Optimist Africans 2019

Published Sat 31 Aug 2019

South Africa’s Sean Kavanagh just missed out on a podium place at the Optimist African Championships in the Seychelles by four points. Sailing against competitors significantly older, the 11-year-old Kavanagh enjoyed an excellent week of results, claiming wins in two of the 10 races, and never finishing outside the top 10.

A total of 42 sailors representing eight countries competed at the Championships. The Angolan team claimed a clean sweep of the medals with Ranancio Paulo taking top spot and Armindo Sousa second. Osvaldo Gama just edged into third spot on the final day of racing to finish ahead of Kavanagh, who had to settle for fourth.

Of the other SA sailors, Rohan Chidley was the next best, finishing in 11th spot. Connor McLoughlin was 28th and Dean Carstens 29th, while Adrian Rautenbach finished in 36th spot. The only girl on the team, Olivia Purchase was 39th.


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