I try my hand at a little yacht racing thanks to Durbanville Hills & the Vulcan Sailing Team

by Karisa

There’s nothing quite like an exciting mid-week adventure…  I definitely think our work week’s are too long, and that we can all do with a little break somewhere between Monday and Friday.  Don’t you agree?

Well last week I got a little taste of what this kind of life would be like thanks to the guys from one of my favourite wine estates, Durbanville Hills.  You see towards the end of last year they embarked on their own exciting adventure by deciding to become the sponsor for the Vulcan Sailing team GP42; and after a very successful racing season, they decided to invite a few of us along to experience the thrill of yacht racing for ourselves. #DontMindIfIdo

Now unfortunately the one thing Cape Town is exceptional at (i.e. being bloody windy) was missing on the day, which obviously doesn’t make for the best racing conditions.  But the Vulcan team managed to pull a few slick moves to ensure we still got a good adrenalin kick.

We got together at the very sexy The Grand Café & Beach in Granger Bay.  Here we enjoyed some beautiful Durvanville Hills wine along with some of The Grand’s signature extra-length pizzas, before getting kitted up and jumping on a high-speed rubber duck to meet our hot date for the afternoon – the very beautiful modified GP42, designed by Spanish yacht design company, Botin Carkeek.

There may have been a few nerves here and there when we saw how much safety gear we had to put on, and also when they started explaining how we’d have to quickly move from one side of the yacht to the other as it “dips”, but we were in excellent hands.  In fact, the Vulcan team recently won The Dennis Conner Invitational Cup over in New York, surprising everyone as pretty much the underdogs amongst the participating teams.

Owner Hylton Hale was there to tell us all about the team’s preparation and other racing achievements.  He also ensured that we all got safely onto and of off the yacht.  From there skipper James & the rest of the team ensured that we didn’t fall overboard & drown. 😉

OK, but enough talking… Let’s look at some pictures shall we:

The Grand Café & Beach

You really can’t beat this setting…

Cheers!

All the low carb people out there… look away now…

Having a giggle with Hylton before we set sail…

This is media & blogger peeps um  “socialising”…

The lovely Durbanville Hills crew telling us all about the exciting partnership with the Vulcan Team…

Trying to work that safety gear best I can…

My racing buddies…

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I can tell you one thing… just the rubber duck ride alone was one helluva fun experience…

I got some really cool shots while out on the water, even though my sea legs aren’t the best.  Oh and I even got to steer for a bit!  (A definite contender for highlight of the year so far)


But I also have to share these amazing shots taken by photographer, Dave Mabin, on the day – they’re just incredible:

This was such a cool experience and it really made me want to try my hand at it again.  I have to say a HUGE thank you to Durbanville Hills and the Vulcan Team, you guys made my week… quite possibly even my year.

Now even though the Mother City didn’t play along by gifting us with some strong winds that day, she did give us a good show come sunset time.  So I’m going to wrap up this post with some “sunset porn”, which I think is perfect for a Friday afternoon…

Over on the one side, things were looking pretty sexy…

But then over on the other side… this beautiful scene upgraded into…

This! I promise – No colour enhancement. No filter. Just pure Cape Town baby…

Now go forth and have an amazing weekend everybody…  This is me signing out…

xxx

2 comments

Luzani Mothobi Mar 30, 2015 - 11:22 pm

Love the MANY views, CT is beautiful.

Reply
Karisa Mar 31, 2015 - 9:11 am

I truly am lucky to live in such a beautiful place… Cape Town will always be home

Reply

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