Seychelles wins 3 medals in sailing competition in Libya
Three sailors from Seychelles won one silver medal and two bronze medals at the Benghazi International Sailing Opening Regatta 2024, a prestigious event organised by the Libyan Sailing Federation (LSWF) from August 11 to 14 in Libya.
Seychelles participated in the competition with five sailors, namely Dean Mathiot in the International Laser Class Association 7 (ILCA7) category, Sitraka Ramanantsoa and Mervin Constance in kite surfing, and Dominic Esparon and Elisha Moustache in the optimist class, which is for young sailors up to 15 years old.
Mathiot won a silver medal in the ILCA7 category and Ramanantsoa was able to claim bronze in kite surfing.
For Mathiot, he was able to win three of the nine races, which placed him second behind Tunisia’s Hamdi Slimani. Third place went to Morocco’s Ilias Kharbouch.
Ramanantsoa was up against 10 kite surfers and finished in third place and won a bronze medal. The winner in this event was Morocco’s Mohamed Ali Beqqali, and in second place was Libya’s Yousef Elwalid.
Mervin Constance, also competing in kite surfing, finished in fourth place.
Another bronze medal for the Seychelles team was won by Elisha Moustache, who demonstrated great promise to claim third place in the girls’ optimist category.
Moustache finished the overall optimist category in 9th place, which was enough for bronze, as she finished behind to other female sailors. The winner of the event was Libyan Mayar Elwalid with gold and her compatriot, Mayar Elwalid, won silver.
Dominic Esparon also competed in the optimist category and finished fifth overall. Tunisian Yassin Galai won gold followed in second place by Yousif Al Sammarraie from Iraq and Mohamed Elwalidfrom Libya in third place.
The Seychelles Yachting Association congratulated the athletes and said, “A huge round of applause to Dean, Sitraka, Elisha, Dominic, and Mervin for representing Seychelles with such excellence and pride. Your hard work and dedication continue to inspire and elevate our sailing community.”
