This past weekend saw the return of the Port Owen River Race for sailing dinghies. Thirty-two boats from a number of clubs around the Western Cape participated and fortunately, the weather cooperated beautifully.
After a short delay on Saturday morning, the wind “kicked in” and we were able to hold two races for the day.
The first race was the traditional and much-anticipated race out to sea through the harbor mouth and the competitors had their skill challenged by a strong incoming tide which made the exit tricky. Once out to sea the “fun” started and the Hobie catamarans and larger dinghies sprinted off to complete 3 legs of an offshore course before returning to finish off at the holding jetty.
The second race was a “long” river race from the holding jetty up to a mark off the Carinus bridge, then down to mark just inside the harbor mouth and back to the finish at the holding jetty. Plenty of excitement in this race with capsizes aplenty and some spectacular photo opportunities. The final race of the weekend was a “shorter” river race on Sunday morning in blazing heat and light winds.
Prize giving was great fun with much ribald comment regarding the various winners (and losers). A huge thank you to all the competitors for joining us and also a sincere and heartfelt thank you to all those POYC members who gave generously of their time and energy to make the event such a success. Club management, the catering team, bar team, rescue boat crews, bridge crew, maintenance team and others too numerous to mention by name all deserve a massive vote of thanks.
We look forward to hosting the event again next year and to an even larger entry as all participants appear to have had a great weekend of Port Owen hospitality.