South African Nationals 2013
27 June 2013
The Fireball Nationals 2013 were held at Milnerton Aquatic Club from the 14 to 17 June 2013 .
Milnerton Aquatic Club's Website: www.milnertonaquaticclub.co.za
Eleven entries were received from as far as Pretoria, but many came from George Lakes Yacht Club in Wilderness.
Day one started off with a very light north westerly and Race Officer Shireen Smith postponed racing until the wind picked up. Around 1pm the wind came through and racing kicked off. The first race was a sausage course, 2 rounds, and the wind was light and switchy and local knowledge paid off. David Laing stamped his authority early followed by local Jason Gray and then Ryan Avery. In second race the wind picked up to a decent 10 knots and racing was on! Jason Gray won the race with some impressive sailing on a very old narrow fireball, followed by Malcolm Osborne from George Lakes and then Ryan Avery. In third race David Laing staged a come back taking the win with Ryan Avery in second and Jason Gray in third. In the fourth race the wind switched to the south and the race was abandoned. At the end of day one, Jason Gray & Sean Mackay were leading.
That evening the folk enjoyed Abby's fine food & held the SA Fireball AGM, which resulted in the following people being nominated: Dr. David Laing was elected chairman, Angela Gray secretary. Anthony Parker re-elected Treasurer. Ryan Avery is Western Cape representative, Malcolm Osborne is Southern Cape representative. Mike Medcalf is Border representative. It was decided to hold the 2014 Nationals at Vogelvlei Yacht Club (Western Cape - near Tulbagh/Malmesbury area) around May next year.
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On day two the wind was perfect, a nice 15 knots from the South. Racing kicked off at 10h30 am and four races were held in the morning. David Laing secured 2 bullets and 2 second places putting him well in front. Ryan Avery was close behind and JJ Proveyeur had some good races bringing him up to 4th place at lunchtime. At this time the rakings were David Laing, Ryan Avery and then Jason Gray.
After a well deserved lunch racing resumed with wind picking up to around 20 knots. JJ Proveyeur showed his experience in the strong stuff and got two bullets, followed by David Laing, Ryan Avery and Jason Gray. Some amazing sailing was sailed in the afternoon with gusts up to 25 knots and some spectacular gybes just off the shoreline at MAC with the spectators holding their breath as each boat performed their gybes.
The Fireball Class association arranged a "Get together Braai (South African Barbeque) on Sunday evening & a Mini Garmin Prize Giving was held.
On the final day the wind was a light 5 knot easterly and Race Officer Shireen Smith toured the vlei to check the wind and returned and advised the sailors that racing would commence at 11am. It turned out to be a good call as the wind picked up to around 10 knots (from the south again) and three back to back races were sailed. These proved to be the closest races of the entire nationals, and at one point 90% of the fleet rounded the top mark at the same time. David Laing secured his title with three 1st places, with the 505 sailors Dietmar and Ferdinand Hold securing three 2nd places.
Prize giving was held after lunch and MAC Commodore Ross Cowing opened the proceedings. Ryan Avery and Janine Mare handled the prize giving with aplomb. Many were thrilled to receive bottles of wine from JJ Proveyeur's Cellar.
First place was awarded to David Laing and Mark Dee (George Lakes Yacht Club), 2nd place to Ryan Avery and Janine Mare (Milnerton Aquatic Club) with 3rd place tied between JJ Proveyeur (Royal Cape Yacht Club) and his crew Sean Vans Rensburg (MAC) and Jason Gray and his crew Sean Mackay (Milnerton Aquatic Club).
Full results: www.sailrsa.org.za
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| New National Champions - Mark Dee & David Laing | Ryan Avery & Janine Mare - 2nd Place | Sean van Rensburg & JJ Provoyeur - 3rd Place |
Everyone said what a great Nationals it was & we were all thankful for the wonderful sunny weather, since we had not seen sunshine for many weeks before that.
Rock on 2014 SA Nationals at Vogelvlei Yacht Club next year around May….For anyone interested to find out more about this venue, please go to the following Vogelvlei Yacht Club link: http://www.vyc.co.za/
