(Capetown, South Africa)- While those north of the Equator are still
fighting old Mother Winter, the intrepid sailors of Capetown are having a
ball sailing in balmy breezes and slightly "cool" waters-- the stuff
Great White Sharks love to swim in chasing yummy brown seals! Yikes!
Even though the infamous Shark Island is just offshore with various
Great Whites leaping 10-15 ft into the air while vying for their "aerial
shark world chumping-ship", the sailors are blissfully ignorant about
it and go their separate ways, planing down massively long slopes of
fast-moving South Atlantic storm swells at a zillion miles per hour! 
Having great fun in the Royal Cape YC's Mid-Summer Fling Regatta was the
new J/111 TENACITY sailed by Erol Stern and Rob Meek. With their
magnificent "purple people eater" asymmetric spinnaker straining hard at
the end of its dyneema "leash", the TENACITY gang certainly had their
fair share of full-on screaming planes down the huge swells in the high
teens! In the end, their team managed to pull off a third overall in
IRC Division I! A bit off the pace but having just as much fun was the
J/105 PANTS ON FIRE sailed by Dwayne Assis and Paul Thompson, managed a
third in the final and extremely windy last race-- gusts over 30 kts!! In Division I Racing, the J/27 HILl BILLY sailed by Peter Hill sailed well to finish 6th in their grouping, loving in particular the last heavy air day. In Division II, the J/22 ESCAPE RACING TEAM sailed by Rob Tanner also enjoyed their racing over the course of the series.
If you're ever down in the South African region, be sure to stop by the
Royal Cape YC in the shadows of the enchanting Table Mountain. The Club
hosts important sailing events including South Africa's premier
keelboat regattas. The Cape to Rio and South Atlantic Races have been
hosted by Royal Cape Yacht Club since inception in 1971. Other
international events have included the Whitbread Race, the BT Global
Challenge, The BOC Around Alone Race, the Volvo Ocean Race and the Hong
Kong Challenge, to name but a few. Down the centuries, the Southern tip
of the African continent, has extended a welcome to seafarers, gaining
for the city and the RCYC the soubriquet- "The Tavern of the Seas"!! Sailing Photo Credits- Onne Vanderal.com. For more Capetown Mid-Summer Fling sailing information
