Good morning,

This is just a quick heads-up for the remainder of the year.

·         KZN Provincial Championships. Your KZN representative Luke Wagner is busy with the NOR for the KZN champ’s scheduled for the weekend 24-25 September 2022. The NOR will be posted on the Hunterclass.com website ASAP.

·         SAS 75th celebration event (16-18 December 2022). At the AGM this year we voted to support this event as best we can. As many of our sailors will be supporting the main event on the Vaaldam in other classes, we have decided to hold the Hunter event at HBYC in the Western Cape. There are well over 30 boats in Houtbay now and it was also voted at the AGM to support Hunter sailing in Houtbay. This kills two birds with one stone. The Houtbay guys are busy with the organization already. The NOR will be published on the website next week. We are hoping for several boats to be made

available for charter at this event. I am most certainly going to enter my boat. They are planning a 6–7-mile Southeast beam reach from Kommertjie back to Houtbay on one of the days. CAN’T WAIT!

·         Nationals 2023 (18-21 March 2023). To be held at Deneysville Aquatic Club).

The NOR has been completed and submitted to SAS for ratification. After the unbelievably well-run Nationals hosted by WYAC for 2022 event, the committee and DAC has its hands full matching that effort. But try we will.

There is a strong possibility of 20 travelling boats making there way to DAC for this event. Now. The job at hand is to wake the keelboat behemoth that is the Vaal dam. Work on this endeavour has already begun. Once the NOR, SI and entry instructions are published, I will be pushing for early entries. We did this for the 2022 Nationals with great success.

Cheers James

Beyond the weather gods we were all part of a very special regatta. I said at the start of the Mpumalanga Provincials two weeks prior to the Nationals that there was something brewing in the Hunter Class. That weekend we had 42 boats out and about in the country. The national’s had 28 entries from 8 different clubs around the country. What made this a truly astonishing regatta was that we didn’t have people entering to make up numbers. All 28 boats essentially started and finished all the races (excluding discards). Even better, the number of families on the water. A quick perusal of the score sheet shows half the fleet to consist of family teams. Two of which were in the medals.

As for the racing itself, it was competitive. There were first places strewn across the score sheet. In the end, as it always does, it comes down to the consistency factor. If you were there or there abouts throughout the regatta you were on the podium. John and Calis Bruckmann never won a race but came third to prove the point. And then there was the battle between the top two. In the end Herbert and Warren Karolius were too good for Luke Wagner and Craig Millar. Both Herbert and Luke are multiple National’s winners. This year Herbert seemed to always be in the right place all the time. One competitor described him as a cunning fox. I describe his ability as class and his previous record proves the point.

Then there was the rest of us. I must say this fleet is getting better every year now. More and more we are starting to see finishers up to places 15 and 16 starting to influence the podium. This bodes well for the future of the class. Having chatted to the top guys in the fleet; they’re super chuffed with the improved level of boat speed in the fleet. The one criticism however is the fleets general knowledge of the rules. There are too many incidents that are; and for lack of a better phrase; not being prosecuted. The committee will be looking into finding a solution to this problem this year.

John Whitmore in his 1980’s book, The Winning Mind (part of the Sail to Win Series) pointed out that the most intellectually demanding sporting event behind Formula One racing was the America’s Cup. The difference of course being the speed differentials. I don’t think it would be unfair to extrapolate that sailboat racing is cognitively extremely demanding. It’s the sheer volume of interacting and competing variables at play. The reason I make this point is to encourage those at the back of the fleet to keep at it. You might not be winning but the effort to simply get around the course is an achievement. The difference between those at the back and those at the front is not intellect. It’s experience and talent to read the circumstances better and react to them faster. Even if you are a point-to-point cruising type, the experience of being forced to sail a boat on all points of sail under pressure is invaluable. In fact, I would argue that one learns more racing a Hunter in one race at our national’s than reaching your boat from one side of the dam or bay to the other fifty-two Sundays in a year. So therefore, I don my cap to all of those of you who might not be in the winner’s circle but started and finished every race. I promise you, you are a much better yachtsmen for it.

In conclusion. What an incredibly well-run regatta. My sincere gratitude to everybody involved. Deneysville Aquatic Club has been voted to host the Hunter Nationals 2023. Witbank thought they were good. Watch this space folks.

