The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas National Sailing School and Nassau Yacht Club will host another regatta in its series of events as the Bahamas prepares to field a team for major international competition this fall.

The Bahamas Olympic Youth Regatta is scheduled for April 26-27 at the Nassau Yacht Club featuring 60-65 of the top junior sailors in the country.

This weekend’s regatta will be the second of three qualifiers as sailors vie for roster spots when the Bahamas hosts the 2019 Opti North American Championships (OPTINAM) September 27 to October 4 at Montagu Bay.

Team Bahamas will include 14 of the top junior sailing athletes from around the country. Scores for participants at the qualifying events will be based on a weighted scale for the KPMG Winter Nationals, (25 per cent), the Bahamas Youth Olympic Regatta (25 per cent) and the Optimist National Championships in June (50 per cent).

Robert Dunkley, director of the Bahamas Sailing School, said the foundation of local sailing continues to develop with the junior programme.

“Just knowing that we are hosting the OPTINAM has really brought a lot of inspiration throughout the country for so many young people getting into sailing and I think it’s one of the positive things about hosting a major event,” he said.

“This group is our future in the sport and if you ask these kids they all want to go to the Olympics. We haven’t been in sailing since 1996 and we want to go again. These are our young aspiring sailors and we are going to see them there. I’m sure we will.”

Sailors continue to make their preparation for the fall, including a group that is currently undergoing additional training during the Easter holiday as the second qualifier approaches.

“There are others in the country who are going through their own coaching and practice. In the top 10 or 12 there were three sailors from Abaco we haven’t seen before and we were very impressed. Long Island has one or two juniors that we think may able to make it onto the team,” Dunkley said in reference to March’s Winter Nationals, “Thats what that first event really showed us, the talent that we do have here in this country, not only here in Nassau but in all the islands. It will be very interesting to see how things play out among these top junior sailors. Each of the clubs in Nassau over the last 10 days brought in outside coaches to help to prepare sailors for this event, the next event after this, the final qualifier. I think we may see some changes, and some of the guys and girls who did well at KPMG might be surprised at who are pushing their way through to the top 14.”

Presentations will take place Saturday afternoon at the Nassau Yacht Club following the conclusion of the series.

“The Yacht Club has a long history of sailing, produced many world champions, even an Olympic champion, Sir Durward Knowles, so we are very very proud to host this event,” Adam Darville, Commodore of the Nassau Yacht Club said, “We really encourage youth sailing because it is the future of the club and our sport in the Bahamas. They have been working for months leading up to OPTINAM which is going to be a massive event.”

The Bahamas sent a team of four to the 2018 OPTINAM champs in Mexico and two of those sailors will return to compete this year.

Approximately 160-180 athletes from over 20 countries will participate and the organisation expects over 500 visitors in total.

“We’re proud to help this organisation on their mission. From the BOC’s perspective, we are really trying to work on youth development in all sports so it’s great to see so many young sailors in this wonderful sport,” Dorian Roach, Bahamas Olympic Committee executive said, “Obviously, the Bahamas has a rich history in sailing with our first Olympic gold medal. It is a historic sporting heritage, it’s good to see so many kids involved and it’s good to see the programme doing so well here and we’re proud to be a part of that.”

Chandra Parker, Optimist Dinghy Class Representative, said the OPTINAM will be the biggest sailing event the Bahamas has hosted to date.

“Normally the Bahamas will only get four kids on a team, its a closed championship and you have to be selected by your national association through a qualifying process. As the hosts we get an additional 10 spots which means so much more kids from this wonderful country will get an opportunity,” she said, “There are very excited, they’ve been working hard and we can’t wait to see how they do in this second qualifier.”

The KPMG Youth Winter Championships were hosted in March.

Classes sailed were Optimist Dinghies (ages eight to 14) Championship and Green (beginner) fleets, Laser (Radials and 4.7) and Sunfish. With 62 participants in all, results showed just how competitive our young sailors are in the region.

Joshua Weech (Nassau Yacht Club/Bahamas National Sailing School), aged 13, clinched first place in the Optimist Championship Fleet of 38 competitors by beating Anton Gottberg (Lyford Cay Sailing Club) by less than a foot in the last race. Gottberg was second overall and Kaemen Floyd (Bahamas National Sailing School) was third.

“Things could change dramatically at Nationals so we won’t really know what this team will look like until the end of qualification. We have so many wonderful sailors, just the experience of training harder and training in a larger fleet is great for their development,” Parker said, “Quite often we separate them based on ability but because they all want a chance to be in the championship fleet and qualify for the team. The kids are pushing themselves to move from a more intermediate level up to advanced level and they are finding that they can do it. They are pushing themselves and succeeding and its really fun to watch.”