JM Busha yachters set sail on Cape2Rio journey
- Tshepiso Mametela
A three-week long expedition starting from the Port of Cape Town and ending at the seaside city of Rio in Brazil will be hitting the ocean as the latest edition of the Cape2Rio race beckons to take centre stage.
Famed for its 38-metre high statue of Christ the Redeemer atop Mount Corcovado, Rio de Janeiro will welcome the more than 20 entrants expected to journey across the South Pacific in the ‘ultimate ocean race’.
Tackling the longest continent-to-continent yacht race in the southern hemisphere – spanning approximately 3 132 nautical miles or 5 800-kilometers – calls for tactical awareness, seamanship, and weather-savviness. This is everything the JM Busha team have prepared for ahead of the January 4 start.
The team was involved in a complete bottom-up refurbishment of the Robinson Family yacht, Ciao Bella. They assisted in transporting the boat from Carletonville to Durban and worked tirelessly to get the boat ready for the sea, including the stringent safety requirements of the actual trek.
They will deliver the boat around the southern tip of Africa to Cape Town at the end of November, as part of their qualification passage into the race. Competitive sibling duo, co-skippers, and yachters at Wits and Tuks yacht clubs, respectively, Michaela and Ryan Robinson, are no strangers to the open waters.
They competed in tandem for successive races in 2011 and 2014, with the event being held triennially since its inception nearly five decades ago. Coupled with the pairs’ experience, the JM Busha crew includes some excellent dinghy sailors and others who were introduced more recently to competitive sailing.
Completing the sextet are Tuks yachter, Tawanda Chikasha, and Wits Yacht Club members Emma Clark, Jonathan Ham and Hearn Johnson, who will all be participating in their first race across the sea. Also, Chikasha will be the first Black Zimbabwean yachter to achieve the milestone.
“Preparations are going well. The team is finding it difficult to balance preparations with exams, but where there is a will there is a way,” said Robinson. “The team is planning on going down to the coast on November 20, where we will stay until the start of the race, to finish off all final preparations.”
Novice ocean sailor, Chikasha said he hopes to make a success of his role in the team. “Ensuring the expedition is successful also comes down to fostering an environment where everyone is happy with each other. As someone who tends to bring people together, I will be able to help build the morale,” said Chikasha.
In huge anticipation of her maiden voyage, Clark said she is most looking forward to the sea life, sunrises and sunsets, and the gazes into the night sky above from the middle of the vast, open ocean. “I cannot wait to experience nature away from civilization for a while!” said Clark in anticipation. “I am also looking forward to team dynamics and growing as an individual. But overcoming this epic adventure of a lifetime is another exciting one to look forward to.”
Michaela Robinson and Tawanda Chikasha from the Wits Yacht Club