Yacht Voortrekker, an update by Frans

The way news comes in often amazes me but it does come in, we may wait months even years but then someone reads my blog and then makes contact as he or she have news on the subject which I am then pleased to add.

This is from Frans Loots and sure brings us lots of insider information on South Africas most famous sailing yacht named Voortrekker, my thanks to Frans.

 

Maybe just clarify for readers.

Ketch: Mizzen mast stepped in front of the rudder post.

Yawl: Mizzen mast stepped aft of the rudder post.

 

On Trekker the mizzen was stepped in front of the rudder post. On pictures one would see the helmsman in front of the mizzen and would then assume it was a yawl, not knowing where the rudder stock aft of the mast or about the linkage.

Frans

Morning Roy,

Re the pictures.

The first picture is the original Voortrekker, vd Stadt designed ketch built fot the 1968 OSTAR. Built in Knysna at Thesens. Dr Anton Rupert of Rembrandt Group underwrote the project and thus owned the boat.

After the OSTAR the South African Ocean Racing Trust campaigned the boat for a short while. The boat was then donated to the Navy by Dr Rupert. The mizzen mast was removed and the boat sailed as a rather undercanvassed sloop. Brian Lello, the editor of the now defunct SA Yachting designed a taller sloop rig for the boat. At the same time the navy built a new larger cabin top for the boat. In its first format the rudder was on a linkage system from the cockpit to the rudder shaft. Remember it started life as a ketch. The mizzen was in front of the rudder (ketch). Many folk would look at pictures and say, that was a yawl, not knowing about the linkage.

When the mizzen was removed, the tiller was put straight onto the rudder shaft and the lazarette opened up and turned into a steering well/ cockpit.

Back in 1975/1976 the old mizzen mast hung in the loft of the Navy sailing centre. The old main mast was donated to the merchant navy to be stepped as a mizzen mast for the Howard Davies their sail training vessel. 

Interestingly enough we raced the boat on a windy day in 1976 in table Bay and blew out most of the headsails. They were getting very old and the Navy was in no position to order new sails. Dr  Rupert got to hear about the blown out sails and the Monday morning phoned Bertie personally to give him the go ahead to place an order for new sails. I can remember Bertie coming out of his office. The smile! Dr Rupert was donating it to the boat. That was the nature of Dr Rupert and also the type of person Bertie was. People wanted to support Bertie. He was that kind of man.

Many years later, about 1981, the navy re built the cabin top into what the boat looks like today.

My sources: SA Yachting magazines 1967/ 1968/ 1969, and Bertie Reed who was my Chief in the Navy. I did national service at the sailing centre and Bertie was our Chief so I picked up lots of bits of info from him.

The second picture is the Lavranos deisgned 60 footer Voortrekker 2. In the picture she is sailing with a sugar scoop which made it a 65 footer. As a 60 footer she could be sailed in the OSTAR and races like the BOC Round the world s/handed races. Then for other fully crewed races the scoop was bolted on. This boat was built in-house by the Navy and launched at the end of 1981.

The last picture is the original Voortrekker on launch day. Although built in Knysna the boat was road hauled to Cape Town for the keel to be fitted and to be launched. Launching took place in the Navy dockyard.

There you have it.

Regards,

Frans.