Laura Barrett and her daughter Michaela Barrett, along with Inge Erasmus and her mother Deidre de Jongh, form an all-women team participating in the 2026 Vasco Da Gama Ocean Race next weekend, often referred to as the Comrades Marathon of the ocean.
Image: Leon Lestrade/Independent Media
The upcoming Vasco Da Gama Ocean Race, often referred to as the Comrades Marathon of the ocean due to its notorious difficulty, is set to feature a groundbreaking entry: an all-women team, comprised of two mothers and two daughters, who only met each other four days before the race.
Sailing the yacht Money Penny, the team will be one of the nine boats facing the challenging voyage from Durban to East London next weekend.
Barry Boorman, commodore of the Natal Royal Yacht Club, highlighted the significance of their participation.
“Everyone thinks it’s a male-dominated sport, but it’s not. The fact that we’re putting forward a full women’s team is just incredible, and I’m hoping that this will be a massive boost for women who have always wanted to try sailing,” he said.
Doorman described the Vasco as the “pinnacle of ocean sailing in South Africa,” noting that completing it confirms one’s status as a top sailor.
He also spoke of the profound self-discovery that comes with ocean sailing. “There’s one way in life to figure out who you actually are, and that’s to go out and do sailing out in the ocean… Vasco just does it suddenly.”
The crew is made up of two mother-daughter pairings. From KwaZulu-Natal are Laura Barrett, 52, who has four years of experience, and her 17-year-old daughter, Michaela Barrett, with five years of experience. Their Pretoria teammates include Deidre de Jongh, 61, who has five years of experience, and her daughter, Inge Erasmus, 32, who is a novice.
For Laura Barrett, the race is as much about relationship building as it is about competition.
“I would like to touch on the honour it is to sail mum and daughter. It builds such a close relationship,” she shared.
Barrett added that the crew become a family. “You build a relationship that is going to last forever because the experiences that you go through, you can’t describe it to other people.”
Barrett also noted the shift in dynamic at sea. “You may be mum and daughter, but you're also teammates, so that relationship is flattened, and you learn to rely on each other as teammates.”
Her crucial advice, drawn from past experience, is simple: “Keep warm, don’t get warm.”
Michaela Barrett emphasised the intense demands of the race. “The Vasco is often referred to as the comrades of the ocean, so it’s quite big.”
As the youngest member, she spoke about the necessity of maintaining health and focus in harsh conditions.
“Every single crew woman in our case has a responsibility for their own health… if you get cold and wet, you’re going to get hypothermic, and once you hit hypothermia, you become useless to the team,” she said.
She echoed her mother’s thoughts on teamwork, explaining that sailing with her mother is a unique experience: “It’s not a mother-daughter relationship, it’s a teammate relationship, and sailing alongside her, being able to communicate on equal footing.”
She also offered a key insight into boat life. “One of the biggest challenges is realising that it’s not personal when someone snaps at you.”
Inge Erasmus revealed the chaotic nature of their preparation.
“There was no plan to sail the Vasco until about four days ago, literally, I’m not joking,” she laughed. “In typical Deidre fashion, she chose the most difficult one to start off with.”
Despite the last-minute decision and the fact they only recently met the Barrett's, Erasmus is confident.
“We have the same interests and same goals and same passions,” she said, noting that their preparation has been an intense, nightly scramble.
Deidre de Jongh, who bought the boat, offered a philosophical perspective on their last-minute adventure.
“The main thing is that all four of us are very passionate. We are all adventurous at heart, and with adventure, you know, I always told my kids that with the pleasure comes the pain.”
She views the race as a testament to living life fully. “If there’s one thing that I would encourage anybody to do is to dream it, dream it, dream big… And there’s no guarantees.”
De Jongh acknowledged the extreme risk posed by the confluence of the strong current and a southwest wind on the unpredictable coastline, which can create “mountainous waves.”
However, she stressed the team’s priority: “Our primary objective is to have a good time together, to be an example for women that if you have something that you really want to do, there’s nothing that holds you back.”