Team Our dianne receives the Governors Cup

Months of planning and preparation, and ten days of fast and determined sailing were finally rewarded today as Team Our Dianne collected the coveted crystal trophy, The Governors Cup. Billy Leisegang proudly accepted the trophy for the third time, bagging the hat trick in the process. Line honours went to the trimaran of Frans Loots on Banjo, while a handicap adjusted 22 hour lead saw Team Our Dianne also bag the overall handicap win across the entire fleet. In addition to their two pieces of silverware Billy was also awarded the Peroni beer for a year prize for the overall result.
Rotary Scout skippered by Mark Jennings and Peter Bosch with 6 scouts on board took the PHRF Cruising division title.

Team Our Dianne have won the 2010 Governors cup

It's official, Team Our Dianne have won the 2010 Governors Cup Yacht Race, and in doing so have secured Billy Leisegang the coveted crystal trophy for an unprecidented third time. Lionel Dyk, former chairman of the race committee and commodore of False Bay Yacht club confirmed the result at the Governor's function Friday evening and expressed how pleased he was the trophy was returning to False Bay Yacht Club.
The official prize giving will be on Sunday afternoon in Jamestown where the overall handicap results will also be announced.

Governors Function at plantation House

Team Our Dianne, along with the rest of the fleet were hosted by the governor of St Helena island, His Excellency Andrew Gurr, at the official Governors Cup welcome function at Plantation house Friday evening. Also in attendance were a host of prominent island and governmental VIP's as well as a host of both local and international media representatives from TV, radio and print media. Each member of crew was presented with a Commemrative first day stamp collection to commemerate the 2010 Governors Cup Yacht Race.

Team Our Dianne Finishes after 10 days and 1 hour.

At last, after almiost 5 days of darkness we have finally found a computer where we can post. On Saturday at about 11am St helena time Our Dianne crossed the finish line in perferct tropical weather. Banjo, after some incredible sailing managed to secure line honours by about 6 hours, crossing the line at dawn Saturday. Communication was brought to a standstill after a battery problem prevented us from starting the engine and charging batteries, resulting in a dangerously dark boat for the last few days at sea. Despite that spirits were high all the way to the finish and we now wait at Annes Restautrant for the rest of the fleet to arrive. It's now monday afternoon and the next boats are only expected early Tuesday, almost 72 hours after Banjo and ourselves. As far as the Governors Cup trophy race is concerned the only boat still out there with a chance of taking it is Reaction, who are still more than two days out. So without jumping the gun we confidently wait for the rest of the fleet to arrive. Life on the Island is exactly that, island life. We're sitting in Annes Restauarant now, a perfect island spot by the water surrounded by lush green palms and other island flora, the weather is hot and the beer is lined with condensation, perfect! The team is in great spirits and is looking forward to welcoming the rest of the fleet in the style we were welcomed.

Almost there! (If not there already...)

Waldo van der Waal posting again, still from dry land...

With the continued communication blackout from Our Dianne (imposed by alleged power problems), we still don't know exactly what is going on.

But the word through the *official* channels is that Banjo took line honours yesterday, with Swimlion and Our Dianne now very close to St. Helena. This information is rather fourth-hand, however, so we can't be 100% certain of the accuracy.

The bottom line is that Our Dianne should be arriving very very soon now, if she hasn't already. Now all we can do is wait to hear from them...

Power problems, but otherwise fine (apparently!)

Waldo van der Waal posting, from dry land...

People following the progress of the race via the race tracker at http://www.thegovernorscup.co.za/ will have noticed that Our Dianne has come to a complete stop, and has been losing ground to Banjo and Swimlion. There also haven't been many updates to this blog - which all looks a bit suspicious.

But fear not, Our Dianne is actually in good shape, and making great progress at the head of the field. This is according to Andrew McKenzie at FBYC, who explained that Our Dianne reported problems with their power - be it solar or batteries. As such, they have elected to turn off all non-essential equipment, including the satellite tracking equipment. Sadly, their data terminal has clearly also been shut down, which means no updates until they arrive in St. Helena - we think!

The static image at the top of the tracker page shows the position as updated according to the daily satphone conversation with FBYC, and shows Our Dianne slightly behind Banjo, who seems to have taken a clear lead in the dash for line honours. But commenting on the situation from land is unfair at best, as only the crew on the water really knows what the conditions are like.

