to the marina for a debrief and sort the boat out in preparation. Boat performed well. Crew work was good. The Crew for Sprng Regatta are currently: Dale, Ian, Sieger, Howard, Daphne, Shane, Denise.

Pic of boat at her Simonstown Marina.

DELIVERY- Cape Town to Simonstown 31st August 2014

With very little racing planed at RC, it was decided to get Yolo to Simonstown early for the Spring regatta.
The chosen day turned out to be a perfect windless day.. clear skies, a great day in Cape Town, but no chance of sailing as there was nil wind. The delivery took place under engine. There was some chop and swell off Slangkop lessening later in the voyage. It was a sublime delivery. Departing CT at 7am arriving Simonstown around 3:40pm.
Yolo is now moored on her mooring in Simonstown.

Aboard Were: Ian and Sieger. Boat performed well.

Double Handed Race -23rd August 2014

It was good sailing conditions, if a bit gusty. with 14-22 knots at the start. After much debate and changing of the foresail, it was felt that the J4 would be suitable as we expected the winds to be in the upper teens low twenties for most of the race, we were light aboard with only two and we wanted to give the new J4 it's first proper test.

Unfortunately we were a bit late in the start, which meant that we could not set ourselves up for the part of the line that we wanted, with us starting to leeward of the big boats, which meant we immediately got rolled by the bigger boats... Not the best way to start, but after this we were able to hang on.. and keep the boat going well rounding Harken as out first mark. We already had the pole up at this point so we were first to go with a hoist... with us making good speeds downwind. We were not using the GPS so a bit of a "follow the fleet to the next mark. Problem is that the bigger boats were all sailing with Asymmetric. so that did not help much. So a bit of guessing.. as we were not bothered to do a spot of navigating. Eventually we sighted the righ mark.. and decided to do a weather drop. Problem is we started it was too early. We managed a good rounding and an efficient beat to Milnerton with a reach to Landfall. We debated aboard whether we should hoist the kite as the wind angle was 122 and we felt we could handle it. But as the rest of the fleet had not, we took the easy option. Number 2 was the next mark and then to the finish. On the beat we played a few shifts which helped us make up some time..

We won the race. It was good to be out sailing in a nice breeze and flat water. Boat performed well. Yolo is now leading the Double handed Series, However unlikely to finish the series as she plans to goto Simonstown for the Spring Regatta a bit earlier then usual and therefore will miss some of the races.

Aboard were: Ian and Dale

YOLO -Oxford Dictionary Catches up and wants in....

Yup, eventually the Oxford Dictionary has cottoned onto our sailing program and has officially made Yolo a word in the Dictionary..

Yolo now has the distinction of being an acronym and a proper noun.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Definition of YOLO in English:

YOLO

Line breaks: YOLO

Pronunciation: /ˈjəʊləʊ/

ABBREVIATION

INFORMAL

You only live once (expressing the view that one should make the most of the present moment without worrying about the future, and often used as a rationale for impulsive or reckless behaviour):I just ordered £40 worth of Chinese food. But YOLO, right?the YOLO mentality has swept young adult generations

Origin

1980s: acronym.

CLUB RACING Saturday, 16 August 2014

With light winds on the bay, we already knew that Yolo could not be competitive.
Race 1 of the day: We positioned well for the start, but could not tack away immediately as we would have had larger boats "rolling" us, so we needed to push them further and they would then sail below us.. which they did. We managed a good slot at the first mark, a good hoist but the winds became fickle on the down wind.. with a little luck required, in our case dying just before the leeward mark.. we eventually got through this patch.. and sailed for the finish.. giving us a third on corrected... which we felt was good, given that it was very light for us.
Race 2: Again light breeze with it dying en route to the first mark and then coming back.. favoring the one side of the course... once on the downwind, initially looking good until it died.. and the winds clocked 180 degrees which meant first into the wind would be first on the podium etc..
The bridge then called a shortened course together with the flag and two hoots... shortly after this they announced a "new course amendment" We have protested as we felt if the shortened course would have been followed we would still have had a chance to be competitive. Protest has not yet been heard, but will advise. The rest of the race for us, was a drift.

