THE two young local sailors –  Paul Morel and Steve Buron – who represented Seychelles in the recent Second International Optimist Dinghy Association (IODA) African Championship in Mohammedia, Morocco, have returned home with encouraging results.

Buron and Morel, who were accompanied by coach Frank Jean, finished 15th and 16th respectively.

Out of a total of 12 races, Buron had his best result in the eighth race where he came out second while his worst performance was in the last race, finishing 30th. The 15-year-old, who totalled 137 points, was third in race 6, fifth in race 9 and sixth in both races 5 and 7.

As for 14-year-old Morel, he was second in race 9 after being in the lead for a long while. His other best finishes were in races 5 and 6 where he took fifth position.

His worst results came in races 3 and 4, crossing the finish line in the 32nd and 36th positions for a total of 141 points.

South African Rudy McNeil won the gold medal with 35 points, including two victories in races 7 and 11. The silver medal went to Algerian Bourai Tayeb with 66 points, while Moroccan Hamza Lboukili was third with 72 points.

The Egyptian ladies completely dominated their competition winning the gold, silver and bronze medals. Dina Ramadan won the gold with 96 points, followed in second place by Raniua Ramadan with 97 points and Rana Ragab with 107 points.

In the team competition, Seychelles, with only two competitors, finished fifth with 718 points, ahead of Tunisia (sixth, 871 points), Kenya (seventh, 888 points) and Zimbabwe (eighth 1047 points).

First place in the team competition went to the South African trio of Rudy Mcneill, Aaron Larkens and Phellipa Baer who scored 281 points.

Egyptians Dina Ramadan, Rania Ramadan and Osama Ahmed Salem settled for second place with 310 points.

Host country Morocco, with Hamza Lboukili, Hamza Bzioui and Sara Elferdaoussi as team members, took the bronze medal with 496 points.

As for Algeria, the country finished fourth with 559 points.

Talking to Sports Nation, coach Jean said that the two young sailors gave a very good account of themselves.

He added that they could have even won individual races but lacked international experience when it mattered most, that is in finishing races. Coach Jean also noted that such a competition had given the young sailors the opportunity to sail with the best on the African continent.

It is to be noted that Seychelles was making its second appearance in the annual competition. Last year the country was represented by Derek Panagary and Mike Joubert who finished in 25th and 41st positions respectively.

Last year's competition took place in Alexandria, Egypt.