Thornhill wins Highveld Sailing Club’s winter regatta

Wayne Thornhill won the Highveld Sailing Club’s winter regatta recently held at Trichardtsfontein Dam.

He scored five points and Gert Lategan (a junior sailor) finished second with 13 points, Dries Lategan finished third with 14 points, Gideon Slabbert finished fourth with 17 points and son and father, Coenraad Swiegers and Pieter Swiegers respectively finished fifth and sixth with 27 points each.

Sean Boyley and Jasper Coetzee, who have been members of the club for a long time, offered training to all their junior and women sailors earlier this year and taught them how to tie knots and what to do in specific scenarios on the water.

They will do more training again later this year.

Boyley said it is great to teach an children how to sail solo.

“There are not many activities where you can teach a child geometry, mechanics and physics while showing them that the mind always matters more than brute strength and that size and gender are irrelevant to success,” said Boyley.

“Sailing is a sport where the playing field of wind and water mutates with every race to remind them that nature is ever-dynamic, yet it enforces rules of right-of-way, sportsmanship, and marine safety.

“It is lessons that train them to assemble complex sails and rigging, wash their own clothes, and not panic when capsizing, lessons that teach them to trust their judgement, take responsibility for their decisions and not to blame anyone or anything else other than themselves.

“Sailing is a lifestyle that begins with a love for the water, and ends with the ability to read a secret language of waves, clouds, currents and the predictable movement of a boat.”