They were posed with the following question:

“You are presented with a Hunter 19. Hull, complete with keel, rudder with tiller, tiller extension, standing rigging, main sail, genoa and the necessary sheets (including main track & genoa track).

What’s the first control that you add and why?”

Here’s the answers:

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Paul Changuion

I think it would have to be the adjustable backstay

This is the first gear we change in and out of pressure.

Off – Lighter Breeze, higher pointing and more power.  This does also increase your leech tensions.

Medium – , better speed and more balance but watch your pointing and jib sheeting angle

Hard – 12 plus knots, depower sail, drive off the jib

Some people will also argue that in very light breeze better to have the backstay on hard to help create leech twist and better flow over the sail.

Luke Wagner

I have thought about this quite a lot.

I would add a good backstay control

…..allowing the forestay to be “eased” when the breeze drops. I initially thought that I would add a headsail cunningham, and came to the conclusion that the backstay control will have similar effect with the added bonus of allowing forestay sag.

So yes, a good backstay adjustment.

Herbert Karolius

1. Back Stay tensioner.
2. Vang
3. Genoa Cunningham.

Without them you are going nowhere.

John Bruckmann

A drinks holder at the stern

On a serious note a Genoa Cunningham I would think

Tony Cockerill

I am not sure you would call it a control but I would check mast position

……as this appears to be critical in making your boat go .Especially Europa’s as the early rules had mast position measured from the forestay which in the Europa’s left the mast too far back and plenty of weather helm..

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The carnage of our times will only prevail if we let it. 

To all of us that love our sport, this is a call to action.

Now more than ever we need to support our clubs, our classes and their events. I’ve had the privilege over the years to have visited most of our yacht clubs around the country. In general they are spectacularly wonderful places. This is a reminder of how beautiful these place are and right now they are going to need our support more than ever. Other than your fees, feet through the gates will protect these institutions.

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As Hunter sailors we sail in the small keel boat sector. In years gone by one of the most important events in this sector was Keel Boat Week held at Deneysville Aquatic Club. The event is 24-27 September this year. I believe it is vital that we as yachtsman in this sector support this event to kickstart sailing. This is why the Hunter committee has decided to host our 2020 Nationals in conjunction with Keel Boat Week. If you own a Hunter please come.

If we do this. Maybe, just maybe we come out of this thing better off than we went into it. Afterall, don’t we all want to come out of the tack faster than when we went into it?

Cheers,

James King

Chairman Hunter Class Association

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We had 16 boats this year, up 4 from last year. One boat from Cape Town, two boats from Midmar Dam and  two from the Vaal Dam. There were eleven local entries.

This regatta saw  action both on and off the water. So lets start with the off the water matters:

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1. Paul Changuion and Tim Duguid from HMYC decided to take a chance and tow there boat up from Midmar without checking there trailer bearings before leaving. That proved to be an expensive mistake. A mistake that went along way in improving the GDP of the Harrismith Automotive industry. 

2. I no longer only consider John Brookman a good yachtsman but also something of a master yacht builder/restorer. It took him seven years to strip and re-build Hunter 2004, “Guess Who”. It truly is a masterpiece.

3. Don’t mess with mother nature.  On the evening of the 21st we all found ourselves in the middle of a static storm of frightening proportions. The unlucky recipient of one of the strikes was Pierre Van Rensburg’s boat “Spotty”.  What happens is that the lightening strikes the top of the mast and the current exits the boat in three of four places (almost like bullet holes) just above the water line. Its a slow poison. Pierre and Andrew Edwards didn’t realize they were sinking the next morning until it was almost to late. Thankfully they did manage to get the boat back on the trailer.

4. The Fines evenings were great fun. In the Hunter fleet ordinary seamanship never goes unnoticed.

5. The WEWA sponsored Final dinner after prize giving was a grand affair. The galley staff at WYAC have taken yacht club grub to another level.

6. If I may, I’d like to congratulate Barry Ogilvie and myself. We ran the fastest AGM in Hunter Class history……..now, if only we could sail our boats that fast.

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The on water activity.

For me this was a regatta that showed why those who spend more time sailing will always be closer to the front of the fleet. Even though you could go from first to last and last to first on one leg in the tricky conditions the top boats always found away to end the race at the front of the fleet.

