The experience shared by South Australian Optimist Sailor Toby Phillips from Brighton & Seacliff Yacht Club.

After competing in the 2023 Australian Optimist National Championships in Sydney, I was lucky enough to qualify to go to the 2023 African Optimist Dinghy championships. Before the African championships I had a training clinic in Sorrento Victoria for 3 training days. The African championships were in M’diq Morocco.

We spent over 30 hours on the plane and also had to get the train and two taxis to get their, but it was 100% worth it. The regatta was a 5 day regatta but we also had 5 training days before the event including a practice race. In total 89 sailors participated. There was an amazing opening ceremony were all the teams walked down the road following a brass band. Our coach Peter rode the camel during the ceremony which was very funny.

The conditions were quite light and very shifty, making it important to pick the shifts. I had a great start to the regatta, winning the first race because I got a nice right shift and crossed the whole fleet. I ending up after we did 7 races, finishing seventh overall. In the middle of the regatta, we had the team sailing event and the Australian team ended up 4^th overall.

The closing ceremony was also fun because everyone talked and congratulated everyone that got an award. My favourite bit was winning the first race and making new friends. It was difficult making new friends since there wasn’t many people that spoke English. If you ever get the offer, I would highly recommend it to anyone because it’s an amazing experience.