Aboard were: dale, Ian, Sieger and guests Wayne and Kathy. No problems aboard.

SUNDAY SAIL 10th August 2014

With good weather forecasted for the Sunday and commitments on the Saturday, for a change Yolo went sailing on the Sunday. With a 3pm departure planned. What a great day on the water, Warm SE winds between 12-14 knots, flat water.. It could not be any better.

This sail also proved to test a brand new sail to the inventory, made by Ullman Sails. We had opted for a J4 with carbon membrane with our usual one sides internal taffeta.. A system that has proven itself to last.

We were very pleased in the sail testing, it seems to have an incredible shape. We look forward to testing it on the race course.

During the sail we noted a floating raft which probably came out of the Salt River Mouth. We called Port Control to advise, as it was a large obstacle. They requested if possible if we could tow it back to port.. Which we obliged.. and thus ending our sailing...  We heard on the radio that NSRI was doing a search in the Salt River mouth area...
It would appear that there were 5 boys fishing off this raft, the raft was swept out of the river to see.. at which point the boys decided to swim for it.. 3 made the shore.. there is still a search on for the other two.

To connect the tow, Ian boarded the raft and set up the tow lines and then went back aboard Yolo, where the tow was handled. We managed the two keeping it at 2 knots, to keep enough maneuverability and so as not to risk the raft breaking up.. as we had not assessed it. Port Control was very obliging. We towed it to the Quay four Pen, where the NSRI team were waiting to take the Raft from us.

http://www.nsri.org.za/2014/08/search-for-two-missing-teenagers

The sun was starting to set, with us heading back to RCYC.. What a beautiful evening on the water.

Aboard were: Dale and Ian.  Boat performed well. No problems.

SAIL 2nd August 2014

No Racing at the club, but as usual, Team Yolo ready to sail. Conditions were fantastic with a 16knots NNE blowing.. slight chop on the water with a short swell... in short great sailing conditions. Yolo sailed from the club out of the harbour and then beat hard on the wind for Sunset Beach.. Tacked and a further short beat and a nice reach back to the harbour. The boat performed well.. Aboard we discussed positions of the new barbour hauler system that we plan to fit. Aboard were Ian, Sieger and Dale.

SAIL -Sat 19th July 2014

The policy has always been to try and sail Yolo every Saturday whether Races are convened or not.
This past Saturday was no exception. Albeit cold and overcast weather Yolo headed out. Winds were 10-12 knots with a moderate swell with good separations on the water.. making it not that bad to sail in. Yolo Headed down to Dolphin Beach Area, back to Woodstock Corner and back to the harbour. While aboard, discussion on what is required to be done aboard in preparation for the upcoming season and the racing program to come. Aboard were: Dale, Ian and Sieger.  Boat performed well. Pic Courtesy of Duncan Johnson.

Double Handed Race.. Race 1 of series. 12th July 2014

Yolo had not been sailed for approximately a month. It was good to be out on the water again. The start was postponed by 15 minutes.. following a start, which Yolo got a fair start, but the conditions were very light.. something Yolo does not enjoy.. making it a struggle throughout the race to keep the boat going. In the end,. we finished with a L34 a minute or so behind us.. Coming 4th in our class...
Aboard were: Dale and Ian. Boat performed well.

Portugal Day Race 7th June 2014

With lots of rain the preceding few days, snow on the higher mountains.. Winter has arrived in Cape Town. The Day for the race though, was clear skies, with very light and fickle winds.
A good entry, some 48 boats. Medium pursuit races tend to get the bigger entries.

