The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN Brewery and Sands Beer will take its ‘Man in the Boat’ National Sculling Championships to the 40th annual Long Island Regatta in Salt Pond next weekend and will be the sponsors of the E Class sailing competition.

At their new headquarters on Nassau Street, Lynden Johnson, manager of sales and marketing, confirmed their participation on Wednesday as they presented the members of the organising committee with a cheque for their “bronze medal” sponsorship.

“It’s always a pleasure to go to Long Island and see old friends from the north and to hang out with our good friends down in the north, especially on Saturdays,” Johnson said. “Above and beyond the Sands Beer E Class that we will be sponsoring, we will also have the Sands in the Man Sculling Race.”

The Sands Beer Man in the Boat competition is slated to be held on Friday, June 8. Registration is set to begin at 9am. The winner will receive a trophy, 10 cases of Sands beer and a trip to Grand Bahama for the grand finale to determine the national sculling champion. Second place will also collect a trophy and eight cases of beer, while third place will get a trophy as well along with six cases of beer.

“Last year, we had Mr Clayton Bain, who emerged as the Sands Beer national sculling champion,” Johnson said. “We’re hoping that we can get somebody from Long Island as a champion in Grand Bahama during the Grand Bahama Regatta.”

Henderson Burrows, the Long Island Regatta chairman, said they are appreciative of Bahamian Brewery and Sands Beer’s commitment to continue to support the regatta, not just through the E Class, but also the inclusion of the sculling races.

“On behalf of the Long Island Association and the Long Island Sailing Club, we would like to thank Sands Beer, Bahamian Brewery, for coming on board again this year to sponsor the E Class in Long Island, starting on June 6,” he said.

“We’ve been working with Sands Beer over the last couple of years. It was a slow process, but now they seem to be getting there and we’re very proud to have Sands on board with us, especially this year. They have come on board in a big way.”

Burrows said everything is in place for another spectacular regatta with about 50 boats getting ready to compete from June 6-9 in Salt Pond. The boats will be loading up from Monday to make the trek on the barge to Long Island.

“This year, the Long Island Regatta is celebrating its 40th year of existence. We started in 1973 in August, so it’s a big year for us,” Burrows said. “When you go to Long Island, you might think you are in the wrong place because the regatta site, which we are now renaming the Cultural site, has been totally transformed.

“We sent close to $10,000 worth of lumber up yesterday and the guys up there are willing and waiting to finish off all the construction and the renovations. They have also filled up the sand in front of the beach so there is a nice place for the kids to play.”

There is expected to be about 11 A Class boats, including the Red Stripe, Courageous, Good News, Ed Sky, and Palm Cay Princess from New Providence. Long Island will showcase the Running Tide, Rupert’s Legend, Ruff Justice and the Abaco Rage.

There are 9-10 boats in the B Class, including the New Susan Chase, the Lady Sonia and the Eudeva.

In the C Class, there is about 15 boats, six already in Long Island, three from Exuma and the rest from New Providence.

The E Class will have about seven boats and as many in the sculling races.

“Every festival or regatta we go to, we have an increase in the participation,” said Johnson about the sculling races. “At the National Family Island Regatta in Exuma, we had females actually competing for the first time, so we hope to get some females from Long Island actually sculling next week.”

Burrows said the sculling races have really helped to enhance the regatta and they continue to try to provide more on ground activities for the spectators because the racing is only being done for a couple of hours.

“Last year, we finished pretty late, but one thing about the sculling is that it keeps people at the site,” said Sandi Treco.

“People were watching the sculling on that back patio, even though it was dark. So the sculling is actually an awesome event to add to your regatta.”

In addition to making their cheque presentation to the Long Island Regatta committee, Bahamian Brewery and Sands Beer also presented a cheque to Treco to help Sweet Island Gal get ready for the regatta.