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When Sibusiso Sizatu saw the sea for the first time, he was amazed at the sheer size of what he naively thought was a lake. Twenty years later, a former herdsman, a South African, prepares to sail across the Atlantic Ocean.
On January 2, he sails from the southern tip of the African continent to Brazil for the 17th Cape2Rio, the longest sailing competition in the southern hemisphere, with a 3,700 nautical mile (6,600 km) crew.
Standing on the dock in a white polo shirt next to a 10-meter sailboat named Alex Forbes Archangel, the 30-year-old skipper believes he has already won by reaching the starting line.
“This will open the eyes of young people,” he told AFP, hoping to inspire a new generation of black sailors. There is no doubt about it, but winning is the best bonus.
About 15 ships are registered, most of which are monohulls. The record for this crossing, set in the previous edition in 2020, is 7 days and 20 hours.
Leading a crew of four men and one woman today, Sibusiso Sizatu, all South African, originally dreamed of becoming a professional footballer. Nelson was originally from rural Mandela’s native Eastern Cape province and moved with his family to the town of Cape Town when he was nine years old.
In his mind as a child, sailing was the pastime of wealthy, usually retired whites. Far from the daily life of his robbed neighborhood.
– Peace on the water –
By chance, I learned the taste of the sea. An association intervened in his school and made it a mission to teach sailing to children who were often slow to understand the water or not at all, and who were regularly victims of drowning.
His first outing was not successful. Seasickness and fear in the stomach. He jumped into the water and swam back to shore.
It is ultimately the desire to win that persuades him after a friend wins a race that puts him on board. Sibusiso Sizatu realized that it wasn’t just a matter of “playing in the water”, steering a boat was a serious sport.
He proved talented and began training. Of course, he didn’t always have the money to go to events. Also, he didn’t have his ID until he was 20, which prevented him from competing abroad.
But he began to feel his element.
The world of sailing is breaking new ground for him and his ambition is to push the boundaries of the sport: racism still exists.
He is the first Royal Cape Yacht Club student to attend Cape2Rio. The association was founded ten years before him to help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds flourish in the world.
His crew is between the ages of 21 and 30 and is made up of passionate people with similar backgrounds. He was the only one to participate in the transatlantic race.
Sponsors didn’t come right away, but they held on. “It will be a real starting point for us.” This adventure, the young sailor already anticipates.
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