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DECEMBER 2012 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 12
REGATTA NEWS
Ship to Shore Party Crowns Bonaire Regatta
The 45th Bonaire International Regatta, held October
8th through 13th, saw 18 yacht entries, plus Optimists,
Sunfish, beach cats, windsurfers, model “micro-boats”,
and even quickly self-built boats racing.
The Ship to Shore Boat Party hosted by Budget Marine
Bonaire crowned the weekend: 100 metres of line were
stretched along the shore for about 40 boats to tie
stern-to. More than 600 people partied amongst the
boats and the dock, enjoying live music from shore.
There were people sitting on shore, swimming and
playing on boats and rafts all along the waterfront.
After all of this activity, the organizers were happy to
announce that their in-water cleanup the following
day totaled four Polar beer bottles, one Smirnoff bottle,
four soft-drink cans, two Popito bottles, one diaper
— and one entire Kliko garbage can (still containing a
stash of bottles).
The next Ship to Shore party will follow the Bonaire
International Fishing Tournament on January 20th.
For full results of the 45th Bonaire International
Regatta visit www.bonaireregatta.org/uitslagen2012.html.
Inaugural Clarke’s Court Grenada Junior Regatta
Twenty young Grenadian sailors from Gouyave,
Woburn, Grenada Yacht Club and Carriacou, aged
seven to 18 years, enjoyed racing on October 20th in
the first-ever Clarke’s Court Bay Marina Junior
Regatta. Classes were Optimist, Mosquito and Laser,
for a fleet of 18 dinghies.
Clarke’s Court Bay provided a perfect location, with
conditions excellent for racing: 12- to 13-knot easterly
breezes. Fifteen triangle races included five for Lasers,
five for Optimists, four for Mosquitoes and one Masters’
Race (a fun Optimist race for adults). Competition
was fierce and racing tactics employed with skill and
determination, with two official protests lodged.
However the day was characterized by great sportsmanship
and discipline, for which the young sailors
and their coaches should be congratulated.
Shakeem Collins and crew Rees Evans took first place in
an extremely competitive Laser Class. Brent McQueen
dominated the Optimist Class, with Noah Bullen in second
place. In the fleet of nine Mosquitoes, tiny 11-yearold
Trevall James held on to the top spot by one point
from Karzim James, who had three seconds and one first.
Mike Lee, a coach from Mambo ML Sailing Team in
the UK, was impressed by the skill level of the young
sailors and is looking for future members of his Sailing
Team sponsored by Sperry Top-Sider UK and Rooster
Sailing. Mike has offered to look at ways to introduce
more dinghy classes in Grenada to help fill the gap
between Optimists and Lasers and increase the potential
racing experience for junior sailors on the island.
This was the first junior sailing event to be staged at
Clarke’s Court Bay, organized and hosted by Clarke’s
Court Bay Marina and helped by coaches Kevin
Banfield, Michael McQueen and Randy Manwaring,
plus a group of volunteers from Grenada Sailing
Association and Grenada Sailing Festival, as well as
cruisers based in Grenada. The organizers would especially
like to thank Ellen Birrell of S/V Boldly Go; Ronny
Ramos, Olympic sailor from Puerto Rico; and their
Race Officers for excellent Race Committee organization;
Jason Fletcher of Grenada Marine for providing
additional dinghies; Nicholas George and Frank
Pearce for providing and driving the safety and chase
boats, and Dr. Joe Amechi, St. Augustine’s Medical
Services, for being Doctor On Call.
Sponsorship support was received from Budget
Marine, Horizon Yacht Charters, Island Water World,
Sailing School Grenada, Camper & Nicholsons Port
Louis Marina, Coca Cola, Real Value Supermarket,
Independence Agencies, Poli Natural Spring Water,
and Glenelg Spring Water. Prizes for the raffle to raise
funds for junior sailing were provided by Bananas
Restaurant, Dodgy Dock, Le Chateau, Taffy’s at Island
View, BB’s Crabback, Carib Sushi, La Boulangerie,
Bluebeard Enterprises, La Heliconia, Le Phare Bleu,
Horizon Yacht Charters, Budget Marine, Spice Isle
Retreat, X Marine and The Merry Baker.
The winners were — Laser Class: first, Shakeem
Collins/Rees Evans; second, Kwesi Paul/Justin James.
Optimist Class: first, Brent McQueen; second, Noah
Bullen; third, Ralph Francis. Mosquito Class: first, Trevell
James; second, Karzim James; third, Sharkim
Robertson. Masters’ Race: first, Kevin Banfield; second,
Mike Lee Team Sperry.
—Continued on next page