The dinghy sailing season in South Africa’s Western Cape opened with the Southern Charter Classic hosted by Zeekoeivlei Yacht Club where optimist sailors battle it out in Cape Town.

The optimist fleet had thirteen entries in the A-fleet and three in the B-fleet. Winds were on the light side, seldom exceeding 10knots from the south on both Saturday and Sunday. The race officer, Craig Leslie, did a great job, getting a full complement of eight races. At the top of the fleet, there was a battle between fifteen-year-old optimist ‘veteran’ Chiara Fruet and young Ullman sailor, 10-year-old Sean Kavanagh.

Initially, Saturday looked to be Sean’s day as he crossed the line first in three of the four races, only to discover that he was OCS in the last race of the day, handing the honors to Chiara. Thomas Slater, also using an Ullman sail, showed strong form with two fourth places, a third and a second on the first day.

Sean Kavanagh finishes 3rd

On Sunday, Chiara came out with her game face on, and blew Sean away, winning the first three races in convincing fashion. Sean took the final race of the day as a consolation. Chiara was particularly impressive in the light winds, given that Sean has a considerable weight advantage. For Sean, the lessons from day one were quickly learned in that he was over early again in the first race of day two. This time he responded and went back. At the first weather mark, he was just about dead last in the fleet. However, he showed some character and good speed to fight back, finishing third in the race just a few centimeters behind fellow young gun Thomas Slater.

When the numbers were tallied, Chiara took a well-deserved regatta win from Sean and Thomas. Great fun was had by all and huge credit to the organizers and sponsors for an excellent event!