ANNUAL REGATTA, 14-15th February, 2002

1
ANNUAL REGATTA, 14-15th February, 2002
The PDORC Annual Regatta, sailed over the weekend
of 14-15th February, 2002, was a very successful
event, with sunny skies and excellent sailing
conditions. It was a lot of fun for all
participants, both on the water and on the
beach. Many thanks to Esther Nielen and Anja
Eulderink for organising the various children's
games and competitions, to Gert-Jan Rook for the
children's sailing, to Tony van Thiel for putting
on extra Laser races, and to Pim Braun for
setting up the keenly contested volleyball
competition activities which make the weekend a
true family event. Thanks, too, to the band
'Still Thinking About It', which kept the party
on the beach going late into Thursday
evening. There were 11 teams, involving more
than 100 sailors, competing in the main event to
see who could sail the most laps of the course
during a total of 14 hours on the water. A
visiting team from the Air Force enjoyed
competing in the regatta for the first time and
we were pleased to see the Castaways, ex SAF Club
and now from the CARC near Seeb, again. Winds
varied from light at the start of each day to
around 15-18 knots (gusting 20) in the
afternoons so there was something to challenge
sailors of all standards. Several capsizes added
to the excitement and 2 demastings of the old
Prindles due to equipment failure gave some
headaches to the Dayaks and the Sharkies. Much
time and effort had gone into maintenance during
the weeks before the event, to ensure that the
boats were as well prepared as possible, but
still a lot of rivets had popped out of the aged
Prindles by the end of the regatta. It is
unlikely they will last many more strong-wind
races and some replacement boats are a top
priority for the Sailing Section so that regattas
can continue to be held.
Green Machine winning Cat Team
Out of the multihull teams, the leaders on the
first day were Exploration, Green Machine and
Norske Cruising Line 1. On the second day the
Dayaks made a come-back and there was a very
close race for first position between the Dayaks,
Green Machine and Exploration. Only one minute
separated the boats at the end of the six hour
Sunday race. Unfortunately for the Explorers they
did not interpret the local racing rules
correctly and were penalised one lap and dropped
to third place, with the Dayaks second, and first
place was awarded to the Green Machine. The
'Fastest lap' was achieved by Exploration, as
well as the longest time with their Hobie mast in
the water! Two Laser 2000 monohull teams also
competed on the same course as the multihulls
Dunkley's Dunkers and the Castaways. Monohull
sailing has taken on a new level of excitement
with the introduction of the Laser 2000. These
boats carry a genneker on a long bow sprit giving
a large sail area for some downwind speed
sailing. The racing was always going to be close
with all the sailors coming from the high
performance Laser class. Indeed, during the
lighter morning sessions the racing was tightly
contested, but in the fresher breezes of the
afternoons the 'Dunkers team managed to pull
away, surfing the waves downwind. To win this
type of marathon race requires a steady strategy
with as few capsizes as possible. Both teams
managed to go swimming in the heavy winds but
quick recoveries allowed one team to gain some
time on the other. Eventually Dunkley's Dunkers
emerged not only as the winner of the monohull
class but also managed to secure the overall
regatta top place on handicap, demonstrating that
monohull sailing is still very competitive even
in the stronger winter winds encountered this
weekend.
The Lasser 2000s in close competition
2
Other awards Best-dressed team must go to the
Dayaks for their matching tee-shirts, trousers
and make-up. Laziest team probably goes to
Exploration for having outside assistance in the
construction of their sun-shade!
Most-intimidating mascot is awarded to the
Sharkies. as well as best hats! NCL were the
most sophisticated (and latest) diners and had
the best decorated mainsail and Giants had the
biggest support group. As for the Wild Cats,
well, they won the volleyball!! Everyone had a
great weekend. All the sailors would like to
thank Brian Hooper for being our OOD, Martin and
Jamal for boat preparation and rescue services
and sponsors of the event Halliburton, Galfar
Engineering, Tam International, Dentag, ATE, STS,
Bahwan Engineering and Schlumberger. Finally,
thanks to Jan Brakel and all the Regatta
Committee members for overall organisation and to
our traditional 'guest of honour', Abdulla Lamki,
for presenting the prizes.
Sandcastle Competition

• Final Results
• Fastest Lap Monohull
• Position Team Time
• Dunkleys Dunkers 265800
• Castaways 283500
• Fastest Lap Multihull
• Position Team Corrected Time
• Exploration 172800
• NCL 1 192600
• Green Machine 193800
• Sharky 195600
• Giants 201900
• Wild Cats 203300
• Dayaks 211900
• NCL 2 215700
• Air Force 263400
• Overall Results Monohulls

Leading Cats round the buoy
Rigging up for the Childrens Race
Best Sail!
3
REGATTA WEEKEND EVENTS Childrens Sailing This
popular event saw a turn-out of 33 children who
competed in two-man teams in three races. The
first race was sailed by the hardcore sailors in
the 11-12 age group and the second race sailed by
younger children and less experienced sailors.
The top sailors from both groups then battled it
out in a third race with pretty strong winds. All
three races saw excellent wind and some very good
sailing as well as some spectacular
capsizes. The prize for most noise on the water
must go to Tashi and Elizabeth after their
capsize in high seas. Although a number of
sailors were still working out the difficult
concept of not sailing straight into the wind,
there are quite a few teams who now understand
the technique of tacking. Some top tricks from
the international sailing scene were skilfully
(although unknowingly) displayed by the young
sailors. The event also mirrored the excitement
and frustration seen in the adult race, when one
of the sailors jumped overboard and swam to the
beach in frustration after narrowly missing the
mark. These kids will go far in PDO regatta
sailing! Winners Older group 1st Bas Braun and
Michiel v/d Bas 2nd Bas de Best and Tamara
Pieters 3rd Nick v/d Hoeven and Jaap v/d
Jagt 4th Sabine Peters and Daan Tettero Younger
group 1st Luuk Brakel and Reimer Kok 2nd Jorden
Schotman and Reinier Pieters Thanks to Martin
who made sure that all 10 Toppers were available
for this event.
The Volleyball We started off with 2 pools of 3
teams each 1. Wild Cats / Sharkies / Giants 2.
MIX / Dayaks / Exploration On Thursday we
started off with the pool games to establish the
number 1 and 2 teams in each group. After all the
games were played under testing conditions of
strong wind and against the setting sun, the
clear pool winners were 1. Wild Cats /
Sharkies 2. MIX / Exploration On Friday, two
semi-finals were played. The first game, MIX vs
Sharkies, was without doubt the highlight of the
tournament. A very close game, but the team which
kept their nerves under control and executed more
solid tactical manoeuvres came out as winner the
Sharkies. The second semi-final, Wild Cats vs
Exploration, was a clean sweep by the Wild Cats.
At the start of the second set Exploration was
ahead with eight points, but mental and physical
strain took hold and Wild Cats swept to
victory. In the final, Wild Cats vs Sharkies, it
became obvious that the semi-final had taken its
toll on the Sharkies. The physical and mental
condition required to win wasn't available
anymore. The Sharkies were no match for that well
prepared, well-oiled machine called the Wild
Cats. For the 6th year in a row we have the Wild
Cats as the 2002 Regatta Beach Volleyball
Champions. Well done. The ANNUAL REGATTA - a
weekend of family fun - next year, come and join
in!