Mossel Bay is now the home of the country’s national sail training academy.

This became official when national sail training manager, Rob Holden, recently handed over a flag of accreditation to trainers at the Mossel Bay Yacht and Boat Club (MBYBC). The event took place during an official visit by representatives of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) which saw South Africa become just the third country in the world to receive full ISAF sail training accreditation.

ISAF Training and Development Manager Dan Jaspers and ISAF Inspector Richard Percy said that they were amazed at the speed with which South Africa has managed to comply with all the requirements for accreditation – it’s taken just a year and a half – and attributed this to a combination of Rob Holden’s dedication, and the support of South African Sailing (SAS), the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), and the South African Department of Sports and Recreation.

“South African Sailing made a very bold step by investing in products that ISAF hasn’t fully tested,” said Mr. Jaspers.

“They stuck their necks out to become one of the first sailing federations amongst our 133 member countries by sending their national training manager on a training scholarship to the UK, and by running a technical course in Mossel Bay when we were here last year.

“Within the year and a half in which they’ve been in development, SAS has thus become the only federation in the world that has actually gone from the embryonic stage of its national training programme right through to full accreditation.”

Mr. Jaspers said that only the UK and the Netherlands had attained accreditation before South Africa.

“The UK predominantly supported the development of this programme as ISAF is based there, and it was its closest member, while the Dutch Federation was very keen to come on board and lead the way within the mainland of Europe.

“What South Africa has done, though, has actually helped other federations, and as a result of its success we now have applications coming in – just this week – from Turkey, South Korea, Iceland, the Cayman Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and various other countries which have all been waiting to see if it was possible to complete the journey in such a short time.”

Four centres – Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and Mossel Bay – received their accreditations during the ISAF visit, but the fact that Mossel Bay has been designated the National Training Academy is particularly important for the town.

Mossel Bay is recognised as offering some of the best sailing in the world.

“Once Mossel Bay gets itself on the map internationally, and since it can truly say that the sailing is safe and that it aligns itself with international standards, people from around the world will start seeing it as a place where they can bring their kids for training,” said Mr. Jaspers.

“Sailing is great for any town that’s trying to look after and retain visitors because its one of the sports that truly manages to include the entire family. But also – if the parents want to chill out on the beach or go and see the town, it’s important for them to know that their kids will be safe in the hands of instructors and coaches whose safety standards have been internationally inspected.”

Mossel Bay Tourism’s chairman, René Bongers, said that sailing is becoming an increasingly important attraction for Mossel Bay.

“We’re looking forward to a number of important regattas – including the Lipton Challenge Cup in August this year – but we’re also keen to welcome non-competitive sailors on an ongoing basis.

“Mossel Bay Tourism is proud of Rob Holden’s achievements, and we congratulate the MBYBC on becoming the home of the National Sail Training Academy.”

LINK: South African Sailing Gains ISAF Recognized Training Status