In the mean time, here's a pretty picture of Our Dianne rounding the Cape last week, right at the start of the race:

Pursuit on the high seas

Like a man of war, the red spinnaker of Banjo could be seen on the distant horizon bearing down on us, or so we thought. As we spied them with our binoculours and debated their tactics as they kept slipping across our stern to the north, dissapearing over the horizon late yesterday evening as little light. At this point we dont know if they saw us too but either way they've adopted a strategy thats taken them more to the north in anticiaption of a better angle to the island. With all the chatter and comms out there were not gonna reveal our tactics at this stage, but they're already in writing and Billy will be posting later today once we've commited. What we can tell you is confidence is high. We had expected Banjo to to begin a gybing game to our stern and try to reel us being a faster boat and were surprised when they headed north. One things for sure, its gonna be a great drink in the bar when we catch up with each other on St Helena, no matter who takes the honours at the line.
596 miles from St Helena

"Ënemy" in sight

It's battlestrations on board Our Dianne. 15 minutrs ago we spotted a red spinnaker on the horizon to our stern, and we have to preume they've spotted us too. What a moment! Spook, Marc, Julie & Rian were up top when they suddenly spotted the red sail way back on the horizon. So now we know, Banjo did gybe this am and now it's truley going to become a game of cat n mouse. The race for line honours is on! Doesn't get more exciting than this in ocean racing.

The grand rolls over

Team Óur Dianne'clocked a thousand miles today as they speed across the South Atlantic. The team can almost smell the island today with just 750 miles and about 4 days of racing left. Neon board is still sketchy at best and alsways seems to contradict the last news. For the second day in a row info was received saying Banjo had gybed NE behind us, yet when the radio scheds from Cape Town Radio arrived they seemed to be twenty miles to our SW, almost in line. Whichever is the case the team are flat out 24hrs a day to do their best to also secure line honours and are loving the chase with jeremy and Frans on Banjo. Banjo had always made it known they were hoping to beat the RMS to the island, so when Team Ourdianne realsied either Banjo doesn't have the pace or Our Dianne is faster than Banjo expected they swept back their ears, gritted their teeth and are charging on each every swell that comes along. Rian, or Reiyaan as he is know known ru'stled up Fish Cakes Da\ianne a la 'Atlantic for lunch just now and now the crew is getting a bit of rest ready for the night watches that start at 6pm. If we can hold our 7kt average were hoping to arrive at the island sometime early Friday am, holding thumbs.

From the South Atlantic

Screaming Along

Marc Bow: Its 16:45 UTC and were crossing the Valdivia Banks as we write. the ocean rises from 5000m to about 30m, like a mountain range, wixked swells. Weather overcast and chilly, wind stong and boat is screaming along. Sitting with back against hull down below and can olny hear water flying along behind me. Ryan and Billy are helming like demons in our bid to keep Banjo behind us. They are favourties for line honours and were hoping to beat the RMS to the island. knowing were just ahead its flat out here now to see if we can take cup and line. Spinnaker only coming down when really warrants it, otherwise the boat is humming and zinging along on a plane as we surf and slip down the 4 meter swells. Still trying to find out why so many boats retired, especially in our IRC class, hope everyone is ok. Itshard to get reliable, let along much info out here. Just glanced up as we helmed over to see the ocean racing by, the hull is slamming into the waves as we slide off the front of the swells, Ryan is singing while helming, which is worrying cause that only means one thing....were going fast, real fast!!!

