African Windsurfing Championship Silver medallist Gardette returns |06 December 2017

Wind surfer Jean-Marc Gardette returned home yesterday as vice-champion of the RSX category of the African Windsurfing Championship held at the Moonbeach Resort in Egypt from November 27 to December 2.

Gardette, who finished with 16.4 points, was assured of the silver medal after the 11th race last Friday but he went on to win the 12th race on Saturday to bring his number of wins to four. The gold medal went to Bouras Hamza from Algeria with 13 points.

Upon disembarking on a regular Etihad/Air Seychelles afternoon flight, Gardette was met in the arrival lounge by the chairman of the Seychelles Yachting Association, Alain Alcindor who presented him with a hamper. Also present to greet him was the director for sports management and development in the National Sports Council (NSC), Terrence Barbé.

The smiling Gardette said: “The competition was good and evenly contested. I finished in second position with a silver medal, but I was able to do better on the last day and I see my result as satisfactory.”

He said strong winds and a few errors on his part in the last races cost him the lead. “The wind was blowing at between 25 and 30 knots. I was leading but I also made a few mistakes, but still I could finish the races well,” he added.

Gardette said he will soon start his regular training in his bid to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games.

With 19.4 points after the 11th race, it was impossible for Gardette to catch up with Hamza who was by then in the lead. Gardette led up to race number six when he lost his grip on the competition and was overtaken by Bouras.  Assured of the silver medal, Gardette went on to win the 12th and last race last Saturday as Bouras came in second place.

In third place in the overall standings was Egyptian Elsafty Mohamed with 31 points.

Gardette was competing with seven other sailboarders coming from Tunisia, Algeria and host country Egypt.

Meanwhile, it is worth mentioning that at the African Windsurfing Championship in 2015, Gardette won the bronze medal at the same championship to qualify for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and he was ranked 33rd out of 36 windsurfers.

The African Windsurfing Championship gold medal was won by the same Bouras.

P. J.