Sailing ties between Cape Town and Qingdao are strengthened

Agreements to promote sailing in Cape Town and Qingdao were signed by South African Sailing Western Cape (SASWC), the Qingdao Municipal Sport Bureau and the Qingdao Administration for Sailing Sport on 7 April 2015. The signing took place at a gala dinner hosted by the Department of Cultural of Affairs and Sport (DCAS) at the Cape Yacht Club in Cape Town to give further effect to a province-to-province agreement between Shandong Province in China and the Western Cape Government.

During the past week, a group of young sailors from Qingdao participated in the Southern Charter Grand Slam in Simon’s Town. Their participation was made possible through the joint SASWC-Qingdao Water Sports Administration Centre Youth Sailing Exchange Programme.

“We are glad to have a number of sport exchanges with Shandong in place, and we welcome the prospect of many more exchanges in all codes of sport” said Adv. Lyndon Bouah, Chief Director of Sport and Recreation at DCAS.

In his keynote address, Director-General of the Western Cape Government Adv. Brent Gerber said the province-to-province agreement is delivering real benefits, especially for sport.

Vice Mayor of Qingdao Luan Xin said “through this agreement we are strengthening international sailing relations, as Qingdao is the sailing capital of China”. 

Through partnerships with stakeholders in other countries, DCAS is able to provide opportunities to improve the quality of sport in the Western Cape, BETTER TOGETHER.