A CRUISER'S VIEW OF BEQUIA - Caribbean Compass

A
Record Participation at Bahamas
Optimist Championships
record 81 boats competed in the 2008 Bahamas Optimist
National Championships held on Montagu Bay in
Nassau, New Providence on September 27th and 28th.
For the fourth time since its inception in 2005, the Bahamas
Opti National Championships were held on Montagu Bay, organized
by the Bahamas Sailing Association (BSA) together with
the Nassau Yacht Club and the Royal Nassau Sailing Club.
Thirty-nine boats participated in the first edition of the
regatta back in 2005. This year, a record total of 81 boats
entered in the Championship Fleet and the Green Fleet,
with young competitors coming from New Providence,
Eleuthera, The Abacos (including Man O War, Elbow and
Guana Cays), Grand Bahama and Long Island. This is a
clear statement of the growing success of the BSA National
Sailing School programme, which started in 2004.
Seven races were on the schedule and all seven races
were completed, although the very first race of the series
on the Saturday morning was abandoned due to a lack of
wind. With an excellent final score of 9 points, Danny de
Cardenas of the Royal Nassau Sailing Club became this
year’s Bahamas National Champion. He was followed by
two-time National Champion Christopher Sands of the
Nassau Yacht Club with 10 points. Theran Mailias from
Long Island took third place with 24 points.
In the Green Fleet, Spencer Cartwright finished first
with 9 points, Enrico Rio took second place and Alton
Jones the third, both with 32 points.
The organizers say, “Congratulations to these 81 young
sailors — and let’s see if we can reach 100 boats on the
starting line next year!”
The Organizing Authority extends its appreciation to
the sponsors for their support: Rotary Club of East
Nassau – Gold Sponsor; Kentucky Fried Chicken, Lyford
Cay Foundation – Silver Sponsors; KPMG, Ministry of
Sports, Ministry of Tourism, and Odyssey Aviation -
Bronze Sponsors.
For more information and full results
visit www.bahamassailing.org.
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‘BAH’ — but not humbug! More young Bahamians are learning to race,
thanks to a national sailing school program
ROBERT DUNKLEY/ WWW.DUNKS.SMUGMUG.COM
NOVEMBER 2008 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 13