A total of five young Bahamian sailors competed in the ILCA (International Laser Class Association) 6 class at the CORK International and Olympic Regatta 2023 as part of the August Regatta Series in Kingston, Canada, from August 8-11, 2023. The August Series starts with the CORK International Optimist Regatta, held August 3-6, 2023, in which Patrick Tomlinson, current Bahamian National Optimist Champion, achieved podium position as fifth overall, and tied in points with the third and fourth-place finishers.

The five ILCA 6 Bahamian sailors included Norman Cartwright, gold medal winner in the ILCA class event at the recent Bahamas Games, Ellianne Higgs, also a gold medal winner as the top female ILCA sailor in the Bahamas Games, and Craig Ferguson II, a bronze medal finisher in the ILCA class at the recent Bahamas Games, who was the only Bahamian to finish in the Gold fleet. He finished second in one of his races, 22nd overall and 19th in the youth division out of 145 sailors.

Cartwright and Higgs each had strong performances in their fleet, finishing 14th and 20th respectively in the Silver fleet. Competing internationally for the first time were Aidan Sumner and Aiden Wilson, who recently qualified as junior sailing instructors and have helped run summer sailing camps with the Bahamas National Sailing School. Wilson and Sumner, with bronze, also each had a top five finish in the regatta. They were 12th and 21st, respectively.

Since 2000, CORK has hosted dozens of North American and World Championships out of Portsmouth Olympic Harbour in Kingston. The area offers some of the best freshwater sailing in the world, excellent wind and wave conditions, and it is a short distance from shore to the race courses. With a total participation of more than 1,000 boats, the CORK August Regatta Series is a magnificent sailing festival, attracting sailors from all over the world.

Accompanying the young sailors was Coach Robert Dunkley who said, "All of our junior sailors have been training hard in the last few months to prepare for the CORK Regatta. Competing internationally provides invaluable experience and, for many, it was the largest fleet they would have competed in, and a very different environment from their home venue of Montagu Bay."

Also competing internationally this month is Joshua Higgins from Harbour Island, in the Olympic Class ILCA 7 event, at the Allianz World Championships in The Hague, Netherlands. The ILCA 6 is a smaller version of the Olympic class ILCA 7 dinghy.

The Bahamas Sailing Association (BSA) is the governing body of the sport of sailing in The Bahamas as designated by World Sailing (the international governing body for the sport of sailing). The BSA is the umbrella organization for all International Sailboat Classes sailing in The Bahamas and all clubs in The Bahamas that sail in International Sailboat Classes and under the Racing Rules of Sailing as issued by World Sailing.

The BSA also operates the Bahamas National Sailing School (BNSS), established in 2004, with the intention of expanding the base of sailing outside the existing club structure and making sailing available to all Bahamians. For more information, interested persons are asked to please visit the website www.bahsailingschool.org.

The post Bahamian sailors compete at CORK International and Olympic Regatta 2023 appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

The post Bahamian sailors compete at CORK International and Olympic Regatta 2023 appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

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