South Africa added to its bottomless bag of sporting victories when a crew captained by Capetonian Ryan Gibson triumphed in the South Atlantic leg of the illustrious Clipper Round the World Yacht Race and arrived in his home city on Thursday morning.
Also read: Clipper Round the World Yacht Race comes to Cape Town
This is the first time a South African has won this leg of the Clipper Race, an event that started in 1996 and sees people from all walks of life – whether professional sailors or not – train to take part in an eight-stage race around the world.
‘Dare To Lead’ won Race Three of the global circumnavigation, just five nautical miles ahead of second-placed team ‘Perseverance’.
Gibson is the skipper of a mixed-nationality team called ‘Dare To Lead’ which includes six South African non-professional crew members. As the sun rose over Table Mountain on Friday morning, Gibson and his team sailed across the finish line after racing 3 555 nautical miles from Uruguay.
The team had been in second place for the majority of the 19-day leg race but with just 48 hours of the voyage to go, the team used Stealth Mode (a tactical feature of the race that allows the teams to become hidden from each other for a 24-hour period) and popped back onto the race’s tracker in first place after heading south.
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Beyond being the first South African skipper to win the South Atlantic leg, this is a significant win for two reasons: it was the skipper’s first time in 15 years that he sailed into his home city, and he also opted to play his team’s Joker, which garnered the team double finishing position points.
Upon arriving at the V&A Waterfront, Gibson said, ‘This feels unbelievable. It’s sinking in now, and I am super proud of everyone.’
‘We just wanted to keep fighting and fighting. We learnt from the other legs to just never give up. It’s been a challenging crossing, we had some really high pressure which gave us some good speed, and then this morning ended up in a wind hole – so we had a painfully slow and tense finish,’ Gibson told the Clipper Race management team.
‘But everyone is so excited to be here in Cape Town. The South Africans on board have been talking about it so much, so arriving into Table Bay this morning was such a special moment. This is definitely a highlight of my career, and it will be forever,’ he added.
Gibson’s fellow South Africans on board ‘Dare To Lead’ are:
- Retief Jordaan – 38, Langebaan, construction manager, Circumnavigator
- Donavan Hendricks – 46, Johannesburg, managing director, Leg 2
- Nathali Immelman – 40, South African living in the UK, mental health practitioner, Leg 2
- Pieter Malherbe – 53, Malmesbury, business owner, Leg 2
- Marco Xinisteris – 43, Bedfordview, food processing, Leg 2 & 3
- Antoon Hofman – 31, Johannesburg, product developer, Leg 2
The fleet of eleven Clipper 70 ocean racing yachts will be berthed at the V&A Waterfront until 18 November and the public is invited to tour one of the yachts and get a taste of what it’s like to live on board.
Tours are available at Quay 6 from 11 am to 7 pm from 14 to 16 November.
There will also be a schedule of discovery talks happening at the amphitheatre where you can find out what it takes to become a Clipper Race Crew member. Discovery talks take place from 14 to 16 November, at 12pm, 4pm and 7pm each day.
To learn about the world’s toughest ocean challenge, explore interactive exhibits, watch race highlights, and chat with ex-race crew members, make your way to the Clipper Race Discovery Dome, which will be present until 18 November, from 9am to 5pm daily.
Come 18 November, the fleet will then set sail for Fremantle, Australia.
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