The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

ALIV, the newest telephone company in the country, has come alive and will be a part of the sponsorship of the 30th St Valentine's Massacre ‘Catch Me If You Can’ Regatta in Montagu Bay this weekend.

Already a sponsor of the C class Alive Thunderbird, Aliv will promote the C class competition that will be staged on Saturday between five boats – Flashback, Whisper, Aliv Thunderbird, Revelation 3:19 and Dream Girl.

Anissa Adderley, the marketing executive for Aliv Thunderbird, said they are delighted to make this contribution

“At Aliv, we are committed to culture, we are committed to giving back. We are passionate about Bahamians,” Adderley said. “In our small way, we feel that if we can give back in this small way, we could tap into that demographic.

“We feel that is an area that is overlooked in terms of sponsorship and so this is our small way of giving back to the community.”

Adderley said they feel it is something that they can make alive in a pastime sport that doesn’t get the attention and the funding that it deserves.

“At Aliv, we feel this is an area where we can definitely influx some funds into it,” Adderley stressed.  “We know the potential that it has because we know that this is a way of supporting our Bahamian culture and so we are happy to be able to give back.”

Adderley said they will have their mobile unit on site and they will be promoting their plans, which will be on sale with their phones, and their public relations officer will be providing the relevant information about their company.

“We want to have this area branded so all of the passersby and all the persons attending the event will know that Aliv is here,” she stressed.

“We will also be supporting the Aliv Thunderbird. Pastor (Philip) McPhee will be sailing with the C class and so this is an exciting time for us as we promote the Aliv brand and persons can see how committed we are to giving back.”

The Rev Dr. Philip McPhee, the consultant for regattas in the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources, thanked Adderley and Aliv for their contribution to the 30th annual St Valentine’s Massacre ‘Catch Me If You Can’ Regatta.

“Aliv came forth after we initially approached them and invited them to become a part of the sailing community,” McPhee stated. “This is their first event and they have decided to support Barber J to help take this regatta to a new level.

“So we are very appreciative of Aliv and Barber J for coming together as an unique family relationship. We want to say to the Bahamas 'come alive' because this is an opportunity for Bahamians to come and experience a new venture, a new company that has shown their love for Bahamians and for what Bahamians love best – the only Bahamian national sport – sloop sailing.”

Rev. McPhee said they expect persons from as far as New Zealand and Australia to be in Montagu Bay this weekend to participate in the regatta.

“Sponsorship is so important in this sport because these boats are so expensive to maintain,” he said. “It will be an injustice if the C class was not a part of the St Valentine’s Massacre, so we say thank you to Aliv for allowing the C class, the most dominant class, to participate in the regatta.”

The C class competition on Saturday will be a part of the St Valentine's Massacre that will include the 'Catch Me If You Can' challenge race on Sunday when Eleazor 'the Sailing Barber' Johnson's B class Lady in Red, Lady Nathalie, will be given a 20-minute start start on five A class boats and the objective is to get to the finish line before she is caught.

There will be also a Optimist class competition on Saturday for the junior sailors.