Vasco da Gama- it's a wrap!

Africa’s oldest ocean coastal race, the Vasco da Gama Ocean Race, organised by Point Yacht Club and Buffalo River Yacht Club, set off from Durban on 30 April 2023 with the finish approximately 300 nautical miles later in East London. Congratulations to race winners Regardless 2, skippered by Sean Jones, and all those who took part. See results here. Check out some of the photos and videos of the action on the race’s official Facebook page.
Sailing News SA Sailing Vasco da Gama

Adaptive sailing in Pretoria

Part of SA Sailing’s mission is to make sailing accessible to all South Africans. That’s why we were so excited by this adaptive sailing plan for Pretoria Sailing Club… Adaptive sailing project plan for Pretoria Sailing Club Mission/objective To provide the possibility for people with mobility impairments to use the club facilities and be able to sail or canoe. By doing so to be able to attract new members to the club who have disabilities as well as to support current club members who may ha
Sailing News SA Sailing Adaptive Sailing Pretoria Sailing Club

SA Sailing National Awards open voting

South African Sailing invites you to submit your vote for the 2022 Annual Awards covering the period 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022. Submit your vote by selecting the nominee you feel most deserves the award. Check out the nominees here. This voting process is only for categories where more than one finalist has qualified. Only categories with valid finalists will be awarded. The voting process closes on midnight, 30 June 2023 following which the SA Sailing Council will review the votes r
Sailing News SA Sailing National Awards

2023 Youth Worlds Team Announcement

Five young sailors have been selected to represent South Africa at the 2023 Youth Sailing World Championships in the coastal resort town of Armação dos Búzios, Brazil from 8-16 December. Taking to the water in the girls’ 29er class are sisters Ingrid and Lena Holm. “At the moment we are quite busy with school so we are struggling to get on the water to train, but we are spending lots of time working on our tactics and strategy at home (which is at the moment our weakest point that needs the
Sailing News SA Sailing 2023 Youth Worlds Team Announcement

President's Update

I want to revisit the old chestnut - "What does South African Sailing do for me?" Maybe, this time, I will reverse the order in which I address the issues, although, in my view, the precedence of order is often in the eyes of the member. We are a diverse community, with diverse interests and diverse orders of importance. Right at this moment, my attention is focussed on access to water and tenure to the premises from which we operate. In this past week, I had a ver successful meeting at just
Sailing News SA Sailing President Update

Performance & Training

Are you planning or preparing to participate in the European season? Then, a reminder that the Department of Sport and Recreation requires any athletes participating at events outside of our borders to advise SA Sailing of your participation. Please be so kind as to complete the requested information in the form on the SA Sailing Website’s performance page: Performance Sailing | South African Sailing This requirement is key to the eligibility requirement for colours to be awarded and helps SA
Sailing News SA Sailing Performance and Training

Training and Development

National Training Programme The National Training Programme (NTP) continues to grow. Find out more on the following: Quick Links: Learn to Sail Programme Race officials Programme Train to Win Programme 2023 NTP Pricelist Latest NTP updates & Programme Scheduling protocols Course/Programme Finder Tool Renewing SA Sailing Instructor, Coaches and Race Officer Centre application to SA Sailing as a Recognised Training Centre NTP Judges Seminar – (new or renewing) A Judges Seminar will be
Sailing News SA Sailing Training and Development

Steering the Course 2023 - Calling all SA ladies!

As part of our 2023 Steering the Course Campaign, World Sailing is looking to highlight more pathways in sailing and have a new social media feature, Steering my Course. They are looking for Women from all across sailing to share their journey in photos and would be looking for the following information: Name: First Name Last Name Location: City, Country. Job / Occupation Please provide 5 images (as high quality as possible) that best describe pivotal moment in your sailing pathway. Past, pre
Sailing News SA Sailing Steering the course

Regional News

Remember to catch up on what’s been going on in the various regions throughout the month by keeping an eye out for the Weekend Washups on SA Sailing’s social media channels. Facebook; Instagram. Save the date – regional AGMs Please don’t forget the Annual General Meeting in your region: Western Cape: 26 June RCYC 6pm KwaZulu-Natal: 10 June, 10:30 am at PYC Eastern Cape: 14 May, 2pm at Redhouse Yacht Club. Northern Region: TBC. Western Cape Regional News KwaZulu Natal Regional News
Sailing News SA Sailing Regional News

