There were South African flags all round at the final presentation of the Hobie World Championships as SA sailors claimed a clean sweep of the podium places.
Blaine and Peter-Blaine Dodds | Picture Supplied
For the first time in history, it was a South African 1, 2, 3 as father and son team William and Douglas Edwards from Plettenburg Bay claimed the gold, another Plett father and son team Blaine and Peter-Blaine Dodds the silver and Capetonians Sean Ferry and Lee Hawkins the bronze at Lake Garda, Italy last weekend.
The South Africans had dominated proceedings throughout the four-day event and were looking to seal their clean sweep on the final day of sailing. However, a lack of wind meant no sailing could take place and their top-three places were left intact.
Adding to the accolades, Blaine-Dodds also walked away with the Hobie 14 world title.
Blaine Dodds | Picture Supplied
South Africans have achieved much international success in Hobie sailing over the years. These latest honours bring the world title tally up to 25, since the first back in 1978. The Hobie Tiger is an 18 foot catamaran, sailed on nearly every continent, creating fierce competition and high speed close quarter sailing at the World Championships.
Hobie is the largest multihull class in the world and continues to attract all the top international sailors to its championships.
William and Douglas Edwards | Picture Supplied
“This is an outstanding result for South African sailing and we congratulate the Edwards and Dodds teams and Sean and Lee on making the country proud,” said SA Sailing Chairman Peter Hall.
“We simply could not have dreamed of a better result, which just goes to show, South Africans certainly know what they’re doing when it comes to Hobie sailing,” added Hall.
