Sailing really is for everyone. This is the message of Durban’s Sail Africa Youth Development Foundation and its “Equity, Education, Environment” (EEE) programme which has won the Hollard Sport Industry Social & Environmental Impact Award for 2022.
This initiative encourages equity and gender empowerment within the sport of sailing. As an agent for social cohesion and through their aggressive transformation programme, the Foundation has changed the racial and gender profiles of sailors at regattas in Durban by encouraging equity and gender empowerment. Their internationally profiled “Girls in Sailing” programme has seen more females participating in sailing and improving their podium positions, and in the process given these young sailors valuable opportunities.
The Hollard Sport Industry Awards took place on Thursday 24 November. Billed as South Africa’s most prestigious awards ceremony for sport and business, these awards acknowledge the leaders and trailblazers within the business of sport. The Social and Environmental Award is open to any professional organisation either within the sport industry, or which uses sport as a vehicle to drive community, environmental, diversity and inclusion or broader social and sustainability benefits.
Sail Africa, a Non-Profit Public Benefit Organisation with Section 18 A status, registered with the Department of Social Development in September 2008. It was started with the objective of growing sailors, specifically young female sailors, from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Operating out of Boatman Lane, Durban Marina, the majority of sailing is done within the Harbour precinct.
One awe-inspiring story from Sail Africa’s EEE programme is that of Nqobile Khuzwayo (19), who participated in the sister programme run out of Simon’s Town in the Western Cape. Straight from writing her maritime economics final exam last week, Khuzwayo flew to Dakar in Senegal to join the all-female crew on Maiden, an 18m aluminium yacht which the team will sail down the West Coast of Africa and into the Port of Cape Town.
Another story is that of 24-year-old Vuyisile Jaca (24), one of the sailors who will also be joining the team for one of the legs from Dakar. Jaca could not swim when she joined the programme back in 2015 and had never seen the sea. Today she is a qualified swimming teacher and is in charge of all the water safety elements in Durban. She has also completed the gruelling Vasco Da Gama Ocean Race, has earned her Day Skippers license and will also soon be qualifying as a sailing instructor.
Sail Africa also has another sister programme in Cape Town at the Royal Cape Yacht Club Academy. This Academy has entered an all-female crew in the Cape to Rio Yacht race which starts on 2 January 2023!
While many girls from this programme have achieved great success, the EEE programme is not only for girls. Another success story is that of a young man who joined in Grade 8 and developed a keen interest in the sea and a passion for sailing. He has since become a naval officer and was part of the team on the SA Agulhas that located the century-old wreck of the Endurance in January 2022.
“Being on a boat is team sport. Both boys and girls bring different dynamics to the team. Now boys and girls sail equally. It is now based on how good you are regardless of whether you are a boy or girl,” says Jackie Barnard from SAIL Africa Youth Development Foundation.
“Although strength may be required, it is more often than not the skill of the sailor. As a sailor, you do need technical skills because when things break on the boat, they need to be fixed there and then on the ocean,” she says.
Earlier this year, Sail Africa Youth Development Foundation was recognised for its outstanding contribution to the sport of sailing, receiving the prestigious World Sailing 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award in a special ceremony held at Point Yacht Club in Durban. This latest award celebrates the Foundation’s success in enabling better futures for all those who may previously have been excluded from the noble sport of sailing.
