About 2010
The Tanzacat 2010 Open Regatta was a great success thanks to our sponsors, especially our main sponsor Vodacom, and the selfless assistance from our volunteers such as Race Officers Roger Bebbington and Penny Bell and the “high tea ladies” - together we made it all happen.
Tanzacat is an “open” event held out of the Dar Yacht Club in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. All classes of cat are welcome with 2 fleets, spinnaker and non spinnaker. This year we had 51 cats with 102 sailors and their families and friends. 1 Dart, 2 Nacras, and a formidable showing from Hobiecat with 48 cats (29 Hobie 16s, 18 Hobie Tigers and 1 Hobie Wildcat).
The fleet was international. 18 brand new cats were sourced from Hobie France, with the financial and other unstinting assistance of Hobie South Africa, and were chartered by our visitors from Australia, Fiji, Kenya, Malawi, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore and the UK. 12 “fly and drive” cats came up from South Africa. And 21 cats were home grown Dar Yacht Club pedigree.
Tanzacat has been going since the late 1990’s but this year the event was split into 2 stages: the Bay Regatta over 4 days from 23 to 26 September and, after 1 day’s rest, the newly revamped 4 day Zanzibar Raid from 28 September to 1 October. Most sailors took part in both events, but a few opted only for one or the other.
The spinnaker and non-spinnaker fleets were dominated by 2 teams. The father and son pairing of Dodds and Dodds from South Africa were almost unbeatable in the spinnaker class; and the love boat pairing of Worral and Pipes from Australia we literally unbeatable in the non-spinnaker class winning all races. Full results can be seen on the website www.tanzacat.com.
But Tanzacat is not just a sailing regatta it is also a social regatta. We had 3 parties with Tanzanian dancers, acrobats and fire eaters and a “local” musician Mzungu Kichaa giving it an international Swahili flavour for the final prize giving party on the DYC beach. For 2 legs of the Zanzibar raid we had fleet midday consolidation points on sandbars that only appear at low tide – and our timing was immaculate so we arranged shade, drinks, barbeque and snorkeling. Again please see www.tanzacat.com for details.
The event was filmed from sea and air (thanks to Tanzanair) by SuperSports / DSTv who are showing it on SuperSports.
To be sure that no contribution to the Tanzacat 2010 Open went unnoticed the Tanzacat 2010 Committee gave special mention and prizes as follows at the final prize giving beach party:
- Best Capsize: Tina + Lena “Team Sweden” (aka “Blondest Cats”) for capsizing on land (ie a sandbank)
- Red Cross Award: David Kruyt (for sailing with malaria, then undiagnosed)
- Longest Toothed Cat: Graham Southwick aged 66, the oldest cat at the regatta
- Youngest Helm: Erasmus Ewald “Pocket Rocket” hands down best sailor per kilo Tanzacat 2010
- Best Couple (male): Simon Wall + Connor
- First Ladies: Caroline + Suzanne for highest position
- Latest Developer/Most Knackered Cat: Angela Scott (started Cat sailing 2 years ago to sail with her husband David and they competed in World Masters in Sydney 2009)
- Most Notable Fashion Disaster: Nick Zervos (for wearing pyjama sunscreen trousers during the Zanzibar Raid)
- Pissed Cats: Paresh + Micha for never being seen without glasses of whisky in hand
- Sleepiest Cat: Charles Girard for falling asleep (late at night at the bar at Lazy Lagoon)
- Multi Tasking Cat: Sarah + Jocelyn for sailing and helping with the party set up and the committee boat etc etc
- Most Tented Cat: Matthew Gray for taking his tent with him everywhere
- Most Relaxed Cats: the Obrees, for stretching out on a camp bead as his bags were carried to him at Lazy Lagoon
- Best Cat Family: the Zijlmans, father, mother, 3 sons, 1 daughter and 2 Tigers
- Most Loved Up Cats: Carolyn + Peter for being engaged
- Biggest 16 In Fleet: Johannes + Erik for sailing a Tiger with the 16 fleet
- Best Performance After No Sleep: Lomax + Kemp for being kept awake all night by the mast wires at Lazy Lagoon
- Best Cat Cheerleading Support: John Goldsmid + Mark Nicholls for having Brenda as their back up team
- Part Time Cat Team: Mueller + Nicholson
- Chatty Cat: Chapmans for gregarious chat throughout the event
- Best Improvised Paddler: Simon Woods for repairing damaged paddle with t shirt when the winds dropped (once)
If you are interested in Tanzacat 2011 in September 2011 then please register your interest on www.tanzacat.com - we regret that spaces will be limited.
From the Tanzacat 2010 Committee
