The J22 World Championships is set to take place in Durban, South Africa, at the beginning of July 2022. A fleet of 25 boats is expected, providing a yachting spectacle, the likes of which have not been in South Africa for several years. The event will be attended by a selection of the best sailors in South Africa and numerous overseas competitors, including previous world champions. And Ullman Sails South Africa couldn’t be prouder to be supplying sails and Ullman Sails Gear to not one but two incredible local teams this year!

This includes an all-men team as well as the only all-women team to take part in this year’s event. Meet these incredible sailors below:

Da J Sailing Team

This sailing team is made of up three incredible male sailors that have years of experience sailing together. Each individual is accomplished in their own right, but together they have achieved the highest level of success in the South African sailing
context – winning the Lipton Cup in 2013.

Richard Weddell will be the team’s skipper. Richard started sailing in Optimists representing South Africa in the World
Championships in 1999. He then moved into 29ers winning the National Championships in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004 and represented South Africa in the 29er World Championships in 2002 in Sydney Australia finishing 40th out of 103.

He sailed L26s from the age of 15 competing in Lipton cup and winning the National Championships in 2000. In 2013 he won the Lipton Cup as skipper and in 2016 placed 2nd.

Richard is backed up by Rudy McNeill on sail trim and tactics and Struan Campbell as the bowman and start line guru. Richard was onboard the 2013 Lipton Cup winning boat as a tactician and also sailed as a tactician in 2016 when the team went on to place second. He has also sailed at the All African Games in Maputo in 2011 and at the ISAF Laser Worlds in Canada and Australia in 2015 and 2011. Some of his other achievements including sailing in the Olympic Selection Regatta in Germany in 2012, competing at the Skandia Sail For Gold in England in 2011, sailing at Kiel Week Germany and the International 11 meter Worlds in Denmark in 2011 and competing at the 2010 Laser Worlds in Hayling Island England,. He was also the coach of the South African Optimist Worlds team in Malaysia in 2010.

Struan Campbell holds his Yachtmaster offshore certificate and was a professional sailor in the USA in the late 1990s and early 2000s as a bowman. He achieved a first in class and second overall in the 2001 Fastnet Race and has five Vasco Da Gama wins to his name as well as provincial colors for sailing. He was the bowman aboard the winning Lipton Cup Team in 2013 and second placed team in 2016.

Jalapeño Sailing Team

The all-women team on-board the J22 Jalapeño is the only all-women team entered for the event to date. They have been training as an all-women team since March 2020, sailing in the J22 Nationals in 2021 where they finished 10th out of 19. They then went on to sail Formula 1 Nationals in October 2021, finishing 6th overall. In 2022 the team have sailed Hunter Provincials and Hunter Nationals together, finishing 5th overall.

The team comprises of four women of varying experience levels. The skipper, Bronwen Klaas, has been sailing for 27 years with international experience in the Optimist, 420 and 5o5 fleets. She has represented South Africa at World Championships in the Optimist class (China 2001 and USA 2002) and 5o5 class (RSA 2015 and Australia 2019) and at the Youth World Championships (Poland 2004) in the 420-girls fleet as a skipper. Bronwen is a dinghy sailor who enjoys the challenge of keelboats.

The spinnaker is flown by Allyssa van Rensburg. She is 16 years old and has been sailing competitively since 2017 at the age of 12. She has grown up with sailing in her family and aspires to follow in her brother’s footsteps. Allyssa started in Optimists but quickly moved on to lasers and keelboats. She was part of the crew that finished 3rd in the Junior J22 Interclub in 2019 and the Formula 1 Nationals in 2020. Team Jalapeño as an all-women team is her creation. Allyssa’s father, Pierre van Rensburg, owns Jalapeño and assists the team with planning and preparation for training and events.

The midships role belongs to Petro Spies. Petro has been involved in sailing since 2019. Petro is a 46-year-old mom with a competitive team sports background. She has recently joined Jalapeño with previous experience in various keelboats. She has been part of the crew which has won the Ladies Round the Island race in 2019 and 2021 on a 22ft Mistral and Atlantis 36 respectively. She has also been part of the crew finishing 2nd overall in the 2020 Formula One Nationals and 2022 Stadt23 Highveld’s. Petro was part of the Pacer 27 crew in the 2022 Mykonos long distance and Pursuit race winning the C Class and finishing 11th overall out of 76 boats in the Pursuit Race.

Finally, the foredeck is looked after by Keira Giles. Keira is 17 years old and has been on sailing boats since she was a toddler. She has sailed dinghies, catamarans and most frequently keelboats. Keira is a competent helm adding value from the front of the boat since September 2021. Keira has been part of the winning crew for the Stadt Nationals and Hobie 16 Provincials in 2019.

We wish good luck to both of these teams out on the water and look forward to seeing what they can achieve with their new Ullman Sails!