Durban, South Africa
Our vessel arrived in Durban for its first stopover in South Africa! Here's news from our crew, who enjoyed an outstanding welcome from the Point Yacht Club.
Coming from: Maputo, Mozambique
Weather conditions: Cloudy
Time of arrival: 12:00 AM
Energy Observer in Durban
Durban's maritime DNA
Vince Niel, Manager of the Point Yacht Club of Durban and Energy Observer's captain, Marin Jarry
Durban has a long maritime history and a strong community of sailing enthusiasts, gathered around the Point Yacht Club.
Although less well known than its neighbor Cape Town, the city is a well-known venue for ocean racing, hosting competitions such as the Vasco de Gama, the Oyster Race, and the Mauritius to Durban.
Durban's Yacht Club visit on board
“It's been a long time since we've seen people who love boats.”
This passion for sailing is an emancipation tool for the youth of the townships! We welcomed onboard over forty children from the Sail Africa organization, who were delighted to come aboard between 2 regattas on Saturday morning.
Durban is also the headquarters of our partner Toyota Motors in South Africa, and a team came on board.
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Toyota visit onboard
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Toyota visit onboard
“It was very exciting, very nice to see hydrogen in motion! At Toyota we are pursuing a multi part strategy towards decabonization so for us to see hydrogen in action in a marine space is very futuristic and we are happy to see it today!”
Toyota visit onboard
“I think it’s also nice that this was a racing boat which probably bike many many records fo speed and now it can break many many records for the planet right?”
Toyota South Africa has brought the very first Mirai 2 to Africa, which will be on display at our event in Cape Town!
Silence, camera's on!
Beatrice and Mélanie went to Toyota's production site in Durban to shoot a sequence for our film on South Africa's energy transition. That is where all the cars sold in Africa are produced!
The site already produces a third of its energy needs thanks to solar panels, and plans to be entirely self-sufficient in energy by 2035.
Our onboard reporter interviewing Andrew Kirby, CEO of Toyota South Africa
After a four-day stopover, it's time to set sail again and make it to Cape Town on time.
The weather is complicated, and it's quite a challenge for our catamaran to tackle South Africa in the middle of winter, with lows following one another and the sun gradually fading.
Energy Observer in Durban