Tuesday 23 September 2014

Farewell Reaction

After 6 years of sailing Reaction it is time to say “Goodbye, may you fare well Reaction!”
When her owner, Marthinus Groenewald, bought her 6 years ago, we had been sailing on a 40 ft van der Stadt cruiser. We all laughed at him asking. “What must we do with this small boat”. Little did we know that she will give us tremendous pleasure in the years to come. We sailed her in all imaginable conditions the Cape of Storms could throw at us. From calm windless conditions and flat seas to howling gale force South Easters and stormy North Westerly winds with huge seas. Under all these conditions she proudly presented herself as a sturdy and seaworthy boat comforting and protecting her crew (although not always very comfortable as a result of her small size).
During the last 6 years her crew raced her into victory a number of times. She came first on handicap in her class in the 2009/2010 Twilight Series at the RCYC and for three consecutive years (2010-2012) she won the Cape Town to Mykonos Offshore Regatta in her class. To crown it all, in January 2013 she won the 2012 Governor’s Cup race to St Helena Island.
But time has come to let her go! Marthinus and his crew are now advancing into the well known L34 yacht class racing on Ebb Tide. We will now be sailing in a more competitive class; however, I am sure that we will not experience the same exhilaration we got from Reaction while sailing on spinnaker in 25+ kn of wind surfing down a swell with a boat speed of 20 kn. 

Farewell Reaction!

No comments:

Post a Comment