After 24 days out at sea and a 3 300 nautical mile ocean crossing, Masiphumelele skipper Sibusiso Sizatu and his crew have crossed the finish line of the 50th Cape2Rio yacht race with a podium finish coming in third place.
Mr Sizatu, Daniel Agulhas, Renaldo Tshepo Mohale, Thando Mntambo, Azile Arosi and Justin Peters made history in the golden anniversary of the iconic race by being the first complete crew from the RCYC Sailing Academy to cross the finish line.
The RCYC Sailing Academy was formally established in 2012 at the Royal Cape Yacht Club to create opportunities for previously disadvantaged youth and address a lack of diversity at the club.
“This has been such an amazing experience for all of us, It’s one I personally will never forget. It’s been many years in the making and I just want to say thank you to my crew, the RCYC academy, our sponsor Alexforbes and all of our supporters,” Mr Sizatu said, speaking to the Echo over the phone from Rio de Janeiro.
Their yacht, the Alexforbes ArchAngel, departed on Monday January 2, from Cape Town and crossed the finish line on Thursday January 26 at Guanabara Bay.
The final hours of the race saw the boat neck and neck with their closest competitor, Argonaut, eventually beating them by 23 minutes to come in third position.
“We couldn’t see a boat for like 20 days, then finding out that there was a boat that was racing with us to the finishing line, going neck and neck was exciting. But it looked like we had the best route, and we just kept keeping our nose forward and pushing to the finish line. It kind of pumped up our spirit,” he said.
After arriving on dry land, the first thing Mr Sizatu said he wanted to do was sleep.
“When you’re out at sea, you don’t really sleep, you have to be alert as anything can happen at any time, so I was really looking forward to getting a good night’s rest.”
Ms Arosi, the only female member of the crew, said: “We are tired, it’s been a long three weeks. The first two weeks were great, everything was going well. In the third week, I realised we are at sea, it is a long trip on a small boat, and reality and boredom started to sink in. But all of this was forgotten on the final day when we were racing for the finish.”
In the future, Mr Sizatu hopes to see an all-female crew from the academy doing a race of similar stature, empowering more women in the sport.
“We have about 25 to 36 girls who have joined the academy, and we have four girls who have been with the academy since 2017. They’re experienced, and they’re driven. We were just stepping stones, we opened the way, and I believe it can happen,” he said
Alexforbes executive Viresh Maharaj said the team had made the country proud and defied society’s expectations by going boldly into this race.
“Sibusiso and his crew are an example to all of us that with the right support, determination and grit, dreams can and do come true.”
Sixteen teams lined up at the start, hailing from South Africa, Brazil, India, Italy and America, with three boats withdrawing during the challenging event. The overall race was won by Atalanta, with Ray of Light in second position.
