Yacht race a huge success in ideal weather
Off-shore sailing
An international flavour was brought to the list of entries.
The Walvis Bay Yacht Club’s annual Off-shore Race was held on Tuesday from Walvis Bay to the Langstrand jetty, with several classes on offer and shorter distances for the less experienced sailors and children.The event took place with mild wind and swells creating ideal conditions for the participants. Skipper Inès Duclairoir from France and Andrés Peró from Argentina added a welcome international flavour to the race in the Catamaran Hobie 16 class, which they won.
The 16-year-old Anna Verchuša took top honours in the Laser Class, with her dad Slava Verchuša second and Yana Lyeshchuk third.
One has to be optimistic to sail these little boats single-handedly on the sea and therefore the class is named Optis.
In this class two nieces, Tatána Verchuša and Milana Burlachenko (13 years), took each other on in the race to Bird Island and back to the Walvis Bay Yacht Club.
Tatána got the better of the less experienced Milana, clinching the first place by a relatively small margin.
The Hobie Class second place was taken by Lothar Redecker and Doris Gladis, third Gunther Gladis and Leani Roux, fourth Ettiene Labuschagne and fifth Jochem Roeber and Raki Suleman.
Peter Davidson, organizer from Walvis Bay Yacht Club, said afterwards: “The race originated from 1979 and has been sailed every year since.
“In the past the race took place from Walvis Bay to the Mole in Swakopmund, but due to Covid we changed the format. The change brought less complications with a logistics nightmare for the participants that have to travel with trailers to Swakopmund to fetch their boats after the race.
“Mr Theo Schoeman and Atlantic Oil Solutions last year and in 2023 were kind enough to sponsor this race. Without them it would not be possible for us to host the event.
“If people are interested to take up sailing, they are more than welcome to contact us. We got people here that are presenting courses twice a month at the venue. Come and sail with us!”
Walvis Bay Yacht Club is on Facebook.
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