The Gordon’s Bay Yacht Club’s racing season got off to an exciting start this past Sunday (27 February), with extremely close racing in the opening three rounds of the 2022 All Comers Series.
Thirteen yachts participated, ranging from a 20 ft (6 m) race boat to an ocean-going catamaran.
The Van der Stadt 34 Seaboard, skippered by Paul Tanner, took line honours in all three races, as well as seizing two wins and a second place on handicap. In so doing, Seaboard has thrown down the gauntlet to Nico van Wieringen’s L26 Go Dutch, which was all-conquering last year.
Go Dutch scored third-place finishes in race one and two, and powered through to victory on handicap in the final race of the day.
The L26 Equation, co-skippered by Richard and Edmund Tough, had a solid day with two second and a third place to tie Go Dutch for second spot in the overall standings.
Throughout the day, the battle for fourth place was hotly contested. In the end, it was Philippe Pringiers on Time Out who secured overall fourth place, followed by single-hander Barry Ross on Zia in fifth and skipper Richard Gürtel on the quarter-tonner Pure Magic in sixth.
The remainder of the field comprised larger cruising boats. The National Sea Rescue Institute’s Grant Bairstow, skippering Spirit of Maratek for his first race outing, finished an excellent seventh overall. He was followed in the standings by another first-time race skipper, Piet Henning, on his Carter 33 Pula.
There was a tie for ninth overall between Mark Smeddle’s Plain Sailing (hosting novice crew members) and the dapper Flamenca Shifta, skippered by Tony Reynolds in his second race outing. Shifta always seemed in close proximity to Kevin Black on Plumbob, and in race one the pair recorded the closest finish on handicap on GBYC records – only 0,05 seconds after more than 44 minutes of racing. Plumbob eventually finished the day in 11th on the standings. The Sadler 32 Blade, skippered by Jon Larkin, took 12th overall, with Tim Beardmore’s catamaran Synergy finishing in 13th place after recording a DNF in race one.
In general, the racing was very close, with only a seven-second margin of victory after 21 minutes in race two, and a nine-second margin of victory after 31 minutes in race three. The remaining six races of the All Comers Series promise an exciting fight between Seaboard, Go Dutch and Equation.
All the sailors extended their thanks to Carol Ferguson and the Bridge team, hosted aboard Gys Liebenberg’s newly-restored Old Brown.
V For more on sailing at GBYC, contact club manager Eleonore Bondesio on 021 856 3263 or gbyc@gbyc.co.za.
