The Tribune

THE Bahamas Sailing Association (BSA) is pleased to announce the two athletes to represent The Bahamas at the 2024 Youth Sailing World Championships, the premier event in international youth sailing being held from July 12-20 at Lake Garda, Italy. 

The Bahamas is eligible to send one male and one female in the ILCA 6 event and, after two qualifying events, 17-year-old Norman Cartwright and 15-year-old Eliza Denning have qualified as top U19 male and top U19 female in The Bahamas.

Norman Cartwright fought off close competition from 18-year-old Joshua Weech, who previously sailed in the event in 2022 and Eliza Denning narrowly defeated Ellianne Higgs who like Weech previously competed in this event in 2022.

Norman Cartwright started sailing with the Mack Knowles Junior Sailing Club in the summer of 2018 and comes from a family of boat builders and sloop sailors, notably his great grand-father boat builder Rupert Knowles and grand-father Bert who sailed in the National Family Island Regatta in 1954. 

Norman joined the Bahamas National Sailing School (BNSS) in Nassau in September 2018, initially sailing in the Optimist dingy. 

Norman has previously represented The Bahamas at the Optimist World Championship in Turkey, the Optimist North American Championship in Mexico and Nassau and the Optimist South American Championship in Brazil.

Commenting on his recent success, Cartwright said: “I have great hopes for Youth Sailing Worlds, and I hope to do my country proud, set a new country record for performance at this event and to also set an example for younger sailors who aspire to compete at such a high level.”

Bahamian resident Eliza Denning of Lyford Cay Sailing has also achieved international success in the Optimist Class, notably top North American female at the 2023 Optimist North Americans held in Antigua. 

Eliza was also part of the first all-girl team to win the 2022 Best of the Best regatta in the E Class and also qualified to compete at the 2023 Regatta of Champions (Optimist regatta) held in Athens, Greece.

Said Lori Lowe, president of the Bahamas Sailing Association: “I would like to congratulate Norman and Eliza on qualifying to represent The Bahamas at this very prestigious event. Norman and Eliza have trained very hard and have international experience from a young age in the Optimist class. The event is a fantastic opportunity to compete against some of the world’s best junior sailors and represent The Bahamas on the international stage.”

The athletes will be accompanied by Paul de Souza, head coach at the Bahamas National Sailing School (and current Bahamas Laser national champion).