JML Rotary Scout

The Rotary Scout Team is looking for crew to join us in the 2024 Cape Town – St. Helena Offshore Race! Formerly known as the Governor’s Cup, the race covers some 1600 nautical miles of downwind offshore sailing to the remote island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic. Crew are also required for the delivery back to Cape Town.

This year’s race sets sail from Cape Town on 26 December 2024. The crew will spend New Year’s at sea as they compete in this iconic South African race. It takes approximately two weeks to reach the island, after which Scouts will have a few days to explore the island which was home to Napoleon. Flights are now available back to Cape Town or Scouts have the option of sailing back to Cape Town. The return trip can take up to three weeks of sailing.

An expression of interest form is now available for Scouts and Scouters who are interested in applying as race crew and/or delivery crew. https://forms.gle/wwFmv9LsQMeRmciZA

Those interested in crewing for either the race, delivery, or both may complete the above form.

Please note that a final decision is yet to be made as to whether Rotary Scout will compete in this event. This is contingent on us being able to return the boat back to Cape Town. Should there be suitable interest, those who complete the form will be invited to formally apply to join the crew.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us ([email protected])

Rotary Scout Alumni: The Cape2Rio Boys - Where are they now?

Back in 2020, we entered an all youth team into the Cape2Rio Race! Four years on, it is incredible to see that three of the boys are now qualified Yachtmasters, and working professionally in the yachting industry!

Dominic Holling spent his first season in the Med and is currently working as a 1st Mate onboard a 22m motor yacht in the US Virgin Islands.

Max Elsworth is working as a mate on a luxury fishing yacht in Angola, and is tasked with skippering the boat on deliveries between ports. He has spent lots of time on the local racing circuit and intends to move onto super yachts in the near future.

Josh Jackson also spent his first season in the Med, working on a sailing yacht and is now skippering a 55' charter catamaran in the Caribbean.

In addition to Dom, Max and Josh having earned their stripes as Yachtmaster's, Ewan Blamire has completed his RYA Powerboat and STCW training and plans to join the super yachting industry later this year.

The bond between the 2020 Cape2Rio boys continues to last, with catch-up calls and meet-ups when everyone is in Cape Town.

We are very proud of the young men these Scouts have become! It is heart warming to see the impact that the Scout Programme and Rotary Scout has had on their lives and career choices.

Scouts South Africa Western Cape Scouts Royal Cape Yacht Club Cape 2 Rio Yacht Race South African Sailing - SAS

Cameron Schmidt is sailing on Explorer in the Ocean Globe race https://oceangloberace.com/ We interviewed him by phone today !
Listen to the call here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HJrTDSspnBt36f2ezLFZ7iavGEwZNWRi/view?usp=sharing

We are planning to compete in Spring Regatta 2023! Scouts aged 14+ who are competent dinghy sailors can apply to crew by contacting the below email.

This course is an ideal first step for Scouts wanting to gain experience in keelboat sailing! Applications close tomorrow (Sunday, 9 May) on Scouts.Digital!

Spring Regatta Day 3 - The AP over A flag has been hoisted so racing is unfortunately abandoned for the day.

Day 3 of Spring Regatta 2021. We are currently rafted up to Argonaut while we wait for the wind.

After the second day of Spring Regatta 2021 we are lying fourth overall in our class of 13 boats!

We had a slightly embrassing OCS start (over the line) but quickly recovered with Kyle Sasman as our Helmsman. After rounding the first mark at Fish Hoek, we managed to pull away from the rest of the fleet in the light breeze.

We hoisted the spinnaker on a reach from Seal Island to Wittle Rock but after the wind shifted to a fetch we dropped the bag. A battle ensued between us and Argonaut to make it around the next mark after which the wind built rapidly, peaking at 40 knots true wind speed!!

The crew worked on hard on the beat back to Fish Hoek but by the time we were close to Muizenberg the wind had dropped off again and the reefs were shaken.

We crossed the finish line with the purple bag up in a light breeze.

An eventful day to say the least.

Spring Regatta 2021 Day 1 - 6th overall out of 13 boats.

A wonderful day out on the water with 6th Rondebosch!

Light wind and fog was the order of the day for the Round Robben Island Persuit Race this past Saturday. Shortly after slipping lines we were met with about 6m of viability in the bay. We hung around the safety of the North Wall among some other yachts. The race was postponed by an hour but after the fog had lifted and the start sequence had commenced, more fog rolled in over the start line, making for interesting conditions. The wind was challenging but we kept moving slowly and made it around the island under sail. Unfortunately, along with 18 other boats we had to use our engine to get back. Nevertheless it was a lovely day on the water with a new crew.

Our first Competent Crew Course of the year! A first time yachting experience for most of these Scouts.

We are running a Competent Crew Course next month! This is an introduction to keelboat sailing and the first stepping stone for those wanting to compete in Offshore races such as the Cape Town to St Helena and Cape2Rio Race!