Gordon’s Bay Yacht Club (GBYC) and False Bay Yacht Club (FBYC) recently teamed up to host the False Bay Cruise. This was in support of the 75th anniversary of South African Sailing, the country’s governing body for sailing, yachting, kiteboarding, windsurfing and radio-controlled sailing.
The event was held in conjunction with a regional cruising event, the Western Cape Holiday 23 yacht class, which is currently the most popular sail-boat design in Gordon’s Bay.
GBYC saw 11 boats take part in the event, with nine making the full trip over to Simon’s Town for a two-night stay. A general celebratory sail from Simon’s Town to Muizenberg was held on Sunday 19 December, with 19 yachts from the two clubs taking part.
A number of well-known local yachts participated. Tim Beardmore skippered Synergy, a 40-ft (12,2 m) catamaran skippered fresh from cruising the Mozambique coast.
The vessel featured current Commodore of GBYC Jana Loubser as crew and ended up being the de facto “party boat” for the event.
Ex-commodore Richard Tough and his wife Annatjie sailed their recent purchase, the Caribbea 30 Plain Sailing, after parting ways with their race winning L26 Equation. Piet and Deidre Henning sailed their Carter 33 Pula, while the striking motor yacht Viking, a Targa 33, was piloted by Brad Roe.
Johan Richards and Judy Smit sailed their Peterson 33, Lameez, across the bay on their first cruise since purchasing the ocean-worthy monohull. Shifta, a Flamenca 25, also took part, under the watch of 2022 GBYC Most Improved Sailor Trophy winner Tony Reynolds.
Three boats sailed the 42 nautical-mile round-trip single-handed: Go Dutch, the 2022 GBYC Champion Yacht skippered by Nico van Wieringen; and Merryhull and Zia, two Holiday 23s skippered by Michel Roelon and this writer respectively.
Strong southerly and south-westerly winds prevailed, resulting in very fast times across False Bay. FBYC hosted their guests with braais, live music, and a festive viewing of the World Cup Final.
All participating sailors would like to thank NSRI Station 10 at Simon’s Town, who assisted with an engine failure in a 30 knot south-westerly blow at Roman Rock. GBYC would also like to thank FBYC for hosting the event, and especially their sailing manager, Paul Dennett, for assistance with administration and arranging overnight moorings.
GBYC will start the 2023 sailing calendar with an opening cruise in mid-January, followed by the first weekend of All Comers events. . For more on GBYC, contact manager Eleonore Bondesio on 021 856 3263 or at [email protected].