Inland and offshore

A close call for Hubert Saayman – Nyamezela / Rio 2 Cape return We had a near fatal incident on Sunday the 5th of March at 2:30am. I was on 24:00-03:00 shift at the helm contending with some large swells and 15-20 knots wind on the starboard beam. I had the tiller and sitting with my back facing the weather. Suddenly out of nowhere, a gust healed the boat over to about 35deg and a breaker hit us square on the starboard beam with a ton of water gushing over / into the cockpit. I took a serious a
Sailing News SA Sailing Inland and Offshore

The Sailor's Wife – a great read

The Sailor's Wife – a great read If you’re looking for an entertaining sailing read, check out Maureen Girdlestones The Sailor’s Wife. As he author explained: “It is the true story of the yacht Alter Ego stolen from Royal Cape Yacht Club during the aching Eighties, the amazing events that followed a frantic worldwide search and the near miracle find thanks to a Samaritan on the island of Grenada in the Antilles. Taking advantage of the situation, years of cruising ensued with adventures galore
Sailing News SA Sailing General Interest The Sailor's wife

SA Sailing celebrate accreditation renewal

World Sailing visited three of SA Sailing’s accredited training centres in the course of March as part of an audit of the National Training Programme. General Manager Lucy de Freitas hosted the World Sailing representative and was thrilled with the outcome. “It gives me great pleasure to advise you all that we have successfully passed and completed our World Sailing audit of our training programme, with no action plan,” she said. “The inspector sent to us, was Richard Percy – CEO of the Andre
Sailing News SA Sailing

SA Sailing hails trailblazing Neuschäfer’s victory in round-the-world race

SA Sailing have hailed the efforts of solo South African sailor Kirsten Neuschäfer, who made history last Thursday by becoming the first woman to win the prestigious Golden Globe round-the-world race. Neuschäfer was the only female sailor to contest the race which required competitors to circumnavigate the globe without the use of modern technology or the benefit of satellite-based navigation aids. The Gqeberha sailor set off on the epic 48,000km solo round-the-world challenge from Les Sables-
Sailing News SA Sailing Kirsten Neuschäfer Golden Globe Race 2023

President's Update April

I want to focus our attention on the remarkable exploits of Kirsten Neuschäfer. The official version sounds like this: “South African sailor Kirsten Neuschäfer of Gqeberha has rewritten the history books by becoming the first woman to win the solo Golden Globe Race – a journey around the world reliant on no use of modern technology while navigating the globe’s temperamental oceans.” (Yange Sibembe – Daily Maverick) But there is so much more than that! Frans Loots assures me that she is the fi
Sailing News SA Sailing President Update

SA Sailing hails trailblazing Kirsten Neuschäfer victory in round-the-world race

27 April 2023 – SA Sailing have hailed the efforts of solo South African sailor Kirsten Neuschäfer, who made history on Thursday by becoming the first woman to win the prestigious Golden Globe round-the-world race. Neuschäfer was the only female sailor to contest the race which required competitors to circumnavigate the globe without the use of modern technology or the benefit of satellite-based navigation aids... Read more...
Sailing News SA Sailing Golden Globe Race 2023 Kirsten Neuschäfer

Performance & Training

Olympic Games Paris 2024 The 2024 Olympic Games will take place in Paris, France from Friday, 26 July to Sunday, 11 August 2024 SA Sailing recently published its selection policy for these Games. Any sailors or officials wishing to campaign towards these Games, should read and understand the selection and eligibility requirements and note their Expression of Interest with SA Sailing as soon as possible. The link to lodge Expression of Interest is included within the policy document: Click here.
Sailing News SA Sailing Performance and Training

Training and Development

The National Training Programme continues to grow find out more on the following: National Training Programme - New pricing effective 1 February 2023 Please click here for the new pricing for the National Training Programme Upcoming courses In recent weeks, a number of course dates have been finalised under both the Instructor and Race Officials Programme. Details on these can be found on our website using the course finder tool. Courses | South African Sailing This nifty tool brings toget
Sailing News SA Sailing Training and Development