by Alastair Fraser

Sedgefield’s Georgou Divaris is the winner of the Remax 2026 Finn Yacht Racing National Championships.

The event was hosted by Knysna Yacht Club at Swartvlei from Friday 28th March to Monday 30th March, and run from the shores of the Pine Lake Lifestyle Estate.

Twenty one sailors converged from as far afield as Pretoria to compete on arguably South Africa’s premier inland yacht racing venue. This gave Divaris a chance to defend the title he won back in 2025 at the Rielvlei Dam, Gauteng.

The Finn is a single-sail racing dinghy which was used from 1952 to 2020 as the single-handed yacht racing class at the Olympics.
Day one of the yacht racing, Saturday, brought south-westerly winds in the range of 5 to 10 knots. David Shilton of Knysna took line honours in Race One, followed by Dudley Isaac taking line honours in Race Two, and Divaris doing well to get first place in Race Three, the final race of the day.

Day two experienced winds switching from South to South East with the marker buoys being moved between races to accommodate the switching 4 to 10 knot breeze. Divaris and Shilton dominated the sharp end of the fleet, with Georgou taking four first places to David’s four second places. Jacques Louw of Knysna scored a credible two third places after an epic day’s racing against Pretoria’s Arend van Wamalan.

Day three brought classic moderate south-easter conditions with three races required to complete the ten race Regatta. Race One was started in 10 knots of wind with Divaris and Shilton again dominating the day. Robert Vadas of Belvidere scored a third place in Race Eight and Jacques Louw did the same in Race Nine.

The prize-giving was held at the Pine Lake Lifestyle Estate with the final top five being Georgou Divaris (Sedgefield), David Shilton (Knysna), Arend van Wamalan (Pretoria), Dudley Isaac (Knysna), and Jacques Louw (Knysna). These top sailors were followed by Marco Tobin (Cape Town), Robert Vadas (Belvidere), Philip Baum (Cape Town), David Humphrey (Pretoria) and Alan Serritslev (Cape Town).

Georgou Divaris described it as “Pretty Cool” to win at home.

The Knysna Yacht Club Commodore, Ken Reynolds, thanked Sponsors Remax Coastal, and hosts Pine Lake Lifestyle Estate.