Sailors Battle Waves at Bell Buoy 2024

Strong winds and waves push sailors to their limits
The Walvis Bay Yacht Club hosted the Bell Buoy 2024 race, where sailors competed fiercely in various categories, overcoming challenging weather conditions.
Frieda Molotho
  • 1 Day Ago
The Bell Buoy 2024 sailing competition took place on Saturday at the Walvis Bay Yacht Club, featuring thrilling races and impressive performances from participants. A total of 22 boats competed, which includes, seven lasers, one Laser pico, four Optis, one Fireball, one Keel boat and eight H16s.



In the Optimist Class, Tatána Verchuš?a emerged victorious. Dr. Wolfgang Bueckendorf claimed the top spot in the Laser Class. The Hobie 16s saw Matthias and Amandus Röttcher take first place, followed by Günther Gladis and Leani Roux in second, and Zia and Zane Cooper in third.



Reflecting on her experience, Verchuša highlighted that the race was much more exciting than last year. The weather was completely different, with stronger winds and huge waves. "It was definitely a challenge coming back on a jive, as the whole boat was going up and down. But it was really fun, and it felt like flying on the boat with the perfect wind."



Verchuš?a further expressed her delight in clinching first place, adding, "we started off closely together but soon spread out. I continued towards Pelican Point while others took different routes, but I’m glad to have come out on top."



Matthias Röttcher, who has been sailing since he was 14, shared his thoughts on the race stating that the Hobie 16 is a nice kind of track, "we thought it would be a smooth race, but conditions were quite rough, especially out on the hill. We had a bit of wind here, so we had to make some adjustments."



"Amandus knew much better what to do and performed exceptionally well," he added.



Up next on the sailing calender, is the Offshore race, where sailors sail to Langstrand and back on 26 December. The starts will be five minute count down for all participants and buoys will be placed for Optimist just before the ships channel, Laser at the Bird Island and the Hobie Cats at Langstrand. Prize money purse would be around N$ 11 000 plus a free lesson worth N$ 1500 for Kite Boarding and has been sponsored by Huster Family N$ 15000 and the Namibia Kite Boarding Centre.



Over the weekend, the Hobie 16 Nations will kick off on Saturday at 10:00 and continue until Sunday, also at the Walvis Bay Yacht Club.