On the way out of the harbour we suspect that Yolo may have got a plastic bag around the prop.. which was to stay for the race...
Yolo started on time, with a few tacks just after the start to try and stay in the wind, as those that started behind had slightly more "solid" breeze... It was a slow sail to the first mark(Daeyang) eventually flying the Code O... We managed to pull through the fleet with only a few larger boats ahead of us at the mark.. thereafter a mundane fetch to Granger, with us using the Codey on the final stretch and then hoisting the kite just before the mark.. Gybing soon after with a nice Kite sail to the finish. It was a great day on the water...
Yolo managed to win her class..Aboard were: Dale, Ian, Sieger and Sarel.

Back in the harbour.. it was time to toast the season and to toast Yolo's entry in the Cape to Rio Race, earlier this year.... See pic...

More Pics.. From Cape to Rio 2014 Start - Photographer- Dave Mabin

DOUBLE HANDED RACE 24th May 2014

With A Northerly blowing, with rain etc.. and forecasted to have a freshening breeze, this deterred some of the sailors, not all.
On board Yolo we took it conservatively knowing that it would be a bumpy ride to the first mark.. electing to use a J4 and one tuck in the main. We had a conservative start.. as did most of the fleet due to the sea state.. winds were mainly in the early 20's so not too bad...Chop was steep, but not too high. No waves had built up yet.It was mainly a one tack beat to Daeyang, with Yolo trying out different heavy weather techniques.. to varying degrees of success. A short tack on Port followed by a rounding of the mark.. Baring away and immediately dropping the reef(and picked up kelp, which we could not shake off the entire leg).. We were planning on hoisting the kite, but with no one else doing it.. and not being part of the whole series, we decided not to bother...
We gybed, poled out the jib and sailed a mundane downwind leg to the finish. Pity we had the kelp and we could easily have handled then kite..
After finishing, we went into the harbour and backed up, with the kelp coming up.. confirming our concerns.
Boat performed well. We came 4th in the race. Aboard were: Dale and Ian.

Hout Bay Cruise 17-18 MAy 2014

SE Predicted. The Yolo crew Mustered at the boat shortly before 1pm.. and departed clearing the breakwater at 1pm. A nice SE blowing at 20 knots, making a fast sail down to Clifton where the winds died.. which meant a quick motor through the light patch, followed by a building breeze and a fast sail till the wreck, where thereafter it was hard on the wind. there was a SE chop and a Westerly ocean swell running.. Yolo reefed down to make it easy sailing.. and made a few tacks going inside Vulcan rock. Winds were in the early 20's gusting to 30ish Nearing the sentinel, the usual squalls made their appearance on the water. Then a bear away for a sail into the Bay of Hout Bay. Into the Harbour. A Sail drop.. and then the organizer together with HBYC showed us where to moor and assisted with mooring lines. We cleared away, relaxed and then later went up to the club. The club had laid on a Braai for everyone which was well organized, with us returning to the boat at 10ish.,.

Next morning started with team YOLO doing breakfast at HBYC. The club was very organized. Followed by the anticipated start which was scheduled for 11am. Most boats departed the harbour early. the bay was calm but in the distance the SE could be noted. The start was a combined start of HB boats, doing their club race and the RCYC cruisers.. With the fleet immediately fetching, with the chase on for who would get the SE first. Boats to the weather side of the line might have got some advantage. Once in the SE.. boats started to brear away around the sentinel. It was not too strong.. perhaps 22-23 knots.. Yolo was hanging in with the HB boats.. and then hoisted kite. the HB boats at this stage were ahead and rounded Vulcan. YOLO had gybed and sailed to the corner, where the kite was dropped and two sailed reached till past Llandadno. Getting closer to Camps Bay, the wind died.. so it was elected that the Motor was used.. the boat was packed away...  Arriving at the Breakwater 3 hours after the start. A good sail.
Aboard were: Dale, Ian, Sieger and guest for the return, Ray Matthews. Boat performed well.

