In the sprit of bringing the sport of sailing back to prominence in the country, legendary Bahamian sportsman Sir Durward "Sea Wolf" Knowles has donated $5,000 to the "King" Eric Gibson All-for-One Regatta that will be held this weekend in the waters of Montagu Bay.
The three-day event, which is set to have the biggest purse ever disbursed for regattas in the country, will be held on Saturday, Sunday and on Majority Rule Day on Monday. Prior to Sir Durward's donation, a total of approximately $100,000 had been earmarked to the staging of this regatta, which is named after one of the pioneers of sailing in this country. Both Sir Durward, the country's first Olympic gold medalist, and "King" Eric have played major roles in the organizations of regattas throughout the islands of The Bahamas.
"I am proud to announce another support of regattas in a meaningful way," said Rev. Dr. Phillip McPhee, regatta consultant in the Ministry of Agriculture, Marine Resources and Local Government. "Sir Durward was responsible for the starting of the All-For-One Regatta with "King" Eric, Stafford (Armbrister), myself and a whole lot of others that were there. He is a Bahamian who has given his full support to anything that is Bahamian. In fact, he is the organizer of the One Bahamas event and was a close and personal friend of the late "King" Eric. Sir Durward has given to every regatta that takes place, in some way or fashion, so I am pleased to announce his donation and thank him for his contribution to the development of the country through sailing. We look forward to using this donation in a very positive way, that the sailors in Nassau and throughout The Bahamas will truly benefit from it."
The series races will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday with the C-Class sloops. Following them will be the A-Class boats that will set sail at 12 noon, and then the B-Class sloops will hit the water at 2:30 p.m.
On Sunday, the C-Class boats will set sail at 10:30 a.m., followed by the A-Class sloops at 12:30 p.m. and the B-Class boats at 2:30 p.m. Sunday's schedule will apply for Monday as well. There will be cup races held for all of the classes, as well as children's races on Saturday and Monday.
The opening ceremony for the regatta will begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday, and the closing ceremony will be held after the final race on Monday. The awards presentation will be held at Bahama Grill on Tuesday evening.
Some of the more popular sloops expected to sail include Red Stripe, Ed Sky, the Lady Nathalie, Ant's Nest, the Whitty K, Dream Girl, Barbarian and "King" Eric's boat the Queen Drucilla.
On-shore activities will include a junkanoo rush-out as well as a performance from a marching band.
Sponsors for the event include Asue Draw, Burns House, John Bull, Island Luck, the FML Group of Companies, and Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard.

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