Zululand Yacht Club – Worth sailing an ocean for!

The World ARC fleet and Zululand Yacht Club got together for a legendary party this evening to welcome the World ARC fleet and celebrate their completion of crossing the Indian Ocean. Crews  were welcomed by members of the yacht club in great style. Specially produced T-shirts were given to each crew member with the very adapt slogon – Zululand Yacht Club – worth sailing an ocean for. And even noting the very testing conditions of the Indian Ocean, the events this evening proved this to be absolutely true!

The fleet was welcomed by Commodore Kirsten Schreuder who said how proud he was about the close association being the Zululand Yacht Club and the World ARC fleet. He told the crews how much he and the club members enjoyed the visit of World ARC and how they looked forward to this occasion. The crews were also welcomed by Councillor Musa Mbokasi from the City of uMhalthuze  which also support the World ARC visit.

The fleet ate together and  enjoyed a traditional South African Potjie – a stew type dish cooked in a large metal ‘cauldron’. Zululand Yacht Club are ending their 50^th year since foundation and so World ARC presented them with a cake which was also eaten for dessert.

There was great entertainment, both before and after the meal. The crews were wow-ed by the contemporary dance group Nerd Boy Swap who performed robotic , acrobatic and rhythmic dance move. Very entertaining. And following the meal  the  Sasecho  group performed traditional zulu dance pieces for the crews.

Prizes were also awarded for the competitive side of the Rally. The trophies, depicting sailing yachts and made from wire and beads were awarded for the first 3 places in each class. The winners overall in the Cruising Division were Royal Leopard. Anastasia was first in the Multihulls and also took line honours for the fleet. But the Indian Ocean is a tough place, so all those crew members who completed the crossing received a certificate to mark their achievements.

During the evening a charity collection was held for the two local charities which the yacht club supports. The charity collection raised 6,985 Rand (780 USD) which was fantastic.

Towards the end of the evening crews competed in the Spoeg Bokdrol Kompetisie. This almost Olympic-level event sees participant contending  to find out who can spit a small pea size piece of buck dung the furthest. The winner was Daniel from GUNVOR XL who showed that his recent practise will porridge raisons whilst crossing the last bit of the Indian Ocean certainly paid off.

It was a fantastic evening and the World ARC fleet are truly grateful for the wonderful hospitality shown tonight in Zululand ! A great start to the fleet’s  7 week stay in South Africa.