The year concludes with the Techno293 caravan travelling all the way to Djerba for the 2019 African championships. The mythical island of Ulysses travels welcomed young windsurfers to the beach venue of Dar Djerba hotel on the north east corner of the island.
The timing perfect, with the event venue not being too crowded, the windsurfers were centre of attention for all, taking advantage of the great facilities on site. The Governor of Medenine as well as representatives from the administration of the island were present and gave their support to the event. [more]
37 competitors from Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt and Libya participated in the regatta in the T293 and T293 Plus classes.
Racing was conducted just 10 minutes away from the beach in 10 to 18 knots of wind. All in all, twelve races for junior and youth fleets were conducted and another two more for the T293 Plus. Interestingly the sun sets at 17:00, so the three groups needed to start early each day to get racing conducted.
Sami Boudrouma from Algeria put on a dominant performance in the Junior division winning the title ahead of two Tunasian sailors Yassine Khalfallah and Sami Amiche. Similarly it was Algeria, Tunisia, Tunisia in the Youth division with the top three Ayoub Hedibi, Chahine Elmi and Bassem Halloul. In the Techno293 Plus Islam Bennaga and Rami Boudrouma from Algeria came first and second ahead of the local Khalil Bouaskar.
Some new faces in the junior categories and windsurfing just confirmed for the Youth Olympic Games in Senegal in 2022 are a great prognostic for the future of windsurfing in Africa and encouragement to progress development of the continent.
Results:
