The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IT’S not regatta time or homecoming celebrations, but Bahamian Brewery and Sands Beer will be taking its fast growing Sands Man in the Boat Sculling Championship to Treasure Cay, Abaco, this weekend.

The event is slated to begin today with a Sculling Boat Motorcade. It will conclude on Saturday when the Junior Sailing is set to be held at 9am, followed by the E-Class racing and the sculling championship at 6pm.

It’s the first time that the sculling championship is being held in Abaco, but Johnson said they are looking forward to making it an annual event.

“This is going to be the first time that we hold the event in Abaco, but we are looking forward to it,” said Lynden Johnson, the marketing manager at Bahamian Brewery and Sands Beer. “We expect that we will have participants from all over Abaco come out and participate.”

Proceeds from the championship will go to the people of Abaco for the Cooper’s Town Public Library.

For that reason alone, Johnson said their CEO James ‘Jimmy’ Sands is delighted to be able to make a contribution for a worthy cause as they extend their horizon with the hosting of the popular pastime sporting event.

The winner of the championship will be crowned the Sands ‘Man in the Boat’ champion and he or she will get the opportunity to represent Abaco at the National Sculling Championship that will take place at the Grand Bahama Regatta in Taino Beach later in the year. The champions from all of the other regattas and homecomings held during the year will be vying for the title.

Each competitor entered in the regatta will receive a case of Sands beer. The first place finisher will collect 10 cases of Sands beer and a trophy, second gets eight cases with a trophy and third will pick up six cases with a trophy.

Johnson said they are not sure how many people will participate as the registration is underway all day today under the Sands beer tent in Treasure Cay.

The Sands Man in the Boat Sculling Championships was started by Sands in 2012 to provide some additional excitement to the local regatta and homecoming celebrations. Sheldon Gibson, a teacher at CV Bethel, was commissioned to build four 10-foot dinghy boats named after the Bahamian Brewery products - Sands, Sands Light, High Rock and Strong Back - that are being used for the championships.

The boats are also sailed in the E class competition at the regattas and homecomings.

“We are pleased to be able to take the sculling championship to Treasure Cay,” Johnson said. “The championships will be used to raise funds for the Cooper’s Town Public Library and to determine the winner to represent Abaco at the National Sculling Championships.

“We look forward to having the championship here this weekend because we know that it will bring a lot of excitement to the people here on the island. This is going to be a lot of fun because this will provide the people of Abaco with something to look forward to.”

Johnson is encouraging the residents and visitors alike in Abaco to come out and participate in the event, which he said they hope to continue next year.