From the cold, wet, bumpy and fast South Atlantic

Spook Trainor Posting

Our fourth day at sea and we are now in the South East Trades proper. The wind direction is pretty consistent, gentle but decent breezes by day so the we shift along at 6 to 9 knots. At night the wind picks up so that we can start surfing and klapping 15 knots plus. These SIMONIS 35s are so stable and dependable on a plane and Rian is an expert surfer!
We have just had lunch - heaps of rare to medium rare rump steak with onion, potato, butternut and Peroni! We don't have a fridge so we reason that we just have to eat it. Tonight we will have strips of the same with olives for sundowners. The sun is shining and we have the warmth we expect at 28 degrees 05' South; 9 degrees 30'East. Bathing over the stern with a buckets of ocean is a special pleasure!
Sundowners last was magical. The stratocumulus clouds that you get at these latitudes have odd forms rather like the sandstone formations you find in parts of the Cape Peninsula Mountain Chain - dragons and crocodiles and angels. Or the weird shapes of the Rohrich [?] ink blot tests!
Keeping the middle watch last night was still chilly. Middle watch is midnight to 04h00, die spookwag in Afrikaans. We wus Billy, Spook and Aaron. We had a merry time. The curl at the top of the spinnaker that tells you the sail is setting well was named Lippy. Now Lippy Lipschitz seemed a well-known name: not a man of the cloth, nor a man of the classics, maybe artist fits? And so, who did we find on the helm but Billy Bilschitz! [I promised to not tell Chris R at FBYC. I don't know if he reads blogs so please don't tell him!!!]. I say, "Hey Billy, you are really making this yacht move". Says Billy, "You can see it in the speedo"!!!
We watched the mast, spreaders, and masthead light swaying wildly across the Milky Way, taking on Orion with his sword and belt. By our estimation we won the duel - Orion was well and truly shafted! The other heavenly bodies in the play were the Seven Sisters. They were perfectly positioned ahead for Billy to steer by. This Billy is quite a guy! [You should have seen him at the start of this race - bang on the line at full tilt, close to the Navy's start ship and inhaling the gunsmoke like a real gunner][We in OUR DIANNE are very proud of our Billy!]
We are happy with our progress and glad that the BANJO and SWIMLION are behind us [at last report]. We have the Valdivia Banks in our sights and should get there tomorrow
We are sad about the boats that have had to retire. After so much planning, preparation and anticipation it must be a helluva blow! We are very glad that HAIKU is back in the race. Come on James and Derrick we need you to talk to on HF at 11h00 UTC - tomorrow!

Settling in at last

Where do we begin. How can so much happen in such a small space in such short time. Most importantly were having a ripper ofm a race, or at least as far as we can tell. With so mny forms of comms available the news coming in conflicts with the other. At dawn today we heard the news that Reaction and Zeeslang were both out the race, effectively turning the trophy race into a one horse event for us now. On the line honuors front we seemd to be right out in front with both Swimlion and Banjo within ten miles but no where to b e seen on the horizon. Swimlion we know has to be at the island in time for the RMS's departure and has been using their engine to keep on schedule, according the the cruising class rules they are allpwed 100 miles anyway and this evenibgs call to the club revealed they had opened up a 50 mi;e lead or thereabouts. Banjo though we know little of other than they were close after this am's sched.
Life on board took a turn for good today as the sick ones began to stabslise at last. Marc described ocean racing as, to go fast you need wind, if theres wind the sea is rough, if its rough its bouncy in the boat and if its bouncy in the boat your get sick. So to win you need to be sick he concluded. But that appears to be behind now as I bash away in the dark here at 9pm SA time. Today we had little wind, as predicted a few days ago, bot speedof only around 5 or 6 knots, topspeed so far 14.2 first night out.
Waking for a night watch is cetainly a low but other than that spirits are up at last and the banter has begun. Wind is climbing now, hoping for a fast night, which mens wet n cold up top....

First Day At Sea

Wednesday morning saw Team Our Dianne celebrating their departure with Family and Friends. Memorable speeches, well wishes and the Blessing of the Fleet by Bishop Peter Storey ended with Erika Spilhaus playing a beautiful and evocative Scottish Air to an emotional audience. We were prileged to be allowed by his parents to dedicate our race to the memory of Tom Murray, who sailed on Our Dianne in the 2004 race.
Then the start. We were at the line early to suss it out and the crew placed Our Dianne bang on the line at the gun. By the first mark we were 200 metres ahead of the next yacht and at the second mark even further ahead. The spinnaker hoist was immaculate and off she charged.
The sail to Cape Point was iffy, with the wind all over the place. We rounded first, although Swimlion had motored into the distance, taking advantage of her cruising allowance. The fickle wind changed to a favourable westerly, going south west and then south. Off we charged along the coast and the loom of Cape Town and Table Mountain was soon fading over the horizon.
Now, after an exciting night at sea, we are surfing along at speeds up to 15 knots, averaging around ten.
So..........a weary (a couple a little seasick - Marc will communicate with his wife and baby when he is able to look at the screen without having to rush to the side) crew are really upbeat.The vibes are excellent, the food the best and the happy hours are looked forward to with a thirst.
We are in regular satphone communication with the people of St Helena through Mike Olsson of St FM and Nicole Peters, Commodore of St Helena Yacht Club and will soon also be communicating through St Helena Radio.
Hilights of the trip have been sailing within hailing distance of Banjo, up spinnaker!!!, and the bulk of Table Mountain silhouetted against the loom of the city lights receding in the distance and off we went. The rain on our heads did not put us off. Heavy gusts at 3am had us dropping spinnaker, poling out the #3 headsail and still doing 12 knots, careering through the whitecaps, no moon and lots of posphorescence like pooing green fairy fire crackers. We were flying like the Red Bull in our bellies. Sardines and coffee also kept us awake.
Thanks to our supporters, well wishersand our sponsors.
Team Our Dianne

Off to a great start!



