The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IT’S still early but Eleazor ‘The Sailing Barber’ Johnson says he just wants to remind the public that the 26th version of his Valentine’s Day ‘Catch Me If You Can’ Sailing Massacre is set for February 16-17 in Montagu Bay.

Johnson said he has been so pleased with the progress that has been made since the inception of the regatta that he’s looking forward to next year.

“We started from scratch, but we have come so far that this has become bigger than Georgetown, Long Island, Acklins, Andros, Grand Bahama, Cat Island and all of them together,” Johnson said.

“I think because we have this Catch Me If You Can series, everybody comes out to see if anybody can catch the Lady in Red, Lady Nathalie.”

While there are a series of races for the B class boats on Saturday, there is a special challenge race on Sunday when Johnson’s Lady Nathalie is given about a 15-20 minute head start and the A class boats try to catch his boat.

In that series, the Lady Nathalie has been caught four times by the Red Stripe, skippered by Lundy Robinson and the New Courageous, skippered by Captain Emmit Munroe, who did it three times.

“The rest only caught me about once. That’s it,” said Johnson of his boat that is normally skippered by Clyde Rolle.

“Over the years, I think we have done a great job with the regatta. And Montagu Bay is looking so good now. That’s the place to have a regatta.”

Once again, legendary sailor Sir Durward ‘Sea Wolf’ Knowles will be putting up a $2,000 prize as one of the major sponsors of the regatta.

The Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture is also a major sponsor.

Among the other sponsors are BTC, the Caribbean Bottling Company Limited, Sun Burst Paint and Mario’s Bowling and Entertainment Center and Nassau Plastic.

“We are expecting a lot of activities with the Optimist sailing, the E class race and some sculling races with the boats that the Bahamian Brewing Company Limited and Sands Beer has produced,” Johnson said.

“We are expecting a lot of activities on Saturday. We are going to have a very good competition on Saturday. The Valentine Regatta has come from far and I want to thank all of the people who have supported me over the years.”

During this year’s regatta, Johnson said he was pleased with Sands Beer’s promotion with their E class and sculling boats.

He anticipated that because of their awareness in the resurgence of sculling, he expects for more and more people to come out to the regatta next year.

And he added that the junior sailing competition with the Optimist class boats has only added to the excitement and he publicly thanked Jimmy Lowe and those persons responsible for getting the boats involved in the regatta.

With the nation getting ready for the festive Christmas holiday, Johnson advised the public to be aware of their surroundings as they go through their shopping.

He also said he is looking forward to a peaceful time and he hopes that everybody will enjoy themselves and get ready for the St Valentine’s Day Massacre next year.