Happy 3rd birthday Shosholoza

[Source: Team Shosholoza] Today the Soul of Sailing is celebrating its 3rd birthday - Happy birthday!

Captain Salvatore Sarno: "I salute everyone of my team. Happy Birthday!" And what a great special gift do they receive: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and our Patron, gave the team a great birthday present by announcing he will pay a visit here in Valencia on the 9th of June.

Archbishop Tutu, who agreed to be Patron of Team Shosholoza in October last year, has also indicated he will be guest of honour at a proposed gala charity dinner during his stay in Valencia. In a message to the South African challenger, Archbishop Tutu said today: "Are you only three years old? Well, you have been punching well above your weight and your age. Well done and heartiest congratulations on this momentous anniversary in the year when we expect even greater things from you. We are immensely proud of you, we the rainbow nation you represent so brilliantly. God bless you. Arch."

Archbishop Tutu's decision to visit during the Louis Vuitton Cup finals is perhaps indicative of his confidence in the team. It also reinforces Captain Sarno's resolve to take Shosholoza to the semi-finals and beyond. The Archbishop says he might even consider being 18th man aboard RSA 83: "Sure, I will sit there and say: Remember guys, I am not as young as I look."

Team Shosholoza is the only team that has the support of two Nobel Peace Prize Laureates: Nelson Mandela, the former South African President and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.

Since the opening regattas in 2004, Shosholoza have shown steady improvement. Despite their first match race wins in 2005, they struggled to move from the bottom of the leader board, but by 2006 they then scooped 7th place overall in the AC Class Season Championship.

Four wins in the Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 10 and 'silver status' in Act 12 brought Shosholoza the best match-race results so far in the 32nd America's Cup and consolidated their status as serious contender.

"We can be really proud of our achievements", says Captain Sarno whose public announcement of the maiden America's Cup challenge coincided with the arrival of the first yacht RSA 48 in Cape Town on the 8th of March 2004. "At the time not one of our South African crew had sailed an America's Cup class yacht. We had to start from scratch in Table Bay, literally by learning how to raise the main sail", he says looking back. "But 53 sailing days later we were competing in Marseille. This was success already. For us it was like winning gold at the Olympics. Above all Team Shosholoza has allowed people to follow their dreams and to realise that nothing is ever impossible."