Forty-Nine years ago a yacht race from South Africa to South America began and was the Vice-Admiral Biermann of the South African Navy who suggested a continent to continent race and the South African Ocean Racing Trust took the idea forward and chose South America as the end port. At the start, Rio de Janeiro […]

In 1960 the first solo sailor to circumnavigate the world was a Brit, Francis Chichester. He had instigated and won the first single crossing of the Atlantic which he did in forty days. His yacht was the Gipsy Moth 11, and he completed the voyage in 40 days, sailing east to west, against winds and […]

Vasco da Gama set off in 1497 searching for a route, by sea, to the East. For thousands of years of products from China, India and other Eastern countries came to Europe by road – a long, challenging, and dangerous trek, by foot, by camel and by donkey. Fraught with hardship, many caravans never reached […]

In 1947, Thor Heyerdahl, a Norwegian, built a raft and set out to sail across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesians Islands. The barge, the Kon-Tiki was named after the Inca sun god. The purpose of the voyage was to prove his theory that the Polynesian Islands were populated prior the Columbus […]

Ferdinand Magellan, the Portuguese explorer and sailor, was one of the first to attempt to circumnavigate the world. Unfortunately, for him, this would not happen. After an epic journey across the Atlantic, through Cape Horn (the passage he took was to be named after him, Magellan Straits), and up through the ocean he called the […]

The earliest boats recorded, and their sails were made from animal hides and reeds (papyrus). The Egyptians improved the sail efficiency by being the first to use woven cloth. The first crude “boats” were rafts made from logs or reeds bound together. The Egyptians and their neighbours, the Phoenicians, started with these crude boats in […]

The first event was the idea of a group of New York businessmen who, in 1851, sailed the schooner America to England and beat all contestants in a race around the Isle of Wight for a prize of 10BP. In 1851 America beat Queen Victoria’s yacht to take the Cup. The famous reply came when […]

Yachting is a sport enjoyed by many people all over the world. Some Clubs were established many years ago, the oldest started in 1720! (Other old clubs have disputed this). This is the Royal Cork Yacht Club which is now situated at Crosshaven, County Cork, Ireland. Royal Cork Yacht Club Cork week is a large […]

Earlier this month the sailing world has suffered a sad loss through the death of Sara King, a young British eco-activist. The catamaran which she was on started taking in water in bad weather just off the east coast of South Africa when she drowned. A Research Expedition Gone Wrong In June, King left the […]

During June, it was time again for the sailing event considered to be the largest in the world. Kiel week turned a 125-years old this June and had about 4 000 participants descending onto the German city from about 60 countries. This is followed by a crowd of about 3 million spectators. A Bit of History […]