And they're off! With a picture perfect start right over the start line seconds after the gun is fired!



Team Our Dianne take the lead & are the first to round the final Bouy & head out to sea....



Making it official....



Skipper Billy getting all the race info & instructions from the officials

Team OUR DIANNE, Governors Cup 2010



The day has finally arrived...





 

Team Our Dianne...2 hours before the start....  

The team & their families in the final moments....



This is it! Surfs up!

Two years of dreaming, and 8 months of planning come to fruition in just 15 hours time. Team 'Our Dianne' spent today at the club putting the final touches in place, taking the old main sail down and slipping on their Sunday best. Billy said tonight "I am really upbeat about the Team and have a good feeling in my gut". This has really excited the team and they cant wait to get to sea to sail with Billy as he attempts to take the Governors Cup for an unprecedented third time. 

Race Face, 24 hours and counting!

As skipper Billy said in an email to the team tonight, "the countdown has begun!" The weather for the start looks more than ideal at around 10 to 15 knots southerly, although 'Our Dianne' would have liked a strong South East and a hard beat to Cape Point to help open up an early lead. Team 'Our Dianne' are still in the running for line honours but Banjo, the super fast trimaran skippered by Frans Loots and Jeremy Bagshaw (last years winner), look likely to claim the honour of first into St Helena. But the Governors Cup is not hoisted by the fastest boat over all and Billy and the team are dead set on securing that third win on handicap.

Race tracker website going live

Interested in following the progress of Team 'Our Dianne'? 'Our Dianne' as well as all the other 16 boats can followed anytime using the race tracker on the Governors cup website at www.thegovernorscup.co.za. All 17 boats are being fitted with tracking devices by Altech / Netstar who have partnered with the race organisors as official trackers of the GC 2010.

This is the life

Aaron, Julie, Spook & Billy were treated to a tour and lunch at Altydgedagt vineyards in Durbanville, Cape Town, this Thursday. The farm and St Helena have a long relationship dating back to Napoleon when he had their wines sent to him while in exile on the island. The original title deeds for the land were signed back in 1698 by Simon van der Stel himself. The tough life of of an ocean racer.

Pantry padding

The entire team pitched up for the cupboard lining ceremony at a local supermarket this afternoon. Two trolley loads later this team is not going hungry. There was mild concern as the beans and tinned curries were being loaded in, but apparently it's o.k. cause we'll be going faster than the "wind".

Communications? Tick

Team 'Our Dianne' communication partner Sat 4 Rent & Evosat, have installed the state of the art satellite voice and data communications system on board 'Our Dianne'. Thanks to this system the team will be not only be in permanent contact with the outside world, but will also be able to access valuable weather information via the web, as well as keep this blog up to date while thousands of miles out to sea. Marc Bow of Team 'Our dianne' & Plan C Productions can be seen filming the instalation for the Super Sport TV show.

4 days and counting

The 2010 Governors Cup build up got under way officially today in Simonstown. There was a fantastic turn out for the team parade through the main street as well as the mixing of the waters ceremony. Julie and Aaron were at last able to mix their St Helena waters with those of the other competing clubs, that they had nursed so carefully all the way to SA.

Let the festivities begin

This weekend sees the start of the 2010 Governors Cup festivities in Simonstown. Saturday morning all 18 teams will parade through the main street to Jubilee square, where the waters from all the entrants clubs will be mixed as art of the opening ceremony. As part of the ceromonies each skipper will also be issued with his clearance to sail, before the teams head off to the club for the final preparations for the start this Wednesday.

Bitter sweet days leading up to race

Our Dianne blogging has been slow over the past few days as team member Marc attends to sad family matters.
"With just a few days left till the start of my first ocean race my father eventually succumbed to illness and passed away at home in our mothers arms on Tuesday evening. I have left the team for a few days to be with my family but still look forward to starting this great adventure that my father was so interested in. I know he'll be with me out there and as Billy said, we'll look forward to celebrating his life out at sea. In his last will and testament, which the family read today, he requested for his ashes to be scattered at sea. While it won't be possible in time for this race, it certainly warms the heart to know his spirit will be in the winds that take us to St Helena."
Marc Bow

Exactly 1 week to the start of 2010 Governors Cup

It's exactly 1 week till the 2010 edition of the Governors Cup gets underway from Simonstown and the first long range forecast is in, it's going to be blowing south east. While south east is exactly what all the competitors want to push them in the direction of St Helena, it's the beat out of False Bay into the wind towards Cape Point thats going to prove interesting and wet.

