Monday, 4 July 2022, was the official start of the MSC week, a regatta that comprises the J22, L26, and ORC classes of boats. The five-day sailing race was hosted by the Point Yacht Club (PYC) and it had 22 boats participating, as well as, another 24 in the J22 world cup (which is part of the MSC.
Various countries across the globe gather for the MSC week to sail and race for the sailing title. This year, the regatta had participants from the UK, Netherlands, and South Africa.
“It is my first time in South Africa and I am enjoying it so much here. It is just unfortunate that I injured my wrist so I cannot participate in the regatta. However, I am having such a great time here. I love the people and I love the winter weather here. Seeing that I am not able to participate due to my injury, I decided to just take this opportunity of coming to South Africa and use it as a holiday, whilst supporting my teammates of course,” said Floor Verhoogt, a sailor from the Netherlands.
A boat from Cape Town, Nitro Juice, won the world championship of the J22 class. On the winning boat was a sailor from Durban, Siyanda Vato, who made his way through the development programmes of Sail Africa. The Zululand Yacht Club (ZYC) youth team went home with the L26 regional championship title followed by the Westville Boys High School who were on the Cheetah boat, they came in second place, and in third place Glenwood Boys who were on the PYC boat, Container World. Westville Boys High School also walked away with the ‘Most Improved’ title.
“The MSC Week 2022 hosted by PYC was an enormous success! We boosted 7 development teams, of which 5 were youth development and one an all-girls youth development. We experienced all conditions, and it was a very fair regatta in the end with exceptionally light winds up to 20 knots, which is just below the J22 maximum they can manage. All in all a great event and all participants had a great time and are eagerly awaiting the next season’s MSC. A big thank you to MSC Captain Sarno for his generosity and sponsorship of this event as well as to the commodore of PYC Robin Hulley for all he and his team do for PYC and sailing in Durban and KZN,” said Ashley Rainier, Rear Commodore of Keelers at PYC.
All the participants showed great excitement and enthusiasm throughout the regatta as this year was their first official MSC Week that they had since the COVID-19 regulations have been eased.
“It was an awesome regatta after we haven’t had it in a while. The results were just a cherry on top for all the sailors. The sailing, the race courses, the preparations, and the experience gained is what made this regatta awesome,” Praise Baras, one of the sailors who were participating at the MSC Week Regatta.
