South African Sigi Bailes grew up sailing with her family on small dams around the country. As soon as she was old enough, at around six years old, she started crewing on a sonnet, a local two-man racing dinghy, and since then she hasn’t stopped! She frequently sails lasers, 420s, sprogs, and mirrors, although admits to spending too much time swimming on a 29er so leaves that particular boat in the hands of her young nephew.

A love for sailing

In fact, she even met her husband Tony sailing when the two of them faced off against each other while sailing J22s. The pair now sail together on their J27 and their Fast 42 Nemesis. The pair are also the Ullman Sails representatives for Port Elizabeth, East London, and the greater Eastern Cape region.

Their love for sailing even led them to develop the Bay Sailing Academy in Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha). Keelboat training is done in the beautiful bay of Port Elizabeth while dinghy sailing happens at the Redhouse Yacht Club.

In the words of Sigi, “Sailing is a sport where people of all different backgrounds and ages can work together as a team to compete. It is not defined by your occupation but rather how you integrate into a team.”

Sigi’s sailing achievements

Sigi has a long list of sailing achievements, including representing South Africa on the J22 at the ISAF Worlds Ladies Keelboat Championships in France in 1994 and Dubai in 1996. She also represented the country in San Francisco in 1995 on the J24 sailing in the ISAF World Match Racing Nations Cup.

She has also repeatedly placed 2^nd at numerous Mirror National Championships and bagged 10^th at the Mirror World Championships which took place in South Africa in 2014/2015.

Building a legacy of women in sailing

Most recently she sailed her third Vasco da Gama Race on her yacht Nemesis. While previously she has always co-skippered with her husband, this year she stepped up as sole skipper the day before the race when Tony had to unfortunately withdraw. This would make her the first female skipper/helmsman to finish on the podium of the Vasco da Gama Race.

Sigi also celebrated her 50^th birthday at sea during the race.  However, the proudest moment for Sigi is that her daughter, Tammy, sailed as the bowman for the race.

It is introducing her daughters to sailing that Sigi says is her greatest achievement to date. “I have been in a fortunate position to have had immense support for my sailing throughout my life. I do think that as a woman it is difficult to be taken seriously in the racing realm of sailing. Many women can be great assets to any race team without requiring the brut strength that is stereotyped for crew members,” says Sigi.

“Sailing is not only a physical sport but a mental one too. In fact just about any situation on a boat can be sorted out by thinking and making use of the available tools such as winches, lots of purchase, and needless to say good helming that can alleviate the forces on the boat making the crew tasks at hand much easier,” she says.

It is her determination to make her mark in the sailing world that Sigi has passed on to her girls who both enjoy dinghy and keelboat sailing. She hopes that their passion for the sport will continue to grow and one day also be passed onto their children, continuing a long line of women in sailing!

Her advice for other women looking to get into sailing: “Just get out there. You will never regret learning the art of sailing that allows you to escape the rat race, enjoy the ocean and all it has to offer, and better still with family and friends. Those dreamy sunsets at sea can be achieved.”