PAUL DE SOUZA WINS BAHAMAS JUNIOR SUNFISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2014

NASSAU, The Bahamas (August 20, 2014) –

Paul de Souza, the day before leaving to represent The Bahamas at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China won this year’s Junior Sunfish National Championship by winning the last race in the six series. It went down to the wire as his sparring partner, Spencer Cartwright held the lead through the first five races. You couldn’t have asked for a closer, more exciting series between these two sailors. Was it a surprise? Not really, as these two champions have been battling it out against each other for three years now. Spencer has dominated the Optimist Dinghy Class in The Bahamas while Paul has been the one to beat in the Junior Laser Class for the last two years.

Sailors on a downwind leg. #197 Paul de Souza, #3941 Spencer Cartwright, #3957 Cochise Burrows, #3975 Alande Forbes

This regatta was hosted by the Nassau Yacht Club on August 9th. The wind conditions were near perfect: an oscillating breeze of  6 to 10 knots out of the southeast. 14 sailors competed, including Branden and Rachel Sands from Abaco and Paloma Cartwright and Tyler Cartwright from Long Island. Among the competitors were a number of sailors who attended The Bahamas National Sailing School’s Summer Sailing Camp, including Gregory Lindsey. Gregory is a student at T. A. Thompson Junior High School and he sailed extremely well for his first time racing. When asked what he thought of racing he replied, "it’s awesome. I am joining the Yacht Club and aim to be a sailing instructor some day soon." With his enthusiasm for the sport he is well on his way to achieving this.

Another sailor who surprised us was Cochise Burrows, one of our top Optimist sailors this year. He sailed consistently well and took third place overall. His dedication to training in the Optimist this past year in order to represent us at the Optimist US National Championships in California has paid off.

   

We were honored to have Wellington Miller, President of the Bahamas Olympic Committee, attend the awards presentation. He presented the trophies along with Lori Lowe, President of The Bahamas Sailing Association. We thank both for taking the time out of their very busy schedules to do this. The trophy winners were; top female, Paloma Cartwright; third place, Cochise Burrows; second place Spencer Cartwright; and first place Paul de Souza.

Congratulations to all the sailors and a special thank you to the Nassau Yacht Club for hosting this event and to the BSA Junior Program sponsors Bahamas Hot Mix, Rotary Club of East Nassau, KPMG, Palm Cay, Bahamas Ferries, Royal Bank, Coca Cola, Odyssey Aviation, Cable Bahamas & Cable Cares, Kerzner Corp., Cardinal Co. Ltd. and Ministry of Sports.

The trophy winners; top female, Paloma Cartwright; first place Paul de Souza; second place Spencer Cartwright; third place, Cochise Burrows

Results - Junior Sunfish National