Francesca Villette
FIVE young sailors from the Western Cape will jet off to China on Friday to compete in the seventh Qingdao International Sailing Week, which takes place next week.
They were selected from 70 entries and will represent the province in the competition from August 12 to 16.
The crew was invited to participate by agreement between the provincial government and the Shandong Province in east China.
The sailors are Sieraj Jacobs from Grassy Park, Paul Vivian from Sunset Beach, Nina Pienaar from Rosebank, Cape Town, Daniel Agulhas from Ocean View and Theo Yon from Hout Bay.
They got together for the first time about two weeks ago.
Pienaar, an archaeology student at UCT, said she was excited to be heading to China.
Yon said he had always had a love for sailing. “I got involved in sailing at a young age and love the thrill of the sport,” Yon said.
Chairperson of South African Sailing in the Western Cape, Bev Le Sueur, said the team had been extremely dedicated, training for up to almost 14 hours over two-day periods.
“We are incredibly excited… They have fulfilled and met all the criteria and from the day they were appointed as the sailors who would represent the province, they have gone beyond the call of duty. They have put in up to 13-and-a-half hours of sailing time over two days,” Le Sueur said.
The competition will be held in the Olympic Sailing Centre and a number of professional international teams from countries including China and Germany will be competing.
Jacobs, who is also the skipper, said the team had prepared as much as it could. “In the short space of time we have worked a lot at organising the team and getting to know each other, because having good camaraderie is important,” Jacobs said.
Cultural Affairs and Sport MEC Anroux Marais wished the team well.