Kevin Rainer claims back-to-back Congella Cup victories

Kevin Rainer made waves as he successfully championed his way to first place in the Congella Cup over the weekend.

Defending his title, Rainer and his crew on Tequila Sunrise claimed the Congella Cup for the second year in a row.

The annual event hosted offshore by Point Yacht Club invites sailors to tackle two days of medium distance racing around the cans set with the magnificent Golden Mile as the backdrop. Rainer, competing on his beloved L26, was racing against yachts a fair size bigger than his 26 foot yacht Tequila Sunrise. His main competitor pushing him around the course, was CFM skippered by Nigel Milln. 

At the end of the second day, Rainer said they had a great sail.

“The wind was a bit stronger than anticipated for the first race and conditions were perfect. At the start of the second race, the wind was a bit light, and CFM went really well in the lighter breeze,” Rainer said.

Race Officer for the series, Anthony Howes set a rarely seen fun racetrack on the second day. Resembling a giant T-Junction, gliding through the start line, the fleet made their way to a mark set about a nautical mile directly in front of the bridge boat. The yachts then turned 90 degrees to the right, rounding the bottom mark to port, in the process making a U-Turn to race up to the third mark placed further offshore. Again, the competitors did a U-Turn, heading back to the middle mark where they turned right for the sprint down to the finish line.

 “The course was very different to the usual Windward Leeward or There-and-Back courses that we normally do, but it was great to do something different. The bridge did a great job running all four races of the series,” said Rainer. “Leading up to race day, the predictions didn’t look favourable, keeping competitors away but the weather Gods dished up surprisingly good conditions on the day. It would have been nice to have more boats, especially more L26s.”

In the four races, Rainer broke the finish tape three times, with CFM sailing superbly in the light conditions taking the honours in the last race and Tequila Sunrise cruising to a second place. CFM notched up two second places, a third place and the all-important bullet in the final race in the series, finishing three points behind Rainer.

Robin Hulley and his son Jacques earned third place overall. On the second day, they did well in the first race coming third across the line but botched the final race, with a few adventurous roundings and settling for fourth. The varsity entry, SLFC Spindrift skippered by Keyuren Maharaj placed fifth overall but did well in the final race, finishing third across the line.

The next event for the keelers at Point Yacht Club is the Tugela Overnight Race starting on Saturday March 8. For more info visit www.pyc.co.za or find the club on social media.