South African sailor Vuyisile Jaca reflects on making history on global stage

Jaca was part of Maiden’s 12-member all-women crew that raced around the world in 153 days, two hours, 16 minutes and 53 seconds, becoming the first female-only team to win the 50-year-old event. 

Speaking to SABC Sport, she says, even though the race had a lot of challenges, winning it was life-changing.

"We celebrated our victory for crossing the finish line, not for winning because we didn't know if we won, we just thanked God that we arrived safely and nothing was majorly broken on the boat," said Jaca.

"But after a couple of days, we found out that we actually won the race – it was quite emotional because we were not expecting it.

"I remember we were all on the boat, doing some maintenance and work on the boat, and that's when we were told that we won the race, and everyone was screaming, we even went on the dock and started screaming and hugging each other.

"It was the first time an all-female crew won the around-the-world race in history, and that was so huge – it was not just me that won, but it was a team effort with 12 girls onboard Maiden, which is an iconic boat.

"Tracy Edwards made history back in the 1980s [Ed: Edwards led the first-ever all-female crew in the Around the World race in 1989-90 and finished second], and now her boat has done it again.

"So it was emotional and there are no words I can use to explain how happy and excited we were when we heard the news that we actually won the whole thing."

Upon her return, KwaZulu-Natal’s Sport MEC, Dr Ntuthuko Mahlaba announced that the department has awarded Jaca will a full scholarship. 

She says wants to study something that will benefit her career even when she wants to retire from sailing.