Bahamas National
Sailing School - Detailed History
The
First Five Years – 2004 to 2008
2004
- November - BSA’s
National Sailing School was formed
and officially recognized by
Ministry of Sports.
2005
- BSA started its first
Summer Sailing Camp with 60 students in attendance over an eight-week
period. 40 of these students were from Government Junior High Schools.
- BSA
sent its first team of Advanced Junior Laser Sailors (1 male and 1 female)
to the ISAF Youth World
Championships - South Korea.
- BSA
held the first Optimist Junior
National Championship in Montagu Bay - 39 juniors competed.
- Junior sailors for the first time
competed in the Orange Bowl Junior
Sailing Regatta in Miami, one of the largest junior sailing events in
the world with sailors from over 20 countries.
2006
- BSA began
a more serious five-day per week junior sailing program in addition to
the Summer Sailing Camp. As part of this BSA:
- Encouraged
the Ministry of Sports to start an
island wide learn to swim program for government students.
- Hired two full-time internationally
accredited sailing instructors to run the year round program with a
focus on bringing sailing to the
Government schools and underprivileged kids.
- BSA
expanded its program to the Family
Islands by:
- Donating
8 sailing Prams (similar to the Optimist) to Long Island Association and running a clinic for 25 juniors in Long Island.
- Holding junior races in the Prams in
front of the viewing grandstand during the Long Island Sloop regatta.
- BSA hosted the Optimist National Junior Championships for the second year in
Montagu Bay - 45 competitors (10 from Long island).
- BSA expanded its Advanced Junior Laser Program
by acquiring three Lasers and increasing coaching time.
- For the second year one of the juniors
represented The Bahamas at the ISAF
Youth Worlds in the Laser Class in Waymouth, England.
2007
- BSA
continued its previously established year round and summer camp programs
as well as the hosting of the Optimist Junior National Championship.
- BSA
encouraged and assisted with the start-up of junior sailing programs in
Abaco and Grand Bahama.
- By the end of 2007 the optimist Fleet in
The Bahamas totaled 84 boats, making it the most dominant sailing class in
The Bahamas (Abaco 8, Grand Bahamas
14, Long Island 8 and New Providence 54).
- BSA ran
more sailing clinics in the Family
Islands and arranged for the junior sailors to participate in more regattas throughout The
Bahamas; major ones being:
- The Sloop
Valentine’s Day Regatta on Montagu Bay.
- The Long
Island Junior Optimist Regatta on Montagu Bay (A new event)
- The Homer
Lowe Sunfish Regatta which included the junior Optimist sailors.
- The Mac
Knowles Junior Sailing Club Regatta in Long Island.
- The
Optimist Junior National Championship (mentioned above)
2008
·
Programs above continued with the same level of participation.
Optimist National Championship 2010 (Photo: Robert Dunkley)
2009
to 2011 - Greater growth and diversification
Optimist National Championship 2010 (Photo: Robert Dunkley)
·
The year round
Junior Sailing Program continued in Optimists, and Sunfish with over 100 students each
year in total, 70 of whom were from over 15 different Government schools.
·
The Junior
Sailing Summer Camp continued with over 120 students, over 60 of whom were from 13
different Government schools each year. In 2009 eight instructors were hired
for the Summer Camp, five being Bahamians. In 2011 six instructors were hired,
five of whom were Bahamian.
·
BSA provided three Government schools, Columbus Primary, Stephen Dillet Primary
and Albury Sayles Primary with dedicated afternoon sessions for certain classes
at their schools. 15 to 26 students attended each session from grades 3 to 6.
·
BSA Instructors continued to provide training sessions to the Family Islands and assisted with the
start-up of their junior sailing programs; the last one being Harbour Island.
Optimist Junior Sailing Programs/Fleets are now operating in two locations in
Nassau, plus Freeport, Governors Harbour, Harbour Island, Long Island,
Man-O-War Cay, Hope Town, Green Turtle Cay and Marsh Harbour and at the end of
2011 totaled over 90 boats and 200 junior sailors.
·
Participation
by our junior sailors in established local and Family Island regattas grew; the key annual events being:
o
The following Bahamian national
championship regattas:
§
Snipe National Championship
§
Snipe Junior National Championship
§
Sunfish National Championship
§
Sunfish Junior National
Championship
§
Laser National Championship
§
Laser Junior National Championship
§
Optimist Junior national
Championship (70 to 82 junior participants each year from around the Bahamas
and elsewhere)
o
The Homer Lowe
Memorial Sunfish & Hugh Cottis Memorial Optimist Regatta in Marsh
Harbour. (now over 30 juniors participating annually)
o
The Terry McCoy
Memorial Sunfish Regatta in Nassau. (10 out of 20 participants are juniors now)
o
The Opti /Sloop
Valentines Day Regatta in Nassau (Now over 20 junior sailors participating).
o
Optimist
Quarterly Regattas hosted separately by three different sailing clubs every three
months. This is new for 2011 and attracts between 20 and 30 participants.
·
BSA’s
International Racing Program became more active.
o
The year round
Junior Laser Sailing Program for advanced
juniors was enhanced with a more serious and competitive approach,
including greater participation in major international events. Results in many
of these events were impressive such as:
§
2010 Orange
Bowl Regatta - 7th place out of 140.
§
2011 Laser
Midwinters East Regatta - 7th out of 105.
§
2010 North American Championships - 2nd in the Silver
Fleet.
 |
 |
Laser
Orange Bowl 2010 Laser
Nationals 2010 (Photos: Robert
Dunkley)
o Our top Laser
sailor each year represented the Bahamas at the ISAF Youth World Championships in
2009 (Brazil), 2010 (Turkey) and
2011 (Croatia) with impressive
results in Turkey and Croatia. Only the top sailor in each country in the
classes hosted qualifies for this event; same format as the Olympic Games.
o
Six juniors raced in the 2009 Int’l Junior Sunfish Championships
held in Nassau in a fleet of 25 competitors from ten countries.
o
Four junior sailors competed in the
2009 Sunfish World Championships
held in Nassau in a fleet of 72 boats from 14 countries.
o
Seven sailors represented The Bahamas at the Central American & Caribbean Games in Puerto Rico in 2010 in
the Sunfish, Laser and Snipe Classes. One of the team members in the Sunfish
class was our top junior sailor and another junior crewed in the Snipe Class.
o
In 2011 two of our junior sailors began university at College of Charleston and both made it
on their Sailing Team, one on the Varsity Team and the other on the Junior
Varsity Team.
o
Plans for 2012 are to send
for the first time three of the countries top Optimist sailors to the Optimist World Championship in Dominica
Republic as well as our top junior Laser sailor (in Freeport) to the ISAF Youth World Championships in
Ireland.
·
In 2011, BSA and Bahamas Olympic Association jointly provided a Sailing Instructor’s Training course
given by a top level ISAF Instructor from England. This was funded through the
IOC’s Solidarity Program. Seventeen Bahamians, mostly from the Family Islands
participated and as a result received their Level 1 Instructor’s Certification
BSA Instructor’s Course 2011 (Photo: Robert Dunkley)
