Sail Africa, based in Durban, South Africa, has been running a successful Girls in Sailing programme since 2019, aimed at introducing young women of all ages to the sport.

From schoolgirls to university students, Sail Africa welcomes women from all backgrounds, helping to instil a passion for sailing and empowering them to improve and grow out on the water.

Jackie de Fin, Operations Director at Sail Africa, said, “2019 was the year of Woman in Maritime Africa (WIMA), and as a result of that, we decided to start a programme to encourage more development girls to take up the sport. because of the enormous empowerment opportunities that sailing offers them.

“We can think of no better way to empower a girl than to put them on a boat with the responsibility that goes with it; of not only keeping themselves and their crew safe, but to ensure enjoyment and a result on the racecourse.

“We never foresaw how successful this programme was actually going to be, and we are immensely proud of the girls today.

“Not only do we have schoolgirls in the programme, we have university students and we have girls from unemployed backgrounds, who are given various opportunities through our sport.

“They have won regattas, they have won trophies, and we are very proud to see what they have achieved today.”

Hear from some of the young women who make up Sail Africa in various capacities:

Sunita Henkeman, Senior Instructor:
“I am a level 2 senior instructor and have achieved a lot here. The thing that I like about being a senior instructor is that it teaches you a lot of responsibility and accountability to do these courses, because you need to understand that it involves a lot more than just taking the kids out and letting them go sail.

“In the future, I want to open up my own sailing school; I can teach what I’ve been taught to other kids, so they can also know how it is and what to do. It’s always a lot of fun; you learn a lot of things, you make new friends and it’s always good for learning.”

Nicolene Henkeman, Skipper of Girls Train to Win programme:
“I started sailing with the Sea Cadets in 2017 and I got invited by Sail Africa to join their girls team. What I like about the programme is that I am all for women empowerment, and to be able to build up a girl’s team was one of my biggest dreams ever.

“My achievements include taking my team, with some coaching, to an international rank in the Bart’s Bash. What I hope to further achieve in my sailing career is; one, have a girl’s team in the Cape to Rio one day, and also be able to do my Yachtmaster ticket.”

Ngozi Egbuna, school student:
“I started sailing in the beginning of the year 2019 with my school on every Wednesday. We entered an inter-school regatta whereby the boat that I skippered came first, and from there I joined the Girls Train to Win programme.

“With the Girls Train to Win programme I have achieved so much, such as the best youth sailor and also most improved sailor. My hopes for sailing is to sail at international levels, to sail in regattas and also for sailing to be my full-time career.”

Siphosihle Qwabe, university student:
“I’m studying at DUT (Durban University of Technology), doing my third year in nautical studies. I joined Sail Africa in 2019 while I was doing my first year. From there I was given a chance to participate in the Girls Train to Win programme.

“From the programme I hope to gain more experience and more knowledge in sailing via races and practices. By doing so, I wish to achieve my main goal in sailing, which is participate in national and other international regattas or races.”

Amanda Gasa, university student:
“My feel good moment is when sailing regattas, because the importance and communication really shows. I also love how everyone gives their absolute all to be able to make it to the finish – maybe with some new scars, but they say you don’t normally cherish something that you do not sweat for, right?

“Sailing has also taught me how important every second in every minute is. You might have had a great start during the race, but then those few seconds of you losing focus can take you from being first to being last. It’s kind of similar to life because we are all on our own races towards our goals and towards making our dreams come true.

“I say to everyone that we need to focus and not lose focus, because time wasted, even though we may try to make up for it in every way possible, can no longer be retrieved.”

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