(By July Charles)
More info and full results at http://www.bahamassailing.org/newsletters/news_09162005.htm
More than 30 sailors compete for title in Staniel Cay
STANIEL CAY, Exuma - For the first time ever, the Bahamas Sunfish National Championship set sail in the Exuma Islands last weekend (Sept. 10-11), drawing a record number of sailors to race in the picturesque waters of Staniel Cay. For an area already steeped in the sailing tradition of Bahamian sloop racing, the Sunfish regatta adds valuable experience in one-design racing for local sailors to hone their competitive edge.
Participation nearly doubled that of the 2004 Nationals in New Providence, with 31 boats at the start line making this the largest Bahamas National Championship in 30 years. The event attracted top sailors from Nassau, Staniel Cay and the nearby Black Point Settlement on Great Guana Cay. Among them, hometown favourite Nioshi Rolle, the 16-year-old junior sailing champion from Staniel Cay, who placed a respectable 13th in a highly competitive fleet.
"It was great, but I was a little nervous with so many people watching over me," said Rolle, who found herself urged on by at least two spectator boats filled with family and friends as she approached the windward mark of the first race. Now a senior high school student in Nassau, Rolle races Snipes at the Royal Nassau Sailing Club, Sunfish at Nassau Yacht Club and helms the C class boat named Termite in Staniel Cay.
On day one of the regatta, light wind conditions from four to eight knots combined with late-day tidal current and favoured those with more technical experience gained racing at the national and international levels.
Dominating the event was Donnie Martinborough, who took top honours with two first-place finishes and one third. Martinborough is a three-time Sunfish World Champion, who recently finished fourth at the US Masters Championship in Sarasota, Fla.
Race two was won by Lori Lowe, a Snipe sailor out of the Royal Nassau Yacht Club, who crossed the line with a decisive lead over the fleet, eventually earning her eighth position overall and top woman helm. "If the wind is light, I'm there [competitively]...if not, forget it," she had predicted before the regatta.
But those diminishing winds just never picked up, forcing cancellation of a fourth race, which actually drew shouts of relief from the assembly of sun-beaten sailors waiting it out at the start area. After a cloudless, humid afternoon, most were anxious to beach their Sunfish and take in a cooling refreshment at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, co-host of the event with the Nassau Yacht Club, which provided race management and organization.
A windless start to day two prompted a postponement and eventual cancellation on shore, where sailors and members of the race committee waited and looked out over the glassy surface of the Exumas famed crystal clear waters.
But the lack of wind and race cancellation didn't dampen enthusiasm of the sea-faring locals to bring more Olympic class sailing competition to the Family Islands, drawing on the passion for racing traditional Bahamian sloops. Experience gained racing on Sunfish and other Olympic class boats is recognized as important to open opportunities for successful local sailors to compete internationally at one-design regattas.
"We have even more people wanting to sail - we have quite a few Sunfish here and there are even more over in Black Point - but what happened [this year] is some of the boats weren't quite ready, some were damaged and needed repair," said Captain Tony Gray, the goodwill ambassador of Staniel Cay, who also raced in the event. Gray is a son of one of the Bahamas' finest skippers, Rolly Gray, a fixture in the Family Island Regatta in George Town, Exuma, since its inception in 1954.
Top five among the Exuma sailors in the 2005 National Championship were Liander "Magic" Pinder of Black Point, in 12th place overall, just ahead of Nioshi Rolle, followed by Loan Rolle in 15th position, Clyde Rolle in 21st place and Uriah "Boyo" Rolle of Staniel Cay.
"Staniel Cay has always had a good racing tradition, from Rolly Gray and Tidal Wave and the Family Island Regattas," says David Hocher, owner of the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, founded by his father Joe in the 1960s. "Rolly Gray really put Staniel Cay on the map in terms of the community sailing tradition. Some of the younger guys have organized the New Year's Regatta, then there's also a cruising regatta," said Hocher.
The move to change the venue for the Sunfish Nationals was prompted by Bahamas Sailing Association (BSA) executive John Lawrence who, like Hocher, grew up in Staniel Cay. "It was John's idea; He did all the work to get it here. We figured we'd throw the thing and let people hear about it and present it as a really fun regatta. It's a first time thing for us, but it is the National Championships of the Bahamas, and there isn't a Bahamian around here who wouldn't want to compete," said Hocher.
Now having proven itself as an ideal location for dinghy racing, plans are already in the works at Staniel Cay to host another Sunfish Championship and possibly an International Optimist class competition for junior sailors within the next 12 months.
"You could not have asked for a better venue," says the BSA's Lawrence, who was the regatta chairman. "The sailing conditions at Staniel are some of the best you will find anywhere. Couple that with the great hospitality of Staniel Cay, and it is a perfect match. The camaraderie at this regatta was excellent and unparalleled as evidenced at the numerous social functions that rivaled the racing on the water," he said.
