Four young people from Cape Town, South Africa, have just enjoyed an experience they say they will never forget. Valentino Scholtz, 17, Sakhekile Qoyi, 18, Shafeeqah Salie, 25 and Claire Bouah, 25, all earned the chance to sail on Christian Radich thanks to the South African Sail-Training for Life-Skills Development Association (SASLA). SASLA promotes and assists the provision of opportunities for training under sail to youth and adults to foster the development of sustainable life skills, constructive citizenship and the art of seamanship.

The four joined the ship in Bergen knowing nothing about tall ships and only a little about sailing dinghies. They all expressed the experience as having been ‘amazing’ and said, without hesitation, that they would love to do it again as it had taught them so much about themselves and other cultures. “It also made us realise how proud we are of our own country, which was something I hadn’t expected,” said Shafeeqah.

Photo: L to R: Valentino Schholtz, Shafeeqah Salie, Sakhekile Qoyi and Claire Bouah.

Sakhekile, who had wanted to take part in Team SA’s participation in The Tall Ships’ Races last year but had been unable to obtain a visa in time, said the experience had presented him with many challenges which had made him think. “It is only when you are encountering challenges that you find ways to tackle them and that means you become more open minded. It was very interesting to realise how much more you can achieve,” said Sakhekile.

Shafeeqah said she loved the great spirit that was on board. “It was a bit like being part of the United Nations as we had so many nationalities on board. We teased each other about their accents, words they used, languages and habits, but we were all a team,” she said. “It was so nice to be part of something bigger and is much better than taking a holiday lying on a beach or something. It was great to see a different reality, to see how different life could be and how South Africa could become. It has given us all a new perspective on life and also an appreciation of our own country.” Shafeeqah has always been active and particularly keen on challenging herself but in the past this has been largely limited to mountaineering. “This has opened up something more for me and I really enjoyed the experience.”

Valentino earned himself the nickname of ‘mast-monkey’ as he spent so much time climbing to the top of the mast. “I loved it when it was rough and the mast swayed from side to side, the view from up there was amazing!” Valentino, who also applied to take part last year and was delighted to be in the first team this year, wants to work in tourism and feels the experience will be invaluable to him.

All of them agreed that having the chance to exchange ideas with Europeans of their own age was invaluable. “The most interesting thing that I discovered was that actually we have more in common with Europeans than I thought,” said Shafeeqah. “We could exchange ideas and through that we realised there are a lot of misconceptions about South Africa that we could alter.”

Claire Bouah currently works as a debt collector and found the experience of sailing on Christian Radich has really opened her eyes to the world. “I feel more comfortable on this ship than I do in an office back home and the experience has made me realise that I would like to explore the possibility of making a career out of sailing,” said Claire. “I’ve no idea how I could go about doing that, but a huge door has opened in front of me and I’m really excited about it. ” Claire, who also speaks German said that she is proud of being able to cross borders and break barriers. “We were already winners before we boarded the ship!”

The four say they will be sad to leave Christian Radich and hope to come back and repeat the experience one day. They also hope that one day South Africa will have a Tall Ship of their own. “We have all visited the Tall Ships that have visited Cape Town and been in awe of them, so to have this experience to sail on board was a dream come true,” said Sakhekile, who clearly spoke for them all. They leave for South Africa on Saturday but their memories will be with them for a lot longer and no doubt their story will inspire more to follow in their footsteps.

Christian Radich is the provisional winner of the race overall on corrected time.
Provisional Results

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