Township crew tackles elite of America's Cup

His friends on the grim outskirts of Johannesburg may have mocked, but little more than a decade on Solomon Dipree has reached the sea - in spectacular style. For he is a key member of the multi-racial sailing team that is mounting the first African challenge for the sport's most prestigious trophy, the America's Cup.

The world's elite teams are gathering off the east coast of Spain to contest the latest, crucial knockout phase of the tournament next week. From New Zealand, the United States and the UK come experienced, heavily sponsored sailors primed for glory. Team Shosholoza comes from the townships. Its arrival among the glittering array of the world's top sporting yachts is a high point of an astonishing story that began almost 10 years ago.

Then, Solomon Dipree was one of a number of young naval cadets who had made it out of the slums and were looking to further nurture their love of the sea. Along with him was Marcello Burricks - who grew up in the gang-infested mixed-race suburbs of the Cape Town's Cape Flats area. By the age of eight, he had been stabbed. By 14 he had a criminal record.

He could have been dead before reaching adulthood, were it not for a sailing school set up by the South African Olympian sailor Ian Ainslie.

Soon those graduating from the school for underprivileged children in Simon's Town in the Western Cape caught the eye of Salvatore Sarno, a South Africa-based Italian businessman. He began appointing the young men to crew his Durban yacht. And they started winning. Even so, when he suggested mounting a bid for the America's Cup, they thought he was mad.

In the first round of races in France they were considered a sporting curiosity rather than a genuine challenge. Most teams entering the race have budgets of a million or more and crews that have sailed the globe competitively for years, said Mr Sarno. "We had no such budget.

"Many of the competitors looked at us with their noses in the air," he recalled. People mocked their lack of a hydraulic system and said it would be impossible to sail without such gear. "But I said, 'we are African and we have come a long way ...'"

According to Mr Sarno, what the team lacks in expertise and experience they make up for in team spirit and a near-obsessive belief that they can achieve victory. They're heading in the right direction. In France they failed to make a big impact, but in the next round in Sweden, following improvements to the yacht, the team won its first race against Sweden and China. Then they came fifth out of 12 competitors in Sicily, Italy. They are confident about next week's key event.

"We want to show the world that a mixed team from South Africa can overcome the difficulties that have affected our country in the past. We can make history and challenge the top sailing teams in the world," said Mr Sarno.

Shosholoza means "go forward", "make way for the next man", and the team spirit runs deep. "This is a real honour," said Solomon Dipree of the bid to find glory in the 154-year-old competition. "Most people around the world will never get the chance to do this. I am living the dream."