The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

THE recent Best of the Best Regatta was a huge success in the eyes of the sailors and sailing fans.

In light of this great event, I felt obliged to provide our esteemed politicians with some numbers.

Based on my unscientific study (I do know numbers though), during a typical regatta in George Town, there will be 2500 visitors by air and a further 300 by boat along with the typical 300 sailing yachts that are moored in Elizabeth harbour during this time.

Add to this the 1500 or so locals that also support the regatta. This translates to approximately 20,000 visitor nights during the entire regatta.

With the average person spending $75 per day on food and drinks (I’m sure it’s much higher). Let’s say 25% of those people rent cars at $85 per day and rent a room at $250 per night.

Plus, the 2500 people that fly in at $200 per ticket.

This all adds up to an economic impact of $2.5 to $3 million dollars. That averages to approximately $40,000 per participating boat.

We have about ten major regattas per year, attracting 250 boats total. That all adds up to an economic impact of approximately $10 million. Let’s say it’s a little less than that because not as many fans are attracted to some of the smaller regattas.

The government allocates a grand total of less the $1 million dollars toward regattas each year. That’s a return of investment of 1000%.

Tell me where I can get a return like that and I’ll sign up yesterday.

Now how much did we spend on Carnival again?

There are numerous businesses and people that depend on this economic injection every year just to break even.

There are many sailors discouraged by this measly pittance that the government puts up to keep these regattas going. It is getting more and more difficult to afford to travel to these events.

I hope the voices of our sailing community can be heard in this upcoming year. We need the government to do better!

CHRISTOPHER WELLS

Whitty K,

C Class Champion

Nassau,

December 18, 2016.