Being on a yacht in a very confined space, you need to get
on well with your fellow crew. You need to be a team
player, says John Levin, owner and skipper
of INDABA, ex-Commodore of the Royal
Cape Yacht Club (RCYC) and corporate lawyer.
He decided to return after one of his crew
members, Jan Peyper, fell inside the yacht breaking
three of his ribs. The only damage to the yacht was a
broken slat from the book shelf because of Jan’s fall.
It would have been too big a risk to take to carry on with only three
crew members and Jan’s recovery would have taken over two weeks.
Impressively, this crew of four sailors are all in their sixties
and seventies!
For Dave Clement, owner and skipper of AVOCET, this was
his longest trip. It lasted for two and a half days.
They sailed in winds of 50 to 60 knots and waves
between four to six meters high
under a reefed main and small jib.
Early on the Sunday evening the mainsail was
ripped in the process of taking it down and
it was decided that to continue without a
mainsail would be pointless. AVOCET
returned to Cape Town.
Skipper of AVANTI, Dr Klaus
Wiswedel from Hout Bay,
thought the wind speed
would be between
25 and 35 knots at the
start of the race,
Text: Tania Bester
which would
Text consultant: Xavier Nagel
Photos: Brandon Comer-Crook
have been fine
for sailing.
Photos of MASERATI, BLACK CAT and DoDo
have been used with RCYC’s permission.
INDABA