(Capetown, South Africa)- It seems that a bunch of fun-loving sailors in
South Africa decided that some of the bigger J's might be good offshore
boats for the gear-busting conditions often seen of the tip of South
Africa. In recent years, both a J/105 and a J/133 have shown up on the
local racing scene and have been enjoying themselves often as leaders of
the pack. We recently got a heart-warming note from one of our J/105
owners, Dwayne Assis, proud owner of J/105 #591 called PANTS ON FIRE!
Here's Dwayne's story:
"Hi
J/Team- By the way here are some images of my J/105 PANTS ON FIRE and
another J/133 JACANA participating in Simon’s Town’s Spring Regatta in
South Africa in September 2011.My crew of 3 and I sailed the J/105 from Cape Town round Cape Point (my first rounding) in very pleasant weather (thank goodness) a few days before the regatta. First J/105 rounding the notorious Cape of Storms? I certainly think so!
We competed in a return race from Simon’s Town to Cape Town after the Spring Regatta and completed the course in 6 hours 16 min beating into a mild South-easterly to the Point and enjoying a marvelous run all the way to Cape Tow-- broaching spectacularly under masthead A2 on the finish line as the South-easterly wind crept up to 35 kts! We finished 4th on club handicap behind the J/133 (1st) an Archambault 35 (2nd) and a Beneteau 44.7 (3rd) beating a Simonis 42, Farr 40, Lavranos 52 and some others.
Coming
up on February 24-25 is the annual downwind dash from Cape Town to the
huge, wildly luxurious Mykonos resort in Langebaan Lagoon some 60nm
north of Cape Town. Last year’s race attracted over 100 entries! It's
fun! Pictured here is how they start to promote the regatta, my oh my!Keep up to date with the event and the Royal Cape Yacht Club sailing scene at http://www.rcyc.co.za. Please note, our resident photographer Trevor Wilkins has a sailing photo collection here.
Regards from Sunny South Africa! Dwayne"
