George Herald | Juniors at the sharp end of world fleet

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Juniors at the sharp end of world fleet
11:27 (GMT+2), Wed, 30 May 2012

SOUTHERN CAPE NEWS - Four of the Southern Cape Yacht Racing Juniors are gearing up to take on the World in both the Dominican Republic and Italy.

The campaign starts with 12 year old Georgou Divaris lining up for the 250 boat Optimist World Championship at Santa Domingo in the Dominican Republic. The World Sailing Championships stretch from 15 to 26 of July.

It is raced on the Open Sea and Divaris has done his homework to learn to keep his yacht on top of the wave to get the full blast of the wind, and to surf every wave to get a speed advantage. Divaris's preparation has been intense and for this reason the fast 12-year-old boy beat many older sailors into the South African Optimist under 16 Yacht Racing Team.

Stage two of the campaign puts the Southern Cape sailors under pressure. At the 2011 RS Tera World Championships in Denmark two Southern Cape sailors stood in green and gold on the second and third places on the podium as Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika played proudly.

Now James Hellstrom, Georgou Divaris, Ashleigh Hellstrom and Danielle de Wet head for Lake Iseo in Italy as the team to beat. The Regatta is from the 4 to 10 August and the conditions will be similar to the inland conditions of Swartvlei.
Young James Hellstrom will pool his knowledge and skill with young Georgou Divaris for a two pronged assault to be Champions of the World. The pressure is high and they will GO for it.

Thank you to sponsor Pine Lake Marina who will be hosting the 2014 RS Tera World Championships in April 2014.
The costs of the campaigns are expensive and Alastair Fraser asks interested supporters and all yachtsmen to support the campaign by donating to:

Account name: S/c Junior Sailing Fund
Bank: FNB
Branch: Knysna 210214
Account number: 62358659989
Ref: Your name

Further fundraising events include a cocktail evening at Salinas Restaurant in the Wilderness on 7 June at 17:30. Music will be by Wendy Oldfield and Suzi Bilyard. Iconic motivational speaker Alison Botha will present a brief presentation. Tickets are available from Alastair Fraser on 044 343 2093 and Ebonita Divaris on 082 965 2845.