Women’s sailing festival ‘Steering the Course’ |07 October 2021

Habayeb sailing a Laser boat

 ‘I taught myself how to sail, windsurf and canoe’

“Although I was born in Kenya and lived near the sea over there and of course in Seychelles, my interest in watersports only began when I was at university in the United Kingdom. Who in their right mind would do that!”

This is how Barbara Habayeb started relating her story to Sports NATION about her involvement in watersports.

Although she was born in Kenya, Habayeb’s mother was Seychellois and father British of Palestinian origin – and proudly adopted Seychelles as his country of residence.

It was in the United Kingdom (UK) that Habayeb taught herself how to sail, windsurf and canoe on Lake Coniston in the Lake District and on various reservoirs. She also learned how to scuba dive on the Isle of Man. However, she did learn to swim as a child at school in Kenya.

Return to Seychelles and teaching children

“My interest in watersports continued on my return to Seychelles, but I found myself in a very male dominated sport! I was always mostly self-motivated and became interested in competing in sailing and windsurfing. This took a lot of effort and much of what I learned was through reading or simply practicing again and again and again. I joined the Yacht Club and took an interest in helping the Sail Training Scheme (STS) which was based there at the time. This involved teaching children (mostly boys) who came along to learn and at one point helping the canoe instructors to build the first fibreglass canoes,” recalled Habayeb.

On a personal level, she was keen to make a mark on the watersports scene as a female participant and competitor, and always hoped that other girls would see that they could be as successful – if not more – than males.

“It wasn’t always easy fitting in and many of the men hated it if I beat them, always making excuses... I achieved some success in winning mainly sailing competitions locally and came second in the women’s section of the Sailboarding World Cup held in Kenya in the 80s and the Indian Ocean Islands Games held in Mauritius in 1985. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE) I won the Gulf Sailing Championship, sailing a Laser and competing as the only female among a fleet of men. I also competed at the World Laser Sailing Championships held in the USA in the 90s and think I finished somewhere in the middle of the fleet,” said Habayeb who stopped competing sometime in the 90s after a serious back injury before moving back to England.

She noted that there was a need at the time she returned from university, to try and improve water safety awareness in Seychelles.

“I was saddened at the time to witness a young boy drown at Beau Vallon beach because he couldn’t swim and nobody knew how to help him. So, I started producing a series of cartoons on water safety which were published weekly in the Seychelles NATION newspaper. With others, I then began teaching children (and adults too) to swim. During the school holidays, since I was a teacher, I would have lessons advertised via the radio and would go to various beaches on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue and teach whoever turned up.

“Often I had to remove broken bottles from the sand before we even started! A few girls did turn up, but mostly it was boys. The Seychelles Swimming Association was then formed and I devised an award scheme for swimmers to aim for at different levels, and began national competitions. Liaising with hotels on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue made it possible through their complete generosity to use their swimming pools for the heats for the competitions, with the finals taking place at the Barbarons hotel on Mahé. The Barbarons was always so supporting, even allowing us to train the first national squad there weekly,” recalled Habayeb.

Self-motivation

At that time, she added, as a woman, it was tough, but she is happy to see more girls and women competing in watersports in Seychelles.

“If I was not self-motivated, I don’t think I would have done very much. It is good to see that more women are now competing in watersports in Seychelles, but for the level to consistently improve and in order to see a steady stream of girls learning and taking part, I do think that there needs to be a more concerted effort to encourage them. Their needs are different and need to be understood sympathetically. They need to feel safe travelling to and from venues and in the venue itself. They need more positive role models who are willing to share their knowledge and experience. They need instructors who understand their needs and can encourage them despite the perceived male environment, and will shield them from the frequent teasing and unwelcome comments. The spirit of competition both in victory and defeat is also something which has to be learned. Some are fortunate to have supportive parents, but many are not so fortunate, so they need much more encouragement!” she said.

Ms Habayeb also talked about the attitude to be successful, saying it requires hard work.

“All too often in my teaching days in Seychelles, I encountered girls especially, who gave up before they even started or tried. It is rare, if not unheard of, for anyone to be really successful at their first go at anything. You have to work at it and be committed to practicing repeatedly and training – ask any Olympic medallist and you will see! Willingness to do this is a somewhat alien to most, so the right sort of encouragement and support is so, so necessary! I am not a gymnast nor an athlete, but have encouraged three girls in my teaching in the UK to pursue their dream to achieve international success in their discipline. So what I am saying is that almost anybody can help to raise the levels of participation and achievement in watersports for women in Seychelles – there just needs to be a good action plan and investment in a good number of the right sort of instructors. A defeatist attitude and excuses will get nobody nowhere,” she explained.

Habayeb, first Sportswoman of the Year title winner

On Friday January 31, 1986 at the Reef Hotel, Barbara Habayeb became the first athlete to be presented with the Sportswoman of the Year title by principal secretary for youth and defence Ralph Adam, who deputised for Sports Minister Ogilvy Berlouis.

Aged 27, Habayeb, who had won the best windsurfer title in 1983 and 1984, was the silver medallist at the Second Indian Ocean Islands Games in Mauritius in 1985. That same year, she completed the 44-kilometre Mahé-Praslin windsurfing race, beating four men.

The Sportswoman of the Year award was given as an incentive to encourage more women to take part in sports.

Habayeb won the title ahead of hockey player Jeanine Nourrice and athlete Peggy Siméon.

“Being elected to be the first Sportswoman of the Year came as a surprise since there were some good female athletes around at the time. However, it was a real honour and, at the time, hopefully a boost to watersports as well. In those days, there was no financial reward either, which personally, I think was a good thing – however, I do appreciate that many people nowadays will not do something for nothing,” concluded Habayeb who was last in Seychelles just before Covid-19 hit the world and has said she will certainly come back again one day.

Now based in Oxfordshire, England, Habayeb was a vice principal for a 3-18 years old school, before spending a couple of years working as a senior consultant for an IT company specialising in management information systems for schools. She now spends her time doing voluntary work as a National Health Service (NHS) responder, a school governor and for the local community.

Compiled by Gerard Govinden

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