The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AFTER watching the recognition heaped upon her deceased father, Sandra Cooke said she intends to keep his memory alive by hosting the first Cecil Cooke Memorial Junior Regatta over the weekend of November 1-2 at the Nassau Yacht Club in Montagu Bay.

“Daddy was all about the development of the young people and promoting sailing and getting the young people involved,” she said. “He was also very big on swimming and served as a starter for a number of years for events in the Bahamas Swimming Federation.”

As the Bahamas Government and the Bahamas Olympic Committee joined forces to honour both Cooke and captain Sir Durward Knowles for winning the first gold at the 1964 Olympic Games in Toyko, Japan in the Star Class sailing, Sandra Cooke said their family wants to keep his legacy alive and the best way to do it is by showcasing the young sailors.

“We expect to have between 40-60 participants in the regatta that will be sponsored by Subway,” Sandra Cooke said.

“It’s a regatta so we expect to have competitors coming from the Family Islands. We expect competitors from Harbour Island, Eleuthera, Long Island, Abaco and Grand Bahama.

“It’s the first of its kind, but I hope that it becomes an annual event. So I’m very proud of that. The goal is to teach them from young so that when they get older, they will be interested in continuing to compete in the sport. Who knows, we could end up seeing the next Cecil Cooke or Sir Durward Knowles from this regatta.”

Competition is expected in the Snipe, the Optimist and Sunfish classes. Races are scheduled to start at 10am on Saturday, November 1 and continue on Sunday at the same time. And the awards presentation is expected to take place around 2:30pm on Sunday.

The event, sanctioned by the Bahamas Sailing Association headed by Lori Lowe, comes on the heels of the Opti Nationals held over the weekend of October 4-5 in Long Island.

The competitors are expected to come from the Bahamas National Sailing School, directoed by Robert Dunkley and Jimmie Lowe.

“We know there is a lot of excitement in Long Island, so we hope that we can build the momentum from that,” Sandra Cooke said.

“We feel we will have a lot of competitors because this is a way for us to honour and keep the memory of our father Cecil Cooke alive.”