The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AT one point following the destruction of Hurricane Dorian on Abaco and Grand Bahama, the Bahamas Sailing Association and the Bahamas National Sailing School had contemplated cancelling the 2019 Optimist North American Championships.

But Robert Dunkley, the chairman of the organising committee and the head coach for Team Bahamas, said they felt it would be best to host the event as planned for September 27 to October 4 at the Nassau Yacht Club in Montagu Bay.

“We would like to express our deepest sympathy to all who have been impacted by Hurricane Dorian and our condolences to those who lost family members and friends to this devastating storm,” Dunkley said.

“Because of the devastation, we were contemplating cancelling this event. But through the encouragement of others, we decided to go through with it.”

The event comes on the heels of the World Junior Championships that were held in Antigua and Barbuda in July and with more than 300 boats participating, Dunkley said they are eager to get this show on the water.

Dunkley, who will be assisted by Chandra Parker in organising the event, said they are anticipating a total of 20 countries with more than 160 juniors between the ages of 9-15 participating in the five days of intense competition.

“We are very proud to be hosting this event,” Dunkley said. “It’s the largest event we’ve ever had in sailing in the Bahamas and the largest youth regatta in North America and the Caribbean.”

Adam Darville is the commodore for the Nassau Yacht Club.

Team Bahamas, led by manager Rhianno Thomas from Hope Town, Abaco, will comprise of the following: Team captain Joshua Weech, Kaemen Floyd, Craig Ferguson, Cameron Eldon, Finley Labert McKinney, Jasmin Aberle, David Huber, Maison Koepke, Zane Munro, Matthew Reid, Patrick Tomlinson, Saoirse Duffy, Amy McSweeney, Mary Jac Nash, Scarlett McCarroll and Conry Raine.

In an emotional statement, Thomas thanked God for life, noting that in Hope Town they were spared, but she couldn’t say the same about the rest of Abaco and Grand Bahama.

“We’re super excited. We’re really happy to have this distraction at the moment for our current lives,” said Thomas, who was among the list of persons who rode out the storm in Hope Town and suffered significant damages to their properties.

“I’m really looking forward to working with the kids, especially my two from Hope Town. It’s really important that we represent all of Abaco and the Bahamas to show that we are a resilient country and that we will get through this together.”

Chandra, who will represent the Bahamas at the International Optimist Dinghy Association, said this is a huge undertaking to put on the event, but they are appreciative of the support they have received from the Nassau Yacht Culb, the Bahamas Sailing Association and all of their sponsors. “We have had a challenging year for our juniors. They’ve gone through a process of three qualifying events to make Team Bahamas and they have gone through many clinics and extra training,” she said.

“It’s been very vigorous for them and we are proud to see how far they have come.

“We’ve had so many people reaching out to us asking us if we can still do this and it was hard to make that decision, but it means so much to our kids for working so hard, so we made that decision and we just hope that this would bring attention to the Bahamas to bring further assistance to the Bahamas and to show that the Bahamas is still opened to receiving visitors.”

Darville thanked both Dunkley and Parker for the amazing job they have done so far in making it so easy for him to perform his job.

He noted that they decided to continue with the event so that they can use the event as a healing process for the country.

“The Nassau Yacht Club is very busy. If you go outside, you will see a lot of people running around trying to get this place up to standard for the games that will take place in 10 days,” he said.

“The Yacht Club is very proud of what is going on here and we look forward to a great event.”

The championships will be officially opened on September 28. The first three races in class will begin on Sunday, September 29 and continue on Monday, September 30.

On Monday, October 1, the competitors will also participate in team racing which will take place in short course events from 10:30 to 3:30pm.

The sailors will then be placed in the gold, silver and bronze classes based on their performances to compete in the final six-race series to determine the overall champions on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 2-3.

“We’re looking at the top sailors in this class,” Dunkley said. “You have to opt-out of the Optimist Class by the age of 15 and kids around the world sail in this class from the age of seven up to 15. It is the largest class in the world. We are looking at the top junior sailors in the world to be participating in this.”

The list of sponsors for the event are the Nassau Yacht Club, Bahamas Sailing Association, the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources, Ministry of Tourism and Aviation, Bahamas Care Giving Foundation, Campbell Shipping, Subway, Betty K Agencies, Majestic Tours, Sports Centre, Nassau Harbour Club, Bahama Blue, CIBA, HG Christie Real Estate, KPMG, Bahamas First Insurance and the Nassau Underwriters Agency Limited, Bahamas Waste, The Sign Man, Panama Jack, Captains Table, North Sails, Christ Church School, Aliuv, Avis and Chilly Willy Ice.