Land n Sand Jan / Feb 2014 | Page 5

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