The results show that the fleet could be divided into the following battles:

1. Guess Who vs Essex Girl
2. Odins Eye vs Copadaph
3. Donnatella
4. Sylphide vs Kingship vs Assegaai vs Eventide vs Bounty vs Spotty (when they were afloat)
5. Haysons vs Rags
6. Carpertbagger vs Blue Dubery vs Countdown

The sailing was intense. The difference between 1st and 2nd was 1 point. The same between 3rd and 4th. 6 points was the difference between 6th and 10th. 2 point between 11th and 12th and 10 or so points between 13th and 16th.

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Although much could be said about those at the front of the fleet. I’d like to take some time and comment on what is happening in the middle and the back of the fleet. For the first time in a number of years I got the sense that the standard is starting to improve dramatically. In particular the boats from WYAC are making a much bigger impact. Crews like Steve and Devon Mathews, Pikkie and Zenobia Smit are starting to find themselves at the front of the fleet at times during some of the races. In years gone by this never really happened. Clearly they are spending time on the water and it’s showing on the race course and score board. More importantly the two Witbank boats at the back of the fleet need mention. Corienne and Chloe started and finished every single race of the regatta. To the two of you; well done. It was not lost on any of us watching you finish your races how your boat handling improved as the regatta progressed. Chris Petzold and Dion Slabbert also started and finished every race. By the end of the regatta it was noticeable that they were starting to challenge the boats in front of them sometimes even passing them. It’s these kinds of performances that drive classes like ours.

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I’d also like to make special mention of our guests. John and Brendon Latilla joined us from the Trailer Sailor Club of Queensland in Australia. It’s almost a decade ago that they were at one of our Nationals. It was really great to see them again. It was also great to see Mike Hayton around. Its a hell of jump for him come and sail a Hunter after spending the last few seasons sailing his super fast Nitro and Cape 31 in Cape Town. These are boats that probably don’t sail at less than 10 knots which provided the impetus for the chirp of the regatta “I don’t think I’ve worked that hard to go 3 knots in my life” (Mike Hayton). Mike had Stefano Marcia of Laser fame sailing with him. It was really cool to have somebody of Stefano’s skill in our fleet. Although they didn’t win the regatta, we could all see that they’d be there or there abouts should they give it another go at next years Nationals.

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Finally, a quick note of thanks to the organising committee and staff at WYAC. It was a superbly run event. Many thanks to Trevor Hulleman, Ron Gurnell and their bridge crew for running an excellent 12 races. Next year our Nationals will be at the Vaal Dam. Barry, Jessica, Pierre and myself will start making the necessary arrangements. We will keep you posted on the website and the whatsapp group.

Later….

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The story of the regatta was the re-introduction of Luke and Stephen Wagner. They’ve been missing from the fleet for 3 years now and he’s come back with a bog standard Hunter Europa and simply wiped the floor. To be honest it was quite staggering to watch. He was up against 3 boats boasting multiple national champions not to mention the Funke lads from 505 fame and Craig Millar who’s no slouch at the end of the tiller. Phew, all I can say is thank you Luke. Europa owners are back in the loop thanks to you guys. By all accounts the last person to come close to achieving this feat was Chris Frost and that was 24 years ago! It does beg the question whether Frosty could do it again. Naaa I don’t think so. He’s too old now!

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Many of you are aware that there has been much angst in the class during the course of this decade on matters surrounding the rules. These matters have been put to rest now and the camaraderie at these Nationals was palatable to the extent that we will no doubt have Hunter sailors who left the class return.

By the way, I’m your chairman for 2018/19. It happened like this:

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Paul Changuion gave me two quick Tequila’s. Then we had an AGM. Then I was Chairman.

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On a serious note it’s a privilege to do this job. I’ve done it before in the 90’s and hopefully I’ll be able to make a contribution. To CJ who’s gone before me; thanks. You’ve kept this class going through some rough times and managed to steer us out the other side. I now get to build on what you’ve done before me.

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There are a number of issues that your new committee will be tackling. I will endeavor to keep you posted as we go along. However the first priority is the KZN champs. They’re coming up in September. 22-24 to be exact. It’s a long weekend. HMYC are already busy with the notice of regatta. If you are looking for some great sailing do yourself a favour and come to this regatta. I’ve left my boat at HMYC and will be flying in for the regatta. The last time I sailed on Midmar was probably in the early 90’s. I’d forgotten how spectacular the Midlands are. The dam is full with these beautiful green rolling hills surrounding the dam. To top it off the breeze is perfect.