Hobie News
HOBIE 14 NORTHERN REGION PROVINCIALS 2011
The Hobie 14 Provincials were held at LDYC on the Vaal Dam over the weekend of 15-16 October. There were 12 entries, with ages ranging from 12 year old Douglas White to Hobie veteran Julius Joubert who is 68 years old and still very crafty in the lighter winds! Well done to the three new comers to the fleet who had to learn how to tack a H14, which is no easy task! Dave Rickson, who sails a H18, showed some entertaining capsizing techniques!
Colin Norton, a H16 sailor and Geoff Teasdale took a step down from his 30 foot Trimaran calles Trilonium to racing a H14 for the first time; don’t get me wrong he was a brilliant H16 sailor in the early eighties. Kobus Van Huyssten made an appearance despite recovering from glandular fever. Saturday’s westerly wind created some awesome racing and good spectator value. The average wind speed was 10 knots gusting up to 25 knots at times. While the Hobies were battling it out on the race course a 26ft Dragonfly Trimaran managed to capsize while racing another event on Vaal.
Racing got under way around 12h30. Race 1 was very close between Charles Girard and Simon Bonarius up until the last lap when Charles, not realising it was the finish ,went on to sail an extra leg, still managed to scrounge an eighth place. Simon sailed straight for the finish getting a first with Rob Handley in second place. The guys who have mastered trapezing the H14 definitely dominated the upwind legs, but were no match for Julius Joubert and Geoff Teasdale, who seemed to pass everyone on the downwind legs.
Race 3 saw Simon Bonarius capsize on the last down wind leg. Amazingly Simon managed to right his boat without losing a position and win the race. Rudi Van Velzen, another up and coming youth, managed to win race 4, the last race of the day. Saturday evening’s results, with 4 races sailed and no discard were as follows: Simon Bonarius in first followed by Rudi Van Velzen; Rob Handley; Charles Girard and Geoff Teasdale.
Sunday saw some light shifty wind creating some tactical sailing. Simon Bonarius won the regatta convincingly by winning race 5 and 6 followed by Rudi, who won the last race, making it two bullets for the regatta. Charles sailed very consistently with three second places, allowing him to discard his eighth position from Saturday’s first race. This was not enough however to beat the two talented youth, putting Charles in third place. Youngster Douglas White finished the regatta on a high getting a third in the last race.
After the regatta Kobus very generously donated his 1982 model Hobie 14 to Michael Muller to promote youth sailing. Kobus is taking delivery of a brand new French Hobie 14 to take his sailing to the next level in the build up to the 2012 Nationals which will be held in Knysna from 17-19 Feb 2012.
The class is expecting 40 boats for this event with some stiff competition coming from Brad Stemmett who won the H14 Nationals and Western Cape Provincials, not to mention ex- world champions like Blaine Dodds and William Edwards and plenty other talented Hobie sailors.
If you want to take part in the Hobie 14 Nationals in Knysna next year contact Charles Girard at the Hobie shop as some of the yacht clubs and associations have boats available.