Saturday Sail -19th April 2014

Yolo is first and foremost a sailing boat.. With no racing, it does not mean no sailing.. So a Sail was in order.
A perfect day, motoring out there were flat windless conditions.. With local knowledge the call was still made to make the J4 ready.. around the corner Yolo continued her motor up to the Paarden Island area where we could see the start of the SE. Once there, motor cut, and beat for a minute or two followed by a bear away and a hoist of the kite. The winds rapidly increased topping out at 30 knots in the Milnerton area.. giving for a great downwind leg. A kite strike and then a sail across the bay. We then stayed in the bay reaching up and down following by a pack away and Yolo anchoring at Granger Bay for an hour. Great sail was had. Boat performed well. Aboard were: Ian, Sieger, Dale and Guest Jan.

SENIORS DAY RACE 12th April 2014

The rules for the Senior's Day Race is that the skipper/helmsman must be over 60 to be eligible. On Yolo, we need look no further then our active Halyards man, Sieger Smink, so the Yolo entry, remained a truly YOLO team.

For those of you who do not know Sieger, Sieger built is own Buccaneer from a set of plans up.. in the late 70's.. and was active in the early 80's with his boat. She was named WAVE GUIDE.. After this, Sieger purchased a Brand New Ladd27 which was also named WaveGuide. Sieger campaigned both these boat actively, attracting the top skippers aboard. Dale sailed with him from time to time. The boat moved regularly between FBYC and RCYC for it's program. After which Sieger took a break from sailing, at a later stage selling the Ladd27 to Dale, who sailed her for one season. At that time Sieger was attracted back to sailing and became a regular aboard again, staying with the team and being an active part of the team specializing in the Halyard position. Besides this, he has always been part of the delivery team. A well accomplished sailor.. and very handy technically aboard.

Back to the Race:

Conditions at the club were hot and windless.... and people were concerned that there would be no racing. The Race Chairman ensured that the Club Launch was sent out early to see where the wind was and to set the course. This was done, so prior to everyone leaving they already had a course in hand.

With a Pursuit start, Yolo had a nice clear line.. and started with a few boat lengths to spare at the right side of the line. Sieger who had not been helming in a race for some time, quickly settled in and got the boat sailing well. Yolo holding her own with the increasing breeze. Yolo put some tacks into the shoreline in search of a lift... but the conditions were averaged out. Caught up to the smaller boats, around the weather mark, bear away, pole up. Yolo Opted to gybe and sail own breeze and gybed back with 20% of the leg left. Yolo had a good rounding, but by now the bigger boats were breathing down..so Yolo had to work to keep her breeze clear for the remainder of the leg.
Yolo came 11th out of 48 starters and 5th in Age category. Well done Sieger.
Aboard were: Sieger, Ian, Dale, Riaan. Boat performed well. No problems.

Double Handed Race -5th April 2014

First sail back on Yolo since the Cape to Rio Race. The boat had just completed her "clean up" and ready to go. Aboard were Dale and Ian again.
Nice South Easter across the whole bay, flat seas.. not too strong.. just right.
Yolo got a fair start on the weather side of the line.. making for Harken rounding just behind Scarlet Sun. After the rounding gybed and immediately hoisted the kite. Most of the fleet continued on Starboard for a while. Yolo settled down quickly and had a nice sail to Dayang Family mark.. with the conditions being lighter.. due to the good rounding and the quick hoist Yolo was still in the frey.. and managed to round in third place just behind the bigger boats. On the upwind Ylo played the shifts to try and keep up with the bigger boats, while still falling back she managed to stay ahead of the larger boats that were slowly catching.. Back around Harken, Yolo then hoisted the kite but the sheet had flogged loose on the hoist.. so opted to drop the kite for the final leg to the finish(no one else used a kite). Yolo won the race in the end.. A nice time margin made of of the extra kite work and working the shifts on the upwind to try and stay in... Nice to be back on the water.

Boat clean up

Following the delivery, it was time to give the boat a good clean up and check. The following were done:

• Boat removed from water.
• Rudder work
• Keel bolts re torqued
• Touch up anti foul
• Interior touch up
• Interior clean.
• Sails serviced
• Halyard and sheet chafe attended to.

