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George Lakes Yacht Club Commodore Anthony Parker saluting the fleet.
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GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - The 2011/2012 sailing season at the George Lakes Yacht Club came to a close on Saturday, April 21, as the fleet, lead by Rear Commodore Malcolm Osborne, sailed in line astern past Commodore Anthony Parker on the committee boat.
This was preceded by a Pursuit Race around the island, where the slowest boats were sent off first, with timing calculated according to handicap - the theory being that all should arrive at the finish together. As it transpired, the Laser 4.7, sailed by John Marc Olivier performed the best by finishing first with a comfortable margin, with Alastair Fraser (Laser Radial), David and Rory Laing (Fireball), Jayan Smart (Dabchick) and Georgou Divaris (Optimist) finishing in close succession.
There were several regattas in the week's preceding the end of the season. Over the Easter weekend, some of the club's youth sailors competed in the Western Cape Championships in Saldanha Bay. In the RS Tera Sport class, James Hellstrom excelled once again by winning in the fleet of 18 boats. His sister Ashleigh came eighth and Danielle de Wet was 10th. In the large Optimist fleet, Georgou Divaris finished in fourth place in the highly competitive fleet of 35 Optimists.
A few days later, a fleet of 31 Teras sailed on Swartvlei Lagoon in a national regatta, which served as the final selection event to choose a team to compete in the RS Tera World Championships to be held in Italy in August 2012. A total of eight races were sailed in the event. Pine Lake Marina was the base, with personnel from Knysna Yacht Club and the Tera class doing the organisation. Georgou Divaris was the clear winner, winning six of the eight races. GLYC dominated the podium, as James Hellstrom took second place and Nathan Page was in third place.
George Lakes Yacht Club members also dominated the RSA worlds team, providing five of the team of eight. Divaris, James Hellstrom, Page, Ashleigh Hellstrom and Danielle de Wet are in this team.
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