Local sailors win big in Tanzania
Mt Edgecombe sailor reflects on making history at Tanzacat-All Africa Hobie Championships.
TWO local sailors made history at the Tanzacat-All Africa Hobie Championships recently, becoming the first Durban sailors to win the prestigious event. Mount Edgecombe’s Garth Loudon and his sailing partner, Robbie Edouard-Betsy, finished with the highest number of wins over the 10 days of sailing. Incredibly, the duo won 12 out of 13 races around the bouys and finished third in the long race to clinch their first title in Tanzania.
The event is held in Msasani Bay, Dar es Salaam and consists of 13 Olympic course races and of course a sail to the exotic island of Zanzibar.
What began as a small annual event is now the largest open class catamaran event in Africa, with 52 catamarans manned by more than 100 sailors.
Northglen News recently caught up with the former Springbok sailor and Hobie 16 racer, Loudon, to find out about the event.
“The Tanzacat has always been something I wanted to do, and in recent years, with the resurgence of Hobie Cat racing in Durban, it ignited my passion to compete. I was very humbled by the win. It’s an absolute honour to win such a prestigious event. We actually found out we’d won through social media and it is just amazing how the race was received,” he said.
The 54-year-old said much of the resurgence in Hobie sailing came down to a dedicated group of sailors in the KZN region.
“I think the sailing clubs in Durban understand that for any sport to survive it needs youngsters, and I think that’s begun to happen, specifically for Hobies. I’m now setting my sights on entering the world masters champs next year,” Loudon enthused.
