Dominic Holling, a Grade 9 Camps Bay High School pupil, will join the youngest crew in the 2020 Cape2Rio Yacht Race on board JML Rotary Scout. And, Dominic who is 15 years old, will be the youngest member of the youngest crew entered into the Cape2Rio Yacht Race.
JML Rotary Scout, a Tosca 36′ cruising yacht owned and operated by SCOUTS South Africa (a non-profit organisation dedicated to the development of the youth of South Africa), set the record for the youngest skipper in the history of the Cape2Rio race in 2000 with a 20 year old skipper and 23 year old navigator.
For the 2020 Race, Nicholas Chapman and Daniel Skriker, both aged 21 at the start, will be co-skippering the race. The rest of the JML Rotary Scout crew range in age from 15 to 18 years old, with Camps Bay High School pupil, Dominic Holling being the youngest crew member. The other crew members are Mika Wessels, Max Elsworth, Ewan Blamire, Matthew Williams and Joshua Jackson.
All the crew members started their scouting journey at age 11 where they learnt to sail on dinghies and have been trained in seamanship skills such as pioneering, first aid, navigation and cooking, as well as teamwork and leadership skills. To qualify to crew aboard JML Rotary Scout for the Cape2Rio 2020 Race, the crew went through a rigorous selection process where they had to demonstrate specific sailing skills and show their capabilities at sea.
The 2020 edition of the Cape2Rio Yacht Race departs Cape Town on 4 January 2020 and the crew of JML Rotary Scout expect to take 4 weeks to cross the Atlantic Ocean to Rio de Janeiro race, heavily dependant on the weather and conditions en route.
Says Dominic, “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and is going to be an awesome adventure. I am very excited. I realise that it will be tough but it will also be exhilarating! Catering for this event is quite an undertaking and I will be taking the primary responsibility for putting together the meal plan and shopping requirements for 30 days for 8 people.”
The youth crew desperately need funds to cover some of the costs involved with the race and have set up a Crowdfunding page for those wishing to help out. Follow this link to make your pledge:
https://gogetfunding.com/jml-rotary-scout-cape2rio-2020/
There are also some opportunities for corporate advertising on the boat. For more information, contact Dominic on dominicholling@gmail.com or the skipper, Daniel Skriker on danielskriker@icloud.com.
