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Mauritius to Durban race set for 2010

Brad Morgan

7 July 2009

Durban could soon have a second annual long-distance sailing event on its calendar – to join the Vasco da Gama race – with the Royal Natal Yacht Club and Point Yacht Clubteaming up in a bid to re-establish the tough Mauritius to Durban race on a regular basis.

The last edition of the Mauritius to Durban race was held in 2005, and before that it took place in 1994. The next edition of the 1&nbps;690 nautical mile race is scheduled for September 2010.

'A classically tough race'

"We intend to revive this race and make it a regular feature on the South African sailing calendar," said Chris Frost, commodore of the Royal Natal Yacht Club (RNYC). "It's a classically tough race which needs to regain the momentum it had in the '80s."

Campbell Alexander, commodore of the Point Yacht Club (PYC), said: "It is great to see that PYC and RNYC will jointly host this intrepid Ocean race. Harmony between the clubs is so important when preparing and planning for this race."

The clubs have appointed Richard Crockett as chairman of the organising committee, and Jimmy Melville as the race officer.

"A lot needs to be done," said Alexander, "and I wish Richard Crockett and his organising committee all the best for the event. He and his committee have the full support of PYC."

Grand Baie Yacht Club

The event, on the Mauritius side of things, will be hosted by the Grand Baie Yacht Club, which provides an idyllic setting, with palms on the water's edge and an inviting open verandah looking out onto the ocean.

"It is with great pleasure that I can confirm that the Grand Baie Yacht Club will be happy to host this proposed Mauritius to Durban yacht race," said Philippe Lenoir, commodore of the Grand Baie Yacht Club (GBYC).

"All the GBYC sailing community is eagerly awaiting this event. We have a fantastic setting here and I am sure all the crew members, their friends and families will enjoy our famous Mauritian hospitality," Lenoir added.

The man tasked with putting the race together, Richard Crockett, commented: "There is a lot of interest for the race from around the country, but before we turn this interest into entries there is a lot of work the organising committee and members of both clubs have to do."

If anyone has the enthusiasm and expertise to make it work, Crockett is the man. He is the publisher and editor of Sailing Magazine, and is the man behind a number of sailing websites, links to which can be found to the right of this article.

Tragedy

Sadly for many people, their enduring memory of the Mauritius to Durban race will be of the tragedy that befell it on 16 September 2005, when the yacht Moquini disappeared. It was a story that filled newspapers around the country.

Communications with Moquini were lost shortly after a very brief signal from her emergency position indicating radio beacon was received.

Despite extensive searches all attempts to find her failed. Then, astonishingly, she was found five months later, on 5 February 2006, floating upside down, 500 nautical miles off South Africa's Eastern Cape Wild Coast.

A report made a year after the loss of the Moquini found that the yacht had lost her keel, although no specific cause could be found to explain how it had happened. It was further found, by the Durban Institute of Technology (DIT), that workmanship on the keel was "appallingly substandard". The DIT expressed the opinion that a small crack, which could have opened during the race, was the likely cause of the broken keel.

Six crew members were lost in the incident, and no traces of them were ever found.

Rich sailing history

South Africa, however, has a rich and far happier sailing history, and has produced some wonderful sailors and events.

Bruce Dalling was the handicap winner of the 1968 Transatlantic Single-Handed Yacht Race sailed between Plymouth, England and Newport, Rhode Island, while sailing the legendary yacht Voortrekker.

His success turned him into a national hero and sparked massive interest in sailing in South Africa.

Bertie Reed later became synonymous with Voortrekker. He was the first South African to complete a solo circumnavigation of the world, and became one of an elite group of sailors to do it three times.

One of the enduring memories of Reed came when he prevented a tragedy in the 1990/91 BOC Challenge, a solo around-the-world race. He rescued fellow South African yachtsman John Martin, whose yacht had sunk after striking a submerged iceberg. Reed was subsequently awarded the Wolraad Woltemade Decoration – South Africa's highest civilian award at the time – for bravery.

As a competitor, he sailed over 170 000 miles. He complered over 100 000 of those miles single-handed.

The South Atlantic Yacht Race

The South Atlantic Yacht Race, originally known as the Cape to Rio, also has a rich history. It has been sailed from Cape Town to various destinations in South America.

The event was first contested in 1971 and drew far more interest than the organisers had expected. They thought they would attract a fleet of between 10 and 15 entries, but 69 were received, including from Australia, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Mozambique, Mauritius and the United States. The record entry was 128 yachts in 1976.

The South Atlantic Yacht Race has been contested 12 times in total, the last time being in January of this year when the British super-maxi, ICAP Leopard, the holder of the Transatlantic record, and regarded by many as the fastest yacht in the world, won in a record time of 10 days, 45 minutes and 35 seconds; the rhumb line – the most direct route – between the start in Cape Town and the finish in Salvador, Uruguay is 3 300 nautical miles.

Shosholoza

In recent years, the South African America's Cup competitor Shosholoza has made waves in the world of sailing. She has also helped promote sailing as a sport for all by developing people from previously disadvantaged backgrounds into star competitors.

Despite facing teams with far greater financial resources, Shosholoza has flown the South African with pride and success in events all around the world. Included among the boats she has beaten in competition is Alinghi, the winner of the America's Cup in 2003 and 2007.

With her distinctive hull, inspired by Ndebele and Zulu beadwork, she has a can't-miss presence and is the current face of South African yachting.