The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH a grant of $40,000 from the Ministry of Agriculture, Marine Resources and Local Government, the All-For-One Regatta is set to be staged in Montagu Bay over the weekend of January 26-27.

V Alfred Gray, the minister for the triple ministry, made the announcement yesterday as he addressed members of the local sailing fraternity during a press conference that was held at the Bahama Grill Restaurant.

Also in attendance were Lynden Johnson and Gerrard Sawyer, who represented the Bahamian Brewery and Sands Beer, along with Donnisha Armbrister of the Caribbean Bottling Company Limited.

Gray, in his remarks, said the One-for-One Regatta will officially launch the regatta season for 2013.

“All of the boat owners and associations have agreed to participate and there will be representation from all of the classes - A. B and C in this regatta,” Gray said. “I want to encourage the Bahamian people to participate in this regatta because I believe that regattas are perhaps the first if not equal amongst Bahamian sports.

“I want to thank the boat owners, sailors and those who participate in any way to make these regattas as successful as they usually are. I want to invite all regatta enthusiasts to come to Montagu Bay all day (on January 26-27). Be there because this is going to be one of the largest regattas in the history of regattas in the Bahamas.”

As the minister with responsiblity for regattas in the Progressive Liberal Party’s government, Gray said they have committed $40,000 towards the regatta, which is just one of the 15 regattas that they will be sponsoring throughout the course of the year.

Dr McPhee, who is assisting King Eric Gibson as the coordinator of the committee established to run the regatta, said they are looking forward to a successful regatta this year and a tremendous amount of love and support from all involved in the development of regattas.

Gibson, who introduced the other members of the committee that include Donnamae Wright, Larry Bastian, James Wallace, Stafford Armbrister, Donnisha Armbrister, Dwight Hart and Sandy Treco, said they are all looking forward to an exciting time in Montagu Bay.

“I expect this to be a knockout because people are hungry for a regatta,” Gibson said.

Gibson noted that while they don’t have any idea just who will be participating, the committee will hold a meeting set for 5:30pm Friday at Bahama Grill for all boat owners who wish to participate in the regatta.

“Money is tight. So we can not make a budget unless we know which boats are participating,” he said.

Wallace said they are still looking for more sponsors to come on board and help in the regatta as they provide family-oriented environment. “I represent the National Sailing Association, there’s a club called the Bahamas Boat Owners and Sailors Association and the Commonwealth Sailing Association,” Wallace said. “This is indeed a wonderful experience for all of us to come on board and get sailing going.”

Lynden Johnson, the marketing manager for Bahamian Brewery, said they have answered the call to join the organising committee as a sponsor. And as they did last year at a number of the regattas and homecoming celebrations, Johnson said they will be staging their Sculling Regatta in their dinghy E class boats.

“The Bahamian Brewery and Bahamian Beer is extremely proud to be a part of this event,” Johnson said. “On the 27th in the afternoon, we will be having our Sands Man in the Boat Sculling Race at 5pm. Registration will start from 11am. The winner from this Sands Man in the Boat race on Sunday will travel to Grand Bahama later in the summer to participate in the Sands Man in the Boat Sculling Championships.”

Additionally, Gray said he intends to put on a regatta conclave 6-8pm on Saturday, February 9 at a venue to be announced at a later date.

“I am looking forward to all of you (regatta enthusiasts) to attend and participate,” Gray said. “The intent of this conclave is to see whether we can put our heads together and bring all regattas under one national umbrella. I will have much more to say about it. I’m bringing it to your attention so that you can put your thoughts together that you might want to make on that evening. I want to make sure that each of you can attend and give us your best advise as to how we can almagate and bring regattas all over the Bahamas under one single national regatta umbrella.”

The conclave, according to Gray, will seek to catapult the sport and eliminate some of the infractions that have hindered the smooth operation of the national sport in the past. In response to Gray’s statement, Wallace said they are pleased to see the direction that the sport will be heading into. “That is something that we as sailors can be proud of.”