Boat arrived in overall good conditions, especially considering she had just crossed the atlantic two times.

Delivery #2

Info to follow

Delivery

Information to follow

RETURN DELIVERY

YOLO is being delivered back by a professional skipper, MArk Devit, with his first mate Ross Cole and one crew member. They Departed Rio on Monday, 3rd February 2014 around midday Brazilian time. They can be viewed on the tracker.

Summary

In summary of the Race:

For us, the Race team, we found the race a light wind event, this time around, taking longer then expected. The Gale that was had, the winds were in the 50’s with high seas, but nothing we had not experienced before. We took it conservatively through that section. The boat performed brilliantly with no problems being experienced. We had sufficient food, water and Diesel(for Charging). The start was fantasic, albeit a bit light and the last 18 hours to the finish line were the highlight, sailing continually fast.. the boat was revelling in those conditions. The crew were a happy bunch..

So, another  Race, another Transatlantic.. Given the weather systems, we were pleased at our Class 2 win.

Some questions that have been asked:

Q. What were your shifts?

A. 2 hours on, 2 hours off.

Q. Did you get enough sleep?

A. You get into a routine and in fact most of the time one woke up after around 40 min, sometimes going back to sleep.. One tries to sleep during daylight hours as well in order to accumulate rest.

Q. Did you use a watermaker?

A. No. We carried all our water.. in this way we would be absolutely sure of what we had and not reliant on a machine for survival.

Q. What type of food did you eat?

A. Largely canned foods, and dry foods like Rice, pasta etc.. We ate largely oats for breakfasts and snack type foods at lunch. We were well fed.

Q. How did you manage the storm.?

A. We largely sailed through it fully reefed. When the winds were over 50, we dropped the main for a few hours.

Q. What weather routing did you use?

A. We used an android app called Sail Grib WR.. which had all the Polars etc.. we found it very good and simple to operate.

More questions and answers, as and when we get questions it will be posted.

WINNERS IRC class 2...

First pictures from 2014 Cape to Rio prize giving 1 February 2014

FINAL RESULTS....YOLO 1st in class 2 and 7th Overall...

DAY 25 results

YOLO IS IN! 24DAYS 13HRS 57 MINS

03h00 GMT 29 January 2014

Approaching the 10 mile mark.

Currently doing 8 knots..

02h00 GMT 29 January 2014

02h00 GMT

We have 20nm to go...

Winds currently 20-25 from behind...9-12knots boat speed..

Nice swell with occasional surf (just like the brochure said for the race...ha ha)

"YOLO 25NM"

We have reached the 25NM mark.. and have reported to Echo 21 already.

 

Currently 20 knots from behind and doing 8-10k

 

all nicely shaven....TRADITION!!!

With 40NM.. Skipper comes out of the Companionway.. has become a tradition with the Skipper(besides the last race) where he disappears and reappears as his former self.. much to the amusement of the crew..

Ian Coward at the beginning of his last night at sea..

He has been challenged to wear his beard for a month on his return to South Africa.. Lets see if he has the courage.

30NM from RIO...

Hi All,

 

30NM from finish.

Currently have 20 knots from behind. Doing roughly 8knots.

Expect it to slow down later.

 

s/y YOLO

Picture of the skippers hands...

Although we wear gloves most of the time while working the boat, the conditions take their toll...

LAND HO!!!!!

LAND HO    

 This morning started with us tight reaching with the kite

up and the swell angle improving. For a short while it became too tight and required the kite to be taken down.. but now the kite is up again with the wind feeing..

winds are currently 10-20 knots, nice angle.. Land in sight..

Currently we can tune into the Brazilian radio stations, We are sailing at good speeds.. 8.5-10 knots. very nice sailing.. and fun to be at the helm again.

Conditions are very hot, in the 30's.. hot and humid below decks..

Our ETA is still around just after sunrise or thereabout as we still expect a light patch.. but who knows...

 

All well aboard s/y YOLO.

 

 

DAY 24 results...