Jim, Hudson take the honours in Cape Town

THE 2016 470 African Championship was a ground-breaking moment for sailing in Africa, as the event marked the first ever 470 African Championships and first Continental Olympic Qualification Event.

Eleven races and five days of competition saw Asenathi Jim and Roger Hudson crowned the inaugural 470 African Champions and Angola claim it’s place on the starting line at the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition.

Jim/Hudson jostled for the title with teammates Sibusiso Sizatu and Alex Burger who put up a good challenge, continuously pushing the Olympians around every step of the race track.

Jim/Hudson went into the final day with a two-point advantage, and their clean win of the 25 minute Medal Race put victory nicely in the bag.

“It’s pretty special for us to win,” grinned Jim. “And for our other teams that we train with almost every day to come second, third and fourth means a lot to us.

“It shows how much training we do as a team, it makes us feel proud, it shows a lot of progress in terms of what we’re doing, and trying to do, here in Cape Town.”

“We feel fantastic!” chipped in Hudson. “First of all, we are really pleased that the inaugural 470 African Championships has been hosted here and that it was such a fantastic sailing event, that we had such a great variety of weather and so many people pulled together to make the event possible. From a personal point of view, we are extremely pleased to have won the regatta, and it was really wonderful to see our training partners push us all the way to the end. That’s something we could only dream of a few years ago, and we’re so pleased that they’re doing so well. As we set off to go back on the international circuit tomorrow, we’re just so pleased to have had this wonderful event in Cape Town.”

Teams from Algeria, Angola and South Africa competed in the 470 African Championship, which saw the race course set right off Cape Town’s popular waterfront area and in front of the iconic Table Mountain.

Jim/Hudson secured South Africa’s place at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games during the 2015 470 World Championships in Israel last year, so the battle to claim the one African continental qualification place unfolded between the teams representing Algeria and Angola.

Angola’s Matia Montinho and Paixao Afonso will have the honours of racing in Rio after finishing sixth overall.