(Northvaal, South Africa)- The first of the Northvaal match racing series was held in conjunction with the prestigious Round the Island race at LDYC on the Vaal dam.
Eight teams from Northvaal and KZN sailed in a knock out series covered by the webcam from LDYC. Competitors waited and spectated from a barge anchored at the starboard end of the start line. Short courses and intense racing kept everybody’s attention for the entire event. The wind settled into a comfortable 5 knot easterly, which persisted the entire day.
The First match saw the team of Ewald Sternalgel against Keel Boat week winners Richard Wiederholt’s Team. Ewald’s experience in match racing showed as he quickly forced Richard into a penalty situation before the start securing a win.
The only two KZN teams drew each other in the first round taking the J22 boat handling in their stride. Luke Wagner from PYC lost to Andrew Tarbaton by a penalty on the finish line. OH! So close.
The third match saw Paul Thompson from DAC up against local Dirk Manten. Match racing being a discipline that South African sailors don’t often participate in, resulted in the crews taking on the challenge conservatively but despite this, spectators enjoyed very entertaining racing. The result! Dirk came out on top in that one.
Shellee Nel and her ladies crew took on Graham Baker in the final match of the first round. Shellee pushed Graham off to the port side to have a clear start, which gave them a small lead, which they maintained for the rest of the race. The girls are a challenge to be reckoned with!
The subsequent knock out rounds were just as exciting for spectators as competitors but ultimately Ewald declared the winner with Shellee Nel second and Richard Weiderholt the winner of the Losers knock out.
This new dimension to J22 sailing is exciting and challenging so we hope the subsequent match racing challenges will see more teams participating. Watch this space and check the new web page for more. For more South African J/22 sailing information.