HIGHLIGHTS OF RESULTS
2005 National Sunfish Championship
1st - Donald Martinborough
2nd - Jimmie Lowe
3rd - Dwayne Wallas
4th - Richard Farrington
5th - John Watson Galloway
Top Female - Lori Lowe
Top Male Junior - Benjamin Myers
Top Female Junior - Nioshi Rolle
Most Distinguished - Pedro Wassitsch
More info and full results at http://www.bahamassailing.org/newsletters/news_09162005.htm
STANIEL CAY, Exuma - For the first time ever, the Bahamas Sunfish National Championship set sail in the Exuma Islands last weekend (Sept. 10-11), drawing a record number of sailors to race in the picturesque waters of Staniel Cay. For an area already steeped in the sailing tradition of Bahamian sloop racing, the Sunfish regatta adds valuable experience in one-design racing for local sailors to hone their competitive edge.
Participation nearly doubled that of the 2004 Nationals in New Providence, with 31 boats at the start line making this the largest Bahamas National Championship in 30 years. The event attracted top sailors from Nassau, Staniel Cay and the nearby Black Point Settlement on Great Guana Cay. Among them, hometown favourite Nioshi Rolle, the 16-year-old junior sailing champion from Staniel Cay, who placed a respectable 13th in a highly competitive fleet.
On day one of the regatta, light wind conditions from four to eight knots combined with late-day tidal current and favoured those with more technical experience gained racing at the national and international levels.
Dominating the event was Donnie Martinborough, who took top honours with two first-place finishes and one third. Martinborough is a three-time Sunfish World Champion, who recently finished fourth at the US Masters Championship in Sarasota, Fla.
Race two was won by Lori Lowe, a Snipe sailor out of the Royal Nassau Yacht Club, who crossed the line with a decisive lead over the fleet, eventually earning her eighth position overall and top woman helm. "If the wind is light, I'm there [competitively]...if not, forget it," she had predicted before the regatta.
But those diminishing winds just never picked up, forcing cancellation of a fourth race, which actually drew shouts of relief from the assembly of sun-beaten sailors waiting it out at the start area. After a cloudless, humid afternoon, most were anxious to beach their Sunfish and take in a cooling refreshment at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, co-host of the event with the Nassau Yacht Club, which provided race management and organization.
A windless start to day two prompted a postponement and eventual cancellation on shore, where sailors and members of the race committee waited and looked out over the glassy surface of the Exumas famed crystal clear waters.
But the lack of wind and race cancellation didn't dampen enthusiasm of the sea-faring locals to bring more Olympic class sailing competition to the Family Islands, drawing on the passion for racing traditional Bahamian sloops. Experience gained racing on Sunfish and other Olympic class boats is recognized as important to open opportunities for successful local sailors to compete internationally at one-design regattas.
"We have even more people wanting to sail - we have quite a few Sunfish here and there are even more over in Black Point - but what happened [this year] is some of the boats weren't quite ready, some were damaged and needed repair," said Captain Tony Gray, the goodwill ambassador of Staniel Cay, who also raced in the event. Gray is a son of one of the Bahamas' finest skippers, Rolly Gray, a fixture in the Family Island Regatta in George Town, Exuma, since its inception in 1954.
Top five among the Exuma sailors in the 2005 National Championship were Liander "Magic" Pinder of Black Point, in 12th place overall, just ahead of Nioshi Rolle, followed by Loan Rolle in 15th position, Clyde Rolle in 21st place and Uriah "Boyo" Rolle of Staniel Cay.
"Staniel Cay has always had a good racing tradition, from Rolly Gray and Tidal Wave and the Family Island Regattas," says David Hocher, owner of the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, founded by his father Joe in the 1960s. "Rolly Gray really put Staniel Cay on the map in terms of the community sailing tradition. Some of the younger guys have organized the New Year's Regatta, then there's also a cruising regatta," said Hocher.
The move to change the venue for the Sunfish Nationals was prompted by Bahamas Sailing Association (BSA) executive John Lawrence who, like Hocher, grew up in Staniel Cay. "It was John's idea; He did all the work to get it here. We figured we'd throw the thing and let people hear about it and present it as a really fun regatta. It's a first time thing for us, but it is the National Championships of the Bahamas, and there isn't a Bahamian around here who wouldn't want to compete," said Hocher.
Now having proven itself as an ideal location for dinghy racing, plans are already in the works at Staniel Cay to host another Sunfish Championship and possibly an International Optimist class competition for junior sailors within the next 12 months.
"You could not have asked for a better venue," says the BSA's Lawrence, who was the regatta chairman. "The sailing conditions at Staniel are some of the best you will find anywhere. Couple that with the great hospitality of Staniel Cay, and it is a perfect match. The camaraderie at this regatta was excellent and unparalleled as evidenced at the numerous social functions that rivaled the racing on the water," he said.
HIGHLIGHTS OF RESULTS
2005 National Sunfish Championship
1st - Donald Martinborough
2nd - Jimmie Lowe
3rd - Dwayne Wallas
4th - Richard Farrington
5th - John Watson Galloway
Top Female - Lori Lowe
Top Male Junior - Benjamin Myers
Top Female Junior - Nioshi Rolle
Most Distinguished - Pedro Wassitsch