Filling the cracks

Billy 'MacGyver' in the bilge tending to a temperamental stern lights wiring. The team will be spending the next few days ironing the last few problems flat before racking n packing this weekend.

The weather watching begins

With just 8 days to go till the start Team 'Our Dianne' has begun watching the forecasts for start day. Currently the furthest accurate forecast is the Monday 2 days before the start and the competitors will be keeping a watchful eye from here on to see if the predicted SE wind still be pumping as strong as it is on the current forecasts.

St Helena monkey

Aaron Legg climbs 'Our Dianne's' mast to take a picture for the scrutineers. And they say there's no monkeys in St Helena?

Scrutineering Complete

Andrew from Governors Cup race organisors  digs through 'Our Dianne's' grab bag during todays scrutineering session at FBYC. 

Scrutineering Monday 10am

Team 'Our Dianne' will be dockside early Monday morning for their vital scrutineering. Both the safety and seaworthiness of 'Our Dianne' will be subjected to the eagle eye's of the race stewards who are ensuring the fleet adheres to the rules and standards of the race.

Registration Complete

The first step towards receiving the clearance to sail from the race officer was completed this morning at FBYC. Despite the the festivities of the Blue peter Dinner the night before Team 'Our Dianne' turned out  in full force for their early registration slot. Erika and 'Spilly' Spillhaus of the race committee have been busy registering the 18 official entries since Saturday.

Our Dianne debut Cape Storm team shirt at Blue Peter dinner

Saturday night saw the Governors Cup 2010 official festivities commence with the Blue Peter Dinner at FBYC. Team 'Our Dianne' took the opportunity of the event to debut their official team shirt from Cape Storm. From left Marc Bow; Julie George (St Helena); Billy leisegang (skipper); Aaron Legg (St Helena); Spook and Ryan Leisegang.

Crew train in wet and strong westerly

Team 'Our Dianne' headed out into the bay this afternoon for training as a strong westerly blew in. Unfortunately an unwell Julie George of St Helena was unable to make the practice as her flu kept her in bed for the afternoon, while an 80% capacity crew took on the wet and windy weather. New comers to the team Aaron Legg and Marc Bow were shown "the ropes" of  'Our Diannes' foredeck and still have a lot of polishing left to do. Marc Bow said after the practice "I'm still tying sheets where halyards are meant to go but it's getting better with each sail." With just 10 days left till race day there's still quite a bit of sailing left to do before the gun at 12 noon on December 1.

Governors Cup Blue Peter Dinner

The Governors Cup 2010 Blue Peter dinner takes place tonight at 19:30 at FBYC in Simonstown. The Blue Peter or Papa flag is used by maritime vessels to indicate an imminent departure. 

Registration Day

Team 'Our Dianne' and the rest of the 18 strong fleet will be heading down to False Bay Yacht Club this weekend to register for the 2010 Governors Cup.

Underwater filming for Super Sport Production

Marc Bow of Our Dianne & Plan-C Productions talking to the camera crew filming keel and overhead passes for the Super Sport Governors Cup production. The 2 hour program will will be aired over two weeks in February 2010.

The "Saints" get to grips with 'Our Dianne'

Julie George and Aaron Legg getting to grips with 'Our Dianne' for the first time while filming an underwater shot for the Super Sport production of the Governors Cup.

Sat 4 Rent official satellite communications suppliers to Team 'Our Dianne"

Satellite communications company Sat 4 Rent have joined Team ' Our dianne' for the 2010 Governors Cup Race. Sat 4 rent will ensure Team 'Our Dianne' are always in contact with both voice and high speed data connections. In addition Sat 4 rent are also supporting the Governors Cup Race itself with both voice and data satellite communications for the race officer.

Cape Storm kit out crew of Team 'Our Dianne'

Team 'Our Dianne' are proud to announce that specialist outdoor clothing experts Cape Storm have partnered with Team 'Our Dianne' as their official clothing supplier for the Governors Cup Race 2010. Cape Storm have kitted out each team member with a range of clothing for all conditions expected during the 3400km sail to the island of St Helena.

The Saints have arrived

'Our Dianne' crew members Aaron Legg and Julie George have arrived from St Helena.

Aaron and Julie have both competed in the Governors Cup before, Aaron competed at 18 in 2002, and Julie was on board the winning yacht in 2008.