The Tribune

SPENCER Cartwright, the current and four-time national champion in the Optimist Dinghy class, won the Bahamas Junior Sunfish National Championship for the first time as the Nassau Yacht Club hosted the annual event over the weekend.

“Pushing hard and in the mix for top honours was Cochise Burrows. Such close racing made for a very suspenseful and exciting series. In the end, Spencer beat Cochise by three points. Winds throughout the weekend were light to moderate and fairly shifty from the west, which made for fun and interesting sailing. When taking the lead in any of the races it was extremely hard to keep it. Positions, particularly in the last race, constantly changed. One might say it was all about luck but in reality it was very much a game of patience, ‘heads-up sailing’ and outthinking the opponents in this 20-boat fleet,” according to a press release.

Thirteen sailors form Harbour Island and one from Long Island participated and sailed extremely well. Paloma Cartwright from Long Island was fifth overall and received honours as the top female. Sailors racing were aged 12 to 17, with an average age of 14. Almost all of them have learnt to sail in the Optimist Dinghy class and have now been sailing a few years.

Said Coach Dunkley: “It is impressive to see how well the youngsters from Harbour Island and Long Island are sailing. It is obvious their sailing schools and clubs do a tremendous job in teaching them. So while we congratulate the youngsters for their outstanding performance I would also like to congratulate the organisers and coaches in these communities – The Higgins family in Harbour Island, especially Melvin Higgins who coaches the kids a number of days each week and the Cartwright families, especially Zoe and Mellisa in Long Island, who do the same. It is always a pleasure to have them sailing here with us.”

Due to the number of competitors and not enough boats, the event had a round-robin format on the first day which determined who sailed in the Gold Fleet (top half) and Silver Fleet (bottom half) on the second day.

Trophy winners

In Gold Fleet - first place Spencer Cartwright (Nassau), second place Cochise Burrows (Nassau), third place Conner Pinder (Nassau), overall top female Paloma Cartwright (Long Island).

Silver Fleet - first place Daisy Tinkler (Nassau), second place Madison Martinborough (Nassau) and third place Joshua Higgins/Collen Woods (Harbour Island).

“Congratulations to all the sailors and a special thank you to the Nassau Yacht Club for hosting this event and again to the Bahamas National Sailing School sponsors Bahamas Hot Mix, East Nassau Rotary, KPMG, Bahamas Ferries, Royal Bank, Coca Cola, Odyssey Aviation, Cable Bahamas & Cable Cares, Kerzner Corporation, Ministry of Sports, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Agriculture.