Vuyisile Jaca - FOUNDATION AMBASSADOR

Vuy has had to deal with enough adversity in her young life to be able to approach whatever awaits in the Southern Ocean with a degree of calm and equanimity. The 25 year old was brought up in a South African township and lost both her parents when she was no more than a child. It was a chance opportunity at JG Zuma High School that led her to discover Sail Africa in 2015. It was only a fleeting encounter and when Vuy returned to the township she felt so ‘miserable,’ that she took it upon herself to approach the director at Sail Africa to see if there were any more possibilities to sail. She told her that many girls asked to return only ‘to get scared as soon as they went offshore and never came back.’ Vuy was not going to let that happen to her even though she couldn’t swim and had never seen a large body of water in her life before. Now, she is a qualified swimming instructor as well as a recreational diving instructor. She also works part-time as an underwater photographer. More tellingly, she crewed in 2021 on one of the most difficult trips in South Africa, the Vasco de Gama Challenge which runs from Durban to Port Elizabeth. Vuy came to Maiden’s attention through one of their charities as they were sailing from Dakar to Cape Town. Vuy was flown to Dakar ( first time in an airport, first time in a plane) to meet them and here we are with Vuy about to compete in the OGR. It’s hard to compute just how her life has been and how far she has come. “Losing both parents at a very young age drives me every day to follow my dreams,” said Vuy. “Because they are not here to do things for me, I have to do them on my own. I make it my mission to make them proud of me. Even though they are no longer here I know that they are watching over me. I ask my myself if they would be proud or disappointed? Whatever, I’ll just dust myself down and try again.” Vuy is a cherished member of the crew. “We all adore her to bits,” said Tracy Edwards. “She is such a special young lady. She has proven herself on the boat and we have all fallen in love with her.”