Our task ahead was not going to be smooth sailing as we had finished the varnishing the insides of all the regatta boats, but we still needed to paint the outsides of the hulls so that they’d look good for the Cape Classic regatta hosted by Zeekoeivlei Yacht Club on the weekend coming.
Tuesday 6.09.22
This was the big event we had been planning ahead for since the Easter weekend regatta. So, it was all hands on deck, and even the Navy Sailing Centre staff pitched in to help. Keenan and Craig are always willing to see the community children grow as they live in the area also.
Wednesday 7.09.22
Eldred had to repair window frames of our sheds and offices as the baboons were on the loose again, hanging around the school from early in the morning waiting on a chance to help themselves to our bread and vegetables. We planned on having less sailing this week as this is a big event we will be attending on the weekend.
Thursday 8.9.22
This was the final day to get all the spray work done, our older students really make me feel proud, even coming back with me after I do the drop off of younger students, working till after 21.30 in the evening willing to go the extra mile on getting boats done in time. And this has been on more than a few occasions.
Friday 9.09.22
It was an earlier pick up at schools, so we could make up some time, and pulling off the masking tape and covering paper revealed the finish on the boats looks good and there are many proud looking youngsters, all this work done using basic tools and materials. All blocks and fitting were put back on, the MSC Izivungu branding was put on all the boats, and then the boats and equipment were loaded onto the trailer. We needed to get the boats to the club the evening before as it's a very big trailer to maneuver around when the other competitors are around. A big thanks to Marco Tobin who organized with Ameer to open the yacht clubs gate after hours. Marcello (an Izi oldie) arrived with his van at 18.00 hours and then he and Eldred were on thier way to Zeekoeivlei Yacht Club. Now that we’ve restored the Mirrors, we are going to start restoring the other boats (Lasers, Oppies, etc) so that we can get more students competing in the various regattas.
Saturday 10.09.22
Ocean View and Masiphumelele students slept over at my place as we needed to leave at 6 am to collect the transportation in Simonstown, then the mission was to Zeekoeivlei bright and early. After we arrived at the club students wasted no time offloading and rigging the 7 boats they would be sailing, a quick breakfast and after skippers briefing they were off to racing. Eldred and my families were also there and another one of our oldies, Athienkosi Vena, who is now coaching at Milnerton Aquatic Club, also gave us a hand at Zeekoeivlei, the support is amazing. The wind was very light and it was tricky conditions. The teams sailed exceptionally well showing better performances, Marlon Jones and Kayo Roberts won one of the races and Jordan Daniels and Alwam Ngqukye also did well in the 3 races sailed on this day.
Sunday 11.09.22
There was more wind on the day and 5 races were sailed. Marlon Jones and Kayo Roberts were in good position and ended up 3rd overall out of 11 boats, Izivungu sailors also took 4th, 5th and 6th positions. We very happy with the results which will only get better. We are now looking ahead to the Spring regatta that will be hosted by False Bay Yacht Club next weekend the 17th and 18th and the following weekend. This would be the first time our students will be sailing on the keel boat MSC Donna Mia in a competition for a few years, so lots of busy days ahead to get the boat into racing condition. Izivungu has been donated almost new sails and we purchased top quality halyards from Southern Ropes who kindly offered us a huge discount, some 70%. The plan is to put a team of 3 older students and 4 younger students on the boat, and then some of our older students and past students will also be competing on other boats.