'TEAM PLAYERS': Siphamandla Ngcobo, 23, and Sakile Makhanya, 22, are among eight South Africans aged 18 to 23 sailing around the world, thanks to the Sapinda Rainbow Foundation. 'TEAM PLAYERS': Siphamandla Ngcobo, 23, and Sakile Makhanya, 22, are among eight South Africans aged 18 to 23 sailing around the world, thanks to the Sapinda Rainbow Foundation.
Staff Writer
TWO KwaZulu-Natal residents have set off on the challenge of a lifetime, to sail almost 5 000 nautical miles from New York across the North Atlantic Ocean in the final, homecoming leg of the world’s longest, toughest ocean challenge, the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.
Although they had never sailed before, 23-year-old Siphamandla Ngcobo, from Durban, and 22-year-old Sakhile Khulekani Makhanya are among eight South Africans aged 18 to 23 chosen to take part through the Sapinda Rainbow Foundation.
Ngcobo and Makhanya joined the IchorCoal entry, one of 12 teams, which left London more than eight months ago.
Racing across the Atlantic, they will experience fog banks, changing winds and pass close to the wreck of the Titanic before heading up over the Flemish Cap.
The route will take the teams well south of the icebergs expected in this area.
After arriving in New York to meet his teammates, Ngcobo said: “My community is proud one of them is representing (the country), not just in South Africa but internationally.”
He was raised by a single mother and after matriculating in 2010, he enrolled for civil engineering studies. He is currently doing an internship provided by Seta to acquire experience in civil engineering,
Ngcobo’s goal is to open a construction company that will create employment for young people who have dropped out of school. “Young people from my community don’t often think they have a future, but I believe I can be a source of change for my community… Creating employment will keep them away from drugs and crime.”
Makhanya said: “I want to put all of my heart in the boat and my focus on the team and how we are going to work as a team… We are promoting teamwork. I am a team player and I am looking forward to giving it my all.”
Hailing from Mtubatuba, he was raised by his grandfather and worked with him to fix the tractor used to provide food for the family.
That experience and the involvement with his grandfather grew Makhanya’s love for fixing cars and, after his grandfather passed on, he took on the responsibility of managing the tractor to continue to provide for the family.
About his role on board the yacht, he said: “I enjoy all he roles on board and want to try and do a little bit of everything if I can… However, a frustrating thing for me is the cooking on board.
“I never cooked before training for the race. When I am at home my sister always cooks for us, so it has been a learning curve. I never thought that an opportunity to learn to sail would also be the opportunity to learn how to cook.”
Foundation chairperson Dirk van Daele took part in the 2009-2010 Clipper Race and saw how a similar project made a profound difference for young people from deprived, inner-city areas in Europe.
He launched the first South African initiative in 2013 and created the Sapinda Rainbow Foundation last year to provide longer-term support and development opportunities for the selected candidates from challenging backgrounds in South Africa.