Tiger Nationals
Langebaan
16 -18 September 2011

Hobie Tiger Nationals, 16th - 18th Sep at Langebaan

The Hobie Tiger Nationals were held this past weekend 16th – 18th September at Langebaan, and as per usual, the Hobie Class organised an AWESOME event. There were 20 entries, an extremely competitive fleet and the weather and wind was just perfect! Fri and Sat were lovely sunny days with a SE wind, starting around 12 knots and building to around 18 by the end of the day, and the last day’s racing saw the fleet head out into a NW which built to 20 or so knots as the cold front came in. Needless to say, there were many capsizes!

 

Race Officer Doug Alison did an exemplary job on the bridge and ran 13 perfect races of a minimum of 40 or so minutes - three on the first afternoon and five on Sat and Sun. Awesome racing, but Hobie Tigers are not for sissies and there were 40 very exhausted sailors by the end of the regatta. The barf was empty and everyone was in bed by 21h30 on the last night… yes, believe it or not, at a Hobie regatta!!!!

Massive thanks must go to Louise du Plessis, Lilian Steyn and of course Brent Coetzee from Hobie Langebaan and Hobie SA for all their hard work, and for all the great sponsorships. Hobie Regattas are always incredible to attend – the input and hard work from the class is very special in the Hobie Family.

In the end, after three highly competitive days of sailing, Blaine and Peter Dodds beat Duncan Ross and James MacKay by one point to win a very highly contested Nationals. Huge congrats to all competitors – life must be seeming VERY slow today!