Mazars is a proud sponsor of the Royal Natal Regatta, which was held over the weekend of the 23 -' 25 September at the Royal Natal Yacht Club.

"The regatta, which traditionally opens the annual racing season for the year, comprises two days of sea and land action with an emphasis on bringing family and fun together," said Hans Dettman - Rear Commodore of the Club.

Since 1858 yacht regattas have been a feature of yachting on Durban Bay. In that year the Durban Regatta Club came into existence and one of the first organised regattas was held on 28th May.

By 1871 the Natal Yacht Club boasted 42 members. These included some of Durban's leading citizens, namely Evans, Craddock, Leuchars, Caney, Robinson, Escombe, Beningfield, Taylor, Goodricke, Acutt and Cato. As such the Natal Yacht Club is closely associated with the history of Durban and also of KwaZulu-Natal. On 17th February 1891, the club announced that Her Majesty Queen Victoria had graciously approved the title of Royal, and the Royal Natal Yacht Club was proclaimed.

The Royal Natal Yacht Club is now the oldest yacht and sports club in Africa and the oldest yacht club in the southern hemisphere and the eighth oldest 'Royal' Yacht Club in the World. In 2008, the club celebrated its 150 year anniversary as an active and vibrant yacht club and looks forward to its continued
operation.

During the summer months Wednesday Evening Fun sailing is a popular worldwide sailing tradition aimed at encouraging novices and those who have never had an opportunity to experience sailing to take to the water and enjoy a short yacht race within the confines of the harbour. Over the past two years, and following the practice of overseas clubs, the Royal Natal Yacht Club has used this as an opportunity to raise funds for charity. Hence "Fun" has become "Fun'd". Last year over the course of the Wednesday
evening sailing series R 35 000 was raised for the Cancer Association of South Africa. This year the club aims to double the amount raised and encourages each yacht to introduce new people to sailing and for each person to make a small donation to the fund raising initiative. There is a prize at the end of the season for the yacht raising the most money for charity and introducing the most newbie's to sailing. Following the success of the last sailing season Standard Bank - Wealth and Investment have generously agreed to sponsor the Royal Natal Wednesday Evening Sailing Season and will match the amount raised for charity by the yachtsmen.

Regattas such as the Royal Natal Regatta, which has a long history, are generally held on weekends.
During the mid-1980s Durban offshore keelboat sailing was a weekly event in the sailing season. Yachtsmen of the Royal Natal Yacht Club, and the Point, Bluff and Island yacht clubs were all enthusiastic participants. The contest was largely undertaken by medium displacement monohull boats. At that stage, the first of the new Lavranos 36 boats were arriving in our Durban waters and were hot contenders for line honours.

"To be fair, a performance handicap system was in place, and although handicap ratings were often a severe bone of contention, sailing was thriving and simply great fun and made summer weekends extra special. The majority of the offshore racing fleet were 32 foot and over," said Honorary Commodore Willy
Vandeverre.

However, Vandeverre added, "There was an irritating pebble in our sea boots, simply called a Cape One Design, a 29 foot monohull, which had the amazing ability to surf long stretches downwind. This was a truly remarkable feat of superior, although outdated design, and a most irritating competitor for us heavier, but newer vessels, which often surfed past us to take line honours.

At that time John Gatenby Puttergill had a 48 foot racing yacht, and was truly 'gatvol' of the upstart Cape Ones. He organised a weekend Regatta, excluding the Cape Ones, but inclusive of all the 36s and over. This was a roaring success and he subsequently formed a trust called the Royal Natal Regatta Trust and donated a very substantial amount from his company, Swimline. The purpose of the trust was to fund an annual long weekend Regatta to be called the Swimline Regatta.

"The only proviso he included in his Deed of Gift was that the Regatta was open to monohulls over 30 foot in length. Many attempts were made to have the deed amended, but John stuck to his guns, and it is only fitting that we pay tribute to John Gatenby Puttergill for the event's continued existence," concluded
Vandevere.

Apart from Mazars, the event now enjoys sponsorship from GB Packaging, Riebeek Cellars, Sappi, Engen and iDube Safety. Commodore Graham Rose was unable to attend the Regatta as he was overseas representing the Club and indeed the whole of Africa at the prestigious International Council of Yacht Clubs Commodores' Forum hosted this year in Copenhagen by the Royal Danish Yacht Club. However, he thanked Mazars for their generous sponsorship of the goodie bags and license disk holders that all the participants received. The Club has invited all sponsors to participate in a corporate sailing day aboard the Club›s fleet of Pacer 27 sport boats as a token of appreciation for the
support provided to the Club in making this year›s event both memorable and enjoyable.

The Royal Natal Regatta is now a truly family event with an emphasis on fun. The event opened with the Amazing Race - a cryptic clue late afternoon motor sail around the harbour on Friday night - which was not only exciting but a serious brain teaser. The entertainment continued with a Karaoke evening that was much enjoyed by all.

Saturday was dedicated to a traditional off shore racing event, which took place under great wind conditions and concluded with a "Nauti-cal" theme evening party.

Sunday's Bay Race took place under very blustery conditions. At the same time, the competing yachts' land crews were hard at work preparing gourmet 'potjiekos' and decorating their themed tables for the Club competition.

This event is hotly contested and the judges, who were Maureen Dettman, columnist Graham Linscott, entertainment and food writer Wanda Henning, restaurateur Bob Humphreys and Rick Kingsma of Tina's Hotel, were hard pressed to select the winners.

Mazars would like to congratulate the crews of Southern Storm, Bellatrix, Liquid Blue and Ladybird on their victories - both on land and at sea - and looks forward to next year!

The Royal Natal Yacht Club welcomes new members and anyone, with even a passing interest in sailing, yachts or other maritime matters, will find the Club a unique refuge from the pressures of modern day life.
The Club provides a number of exciting opportunities for members and non-members to experience firsthand the wonderful sport of sailing and unique yachting lifestyle including the hosting of the ever popular corporate sailing days. All enquiries welcome. 

rnyc.org.za / www.mazars.co.za

Mazars is an international, integrated and independent organisation, specialising in audit, accounting, tax and advisory services across a range of markets and sectors. In South Africa, Mazars employs over 1000 staff in 12 offices nationally. With the skills of 17 000 staff operating in 77 countries, Mazars is large enough to service international listed clients, yet small enough to assist small companies grow and prosper in their own environments. Mazars is present on five continents and represented in 25 African countries