Ballito sailors Thomas Funke and Rudy McNeill delivered impressive performances at the 505 KZN Regional Championship hosted by Point Yacht Club in Durban from June 13 to 15.

Funke, sailing alongside his brother Peter for Point Yacht Club, secured second place overall in a competitive 13-boat fleet, while McNeill claimed bronze with new sailing partner Luke Wagner after a determined campaign.

The regatta, which formed the second leg of the 2026 505 National Racing Series, attracted some of the country’s top sailors. However, it was Royal Yacht Club Cape Town duo James Largier and Richard Hutton-Squire who dominated proceedings, winning three of the four races to claim the provincial title.

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Although they did not win a race, the Funke brothers’ consistency proved decisive as they finished on the podium in all four races.

“Racing was extremely tough and very competitive,” said Thomas.

“But surfing down the swells on day two was awesome. Durban delivered 15 to 20 knots of wind and fantastic waves, making for superb reaching and running conditions.

“The result provides timely encouragement ahead of next month’s World Championships in the United Kingdom, where the brothers will represent South Africa.

“After this weekend, we’re feeling really good. We know what we need to improve and what worked well. It was the perfect test before taking on the world’s best,” he said.

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For McNeill, who recently returned to Ballito, the regatta marked a promising start to a new partnership with Wagner.

“Saturday was our first day on the boat together,” he said.

“Neither of us had any expectations, but we’re both competitive sailors and wanted to do well.”

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Their campaign got off to a rocky start when equipment failure struck moments after the opening race began.

“At the gun of the first start, our tiller came off,” said McNeill.

“Fortunately, we fixed it fairly quickly. We had already lost a few lengths on the fleet, so we focused on finding clean wind, sailing fast and taking every shift we could to work our way back through the field.”