2013 Laser Junior National Championship

2013 Bahamas Junior Laser Nationals Press Release:

Over the weekend of September 14-15 Grand Bahama Sailing Club hosted the 2013 Bahamas Laser Junior Nationals. Competitors from Freeport, Nassau, and Abaco traveled to Grand Bahama for their chance at winning the National 4.7 and Radial Championship titles.

Thirteen competitors took part in this competitive sailing event. The typical regatta format in the Bahamas follows a strict schedule with racing on Saturday and Sundays. For this particular event, the skippers were expected to complete 4 races on Saturday and an additional 3 races on Sunday, 7 races would complete the series. As the competitors from the surrounding islands arrived in Freeport, the equipment and boats were all checked and rigged according to the sailor’s specific criteria. This prepares the sailor and the boat for the long weekend of racing.

On Saturday morning, sailors were met with a very calm sea. The water was flat with no wind in sight. The forecast throughout the day was also dismal, causing a postponement and delay in racing. In the early afternoon, the race committee noticed a slight breeze and the decision to tow the 13 Lasers towards the southern shore was announced. After a quick tow through the Grand Lucayan Waterway all the competitors were able to scope out the racecourse, trying to get an edge on the rest of the fleet.

Photo: Laser 4.7 and Laser Radials sailing downwind on a “run”.

On Saturday conditions ranged from 4-8 knots of breeze from the southeast. Despite a delay in the morning, all 4 scheduled races were completed. Paul De Souza and Branden Sands resulted in a commanding lead in both the Radial & 4.7 divisions with straight bullets.

Photo: Branden Sands finishing with another 1^st Place (bullet)

On Sunday there was a short postponement due to thunderstorms, but racing was quickly underway. Winds were from the southeast around 10-13 knots, which died throughout the day. Three races were completed for a total of 7 races in the series. In the 4.7 division Branden Sands was challenged by Tom Paine, who ousted Branden in race 5. Branden was quickly able to adjust to the heavier winds and took 1^st in race 6 & 7. In the Radial division Paul De Souza placed 1^st in all but one race.

Congratulations to Branden Sands from Cherokee Sound, Abaco – the 2013 Bahamas Junior 4.7 Laser Champion.

Congratulations to Paul De Souza from Nassau, New Providence – the 2013 Bahamas Junior Radial Laser Champion.

Both Branden and Paul sailed with excellent technique in the light and windy conditions. The next regatta on the Bahamas Sailing schedule is over the weekend of September 21-22. Royal Nassau Sailing Club will be hosting their annual Mix-Up regatta in the Optimist, Laser, Snipe, and Sunfish classes. 

Follow Grand Bahama Sailing Club on Facebook for more sailing updates and photos.

Opti / Laser Spring Regatta

SPENCER CARTWRIGHT CONTINUES HIS DOMINANCE IN THE OPTIMIST DINGHY CLASS

The Optimist / Laser Spring Regatta hosted by the Royal Nassau Sailing Club on May 4 & 5 was held in perfect racing conditions on Montagu Bay.  Winds were a moderate 10 to 13 knots out of the west, which made it shifty and fun for the sailors. This regatta is one of the four major junior events held each year in The Bahamas and attracts sailors from many of the family islands, like Grand Bahama, Abaco and Harbour Island.  

Spencer Cartwright racing upwind

The Optimist class was divided into three separate fleets; the Gold for our advanced international level sailors, the Silver for intermediate level sailors and the Green for beginners (first year of racing).

Spencer Cartwright from Nassau, as he has done now for over two years led the way for the Optimists, winning the Gold Fleet trophy with first place finishes in all seven races over the two days. Second and third in the Gold were Cochise Burrows (Nassau) and Brendan Sands (Abaco) respectively. All three of these sailors are on the Bahamas Junior National Team and will be representing our country along with Benjamin Derbyshire(Nassau) at the Optimist World Championships in Italy this July. These sailors as well as Melisha Higgins (Harbour Island), also on the junior national team will be competing in the Optimist North American Championship in Bermuda in early July.

The Silver fleet saw very close racing among the top four sailors. Joshua Higgins from Harbour Island managed to pull off first place overall by winning the last race. Taking second place with only one point behind him was Britini Thompson from Grand Bahama.  Blake Roberts and Tahj Ramirez both from Nassau were tied points-wise but Blake ended up third and Tahj fourth with the tie break.

The Green fleet in this event was coached around the course. Out of six sailors three managed to make it to the finish line in each race. Our top three were first place, Tyler Saunders, second Alvin Lewis (Harbour Island) and third Noah Simmons (Harbour Island). As coach Dunkley said, “These three young sailors are getting the hang of it and starting to know their way around the course so it won’t be long before they will be competing in the Silver and then Gold fleets”.   

In the Laser fleet Nicholas Rolle ( Grand Bahama) and Paul de Souza  (Nassau) battled it out to the end. Every race was close and at the end of the nine race series Nicholas won overall by one point. This made for great racing.  According to Coach Dunkley these two are the best junior Laser Radial sailors in the Country today. Paul won the Bahamas Laser Junior Nationals last year and was the Junior National Sailing Team’s top performer in the four qualifying events for the ISAF Youth World Championship in Cypress, which he will be attending in July.  

Britni Thompson (GBSC) - Second place, Opti silver fleet

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

Optimist /Jr. Laser Winter Championship - A Cold and Windy Regatta.

Having what it takes: Optimist /Jr. Laser Winter Championship 

“Neither snow nor hail nor gloom of night...” is the mantra the we usually associate with the United States Postal Service, but it, in application, is not at all different from the philosophy of our own junior sailors.

When the BSA (Bahamas Sailing Association) planned the March 2-3rd, Optimist / Jr Laser Winter Championship Regatta hosted by the Nassau Yacht Club, no one imagined the weather that the Saturday start brought. 

In true winter fashion, not the Bahamian winters we know anyway, temperatures sank to about 60 degrees with winds up to 25 knots and gusts dancing around 30.  The conditions so great that they forced some Saturday races to be postponed to Sunday.  These factors were of no real effect on the sailors.  They came.  They saw.  They conquered.  

Spencer Cartwright, racing downwind

At the end of the first round of sailing, pushing past chattering lips and teeth and completely submerged attired, the sailors beamed at their accomplishments and confessed the challenges of wind, water and rain.  Overall all, it was a Red Letter day for the youngest sailors whose ages range from 9 to 11 years as this was indeed a major feat. Coach Dunkley, the director of the National Sailing School, lauded the conditions as being “great for the kids.”  According to him, “It really helps to build their confidence. Once you have sailed in 20 knots, 15 becomes easy, once you have sailed in 25 knots, 20 becomes easy. Besides, if you travel to regattas away there is a good chance you will be sailing in conditions like these or even worse, so it is good we get used to it at a young age.” 

As for the young sailors, when asked “How was it out there?” The echoed responses were short and frank, “Wet, cold, rough!”

The privilege of this degree of experience was not only afforded to our Nassauian sailors, but youth sailors from Freeport, Abaco and Harbour Island came and had their chances at taming their sails, against those wild winds as well.  The annual event is one of four major championship regattas held each year for juniors. This was also the last of five events used as a qualifier for the Optimist World Championships and ISAF Youth World Championship to be held this summer in Italy and Cypress respectively.  

There were four competitors in the Laser Radial Class, the four top junior Radial sailors in the country.  There was very close racing between Nicholas Rolle from Freeport and Paul de Souza from Nassau. In the heavy winds, Nicholas dominated, winning 4 out of six races.  When the winds were down a bit, Paul managed to get out ahead and win.  In the end Nicholas won the class, beating Paul by just two points. After all of the points were gathered, including those from earlier events including events in Florida and the Junior Laser National Championship, which Paul won, he earned the right to represent The Bahamas this year at the ISAF Youth World Championships in the Boy’s Laser Class.  

Paul, Nicholas and Audry O’Brien, likely to be our representative in the Girl’s Laser Class at the ISAF Worlds, along with Coaches Robert Dunkley and David Valentine from Freeport will be heading to  Dominican Republic later this month for a high level coaching clinic for top coaches and Laser Radial Sailors in the Caribbean, sponsored by the International Sailing Federation.   

Other major feats for the regatta were wins by Alande Forbes, in the Laser 4.7 class, who won five out of six races with Dwayne Dames was second and Nathaniel Major third. This is the class the kids advance to when coming out of the Optimist class as a result of their size or age: maximum 15 years old.

The Optimist Advanced (Gold) Fleet of 9 boats was dominated by National Champion Spencer Cartwright of Nassau, who won five out of the six races. Cochise Burrows (Nassau) was second and Branden Sands (Abaco) was third. This win secured Spencer’s place on the team going to the Optimist World Championship. The other two or three participants going to this event as team members will be decided on a later date.

There was very close racing in the Optimist Intermediate (Silver) Fleet of 11 boats. At the end of the first day Richard Spurlock lead with Hercude Estime one point behind him. His smart sailing in the first race on Sunday moved Hercude ahead to first in the series and he never looked back. Richard took second and Gustavo Perla – Ellison was third by way of a tiebreak between he and two other sailors. Results between the top five boats could not have been closer.

It is not to be said that the winds took no prisoners or had no casualties.  Paul de Souza laid his mast to rest after Saturday’s second session, after it was successfully snapped by the aggressive winds.  His defeat against the wind was but a minor battle as in true phoenix style, he rose to the occasion and captured a number of victories.  

Parents and supporters alike applauded the tenacity and endurance of the sailors and sailing team against the unwelcome conditions, begging reflection and introspection, on the part of the spectator, “Do you have what it takes?”

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

Event: Laser National Championships 2012

The Bahamas Laser Nationals, sailed on December 8^th and 9^th was open to all Laser rigs (Full, Radial and 4.7’s). Due to the huge increased interest in junior sailing, the majority of the competitors were racing in Radials, the rig used around the world for advanced junior sailing events. Six competitors from Freeport and one from Little Exