Results of the Youth Back to School Regatta

Tue, Sep 29th 2015, 10:16 AM

Written by Robert Dunkley, National Sailing School Director

The Back to School Regatta was held on Saturday and Sunday, September 12 & 13 having been previously postponed as a result of bad weather. Winds on the two days were near perfect for the junior racing, which took place close to Montagu Beach ensuring all spectators a great view.

After a full day of racing on Saturday (Sunday being a non- event due to a no-show by the sloop sailors) Justin-Dominic Carey from S.C. McPherson Jr. High walked away with the individual Top Sailor trophy after winning all six races in the 11 boat Sunfish Fleet, which was for the 13 to 18 year old sailors.

T.A. Thompson Jr. High, who had challenged C.V. Bethel Sr. High in this weekend of racing, won the Top School trophy. Other top individual finishers in this fleet were Gregory Lindsay second and Stanford Bain third, both from T.A. Thompson Jr. High.

Racing in the Advanced Optimist Dinghy class  (ages 11 to 15) was extremely close and in the end, with six races completed, Blake Roberts from St. Andrew’s School emerged as the winner with 7 points. Tristan Eldon was second with 10 points and Eric Boxerman third with 11 points. These top three were from St. Andrew’s School. This was Blake’s first regatta win and when asked how he felt about it he said “Fabulous! It is a great feeling to win and I am ready to do it again”.

The Optimist Green Fleet (mainly 8 to 10 year olds) raced only three races in the morning as the higher winds in the afternoon proved to be a bit too much for them.  Nine year old, Tarquin Kelly from Xavier’s Lower School took first place with a trophy that was almost as big he is while Jaxon Parker was second and Cameron Eldon was third; both from St. Andrew’s School.

Unfortunately, there was no racing in the E and C Class Sloops for the juniors on Sunday as originally planned. Bahamas National Sailing School (BNSS) had twelve of their youngsters there, eight from T. A. Thompson Jr High plus four of the others who had won trophies on the Saturday and all were seriously looking forward to racing in the sloops.  These sloops are boats in which they have never sailed but have always wanted to and hopefully there will be another opportunity in the future for them to do this.

One of the highlights on Saturday afternoon for BNSS’ Race Committee and the sailors was having The Hon. V. Alfred Gray on the Race Committee Boat with them to watch the racing and see what BNSS is all about. The more experienced  Junior Sailors who were running the races got him involved the moment he stepped on-board by handing him a horn and having him blast it at the start of each race and when finishing the first place boats. He seemed to have enjoyed this as well as presenting the trophies to the sailors at the end of the day. His comment to Robert Dunkley, Director - BNNS was, “What BNSS is doing here is impressive and it is important for me to have seen this first hand. It will help me in explaining to other Ministers how important your program is to our community.”

The BSA and BNSS thank Minister Gray for being with them and delighting the young sailors with his kind and encouraging words. They also thank Eleazor Johnson and his Lady Nathalie Enterprise group for the idea of this jointly (BNSS and Bahamas Sloop Sailors) held event as well as Sir Durward Knowles for his unending support. Both organizations are now committed to making this an annual regatta as it is a wonderful way to bring our sailing community closer together and promote sailing within the schools. However, as Dunkley and Johnson agreed, this will only work if the sloop sailors can encourage more of their young sailors to participate and show up on time.

Lastly, a big thank you to all the sponsors of this event; Vita-Malt (Burns House Ltd.), Caribbean Bottling, Bristol Cellars, Ministry of Agriculture, Nassau Plastics, and Sir Durward Knowles. Without their support this special event could not have taken place.

Congratulations to the youngsters who participated. They all sailed extremely well.

 

The start of the Sunfish race


Minister V. Alfred Gray starting the race


Awards presentation

 

Mrs. Glinton presenting Cameron Eldon with his third place award on the Opti fleet   (Photos/ Andy Rae)

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