Fun aplenty at September regatta

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SAILING NEWS - The 2023 September Hobie Fun Regatta was held with much fanfare by Knysna Yacht Club last weekend, with 45 sailors taking to the waters of the Knysna Estuary for a grand two days out.

The September Hobie Fun Regatta, while still a race and competition, is by and large an event where sailors get to enjoy themselves out on their boats without taking things too seriously.

This shone through last weekend, as everybody had lots of fun from the moment the visitors arrived on the shores of the Knysna Estuary. Sailors travelled from up and down the Southern and Eastern Cape to take part.

PHOTO GALLERY: 2023 September Hobie Fun Regatta

Caroline Hutchinson (right) and Callum Price hard at work on their hobie cat.

Weather conditions weren't as desirable as organisers would have liked, with barely a lick of wind on Saturday morning, but around midday the wind got up and they managed to run three races on Saturday afternoon. That was it for the first day, and competitors reconvened on Sunday morning for three more races to bring the total for the weekend to six well-contested races.

Competition was split into two different categories – the H16 fleet and the open fleet.

A total of 34 sailors and 17 boats took part in the H16 fleet while a total of 11 sailors and nine boats took part in the open fleet.

At the end of the two days of competition, it was the team of William and Lucinda Edwards that was victorious in the H16 fleet.

Blaine Dodds and Luca Lutolf came home in second place, with Richard Ayres and Lauren Pearce the third pairing over the line.

In the open fleet, Peter Swales was the top individual sailor, while Judith Herald finished second and John Ryall third. Tony and Grabby Gradwell were the first team to finish in the open fleet, with Ivan Beukes and Luki Bogenhofer the second team over the line and first in the Dart 18 class.

Colourful hobie sails dotted the estuary for the duration of the weekend.