PEOPLE
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HERE aren’t many female competition skippers in South Africa, but the few that we have have proved themselves over and over again, gaining a great deal of respect. SKI-BOAT asked two wellknown female competition skippers to share some of their experiences with readers in the hopes of encourgaing more women to take up this aspect of our sport... BECOMING A SKIPPER By Faith Lategan South Africa is immensely privileged to
Faith Lategan at the helm with the late, great Anton (Ballie) Gets.
52 • SKI-BOAT March/April 2022
have some ver y inf luential female anglers in the sport, some of whom have shaped me as a skipper. SADSAA has also been incredibly active in the promotion and development of female participants in our sport. Fishing has brought me so many incredible highs, but it has also humbled me. It made anglers become friends and friends become family. It shaped my character as a human being and made me realise I possess a resolve I didn’t know I had. Ever y single time I go out to sea I return as a better skipper and angler. I hope my journey will inspire more
females to step into the role of competitive skippers. I was fortunate enough to have been trained by one of the greatest teachers of our sport, the late Anton (Ballie) Gets. Ballie never eased the pressure he put on me to push myself to become a better skipper. He saw potential in me and pushed me to greater heights. He also taught me one very valuable lesson, in that there is never “a top of the ladder” as a skipper. Our journey is often overlooked, and it should remain exactly that because it pushes us to become better.
TOP: Fath at the helm with her 2016 Junior Nationals team. BOTTOM: The skipper with her team at the 2018 Junior Nationals.
A beautiful yellowfin tuna, caught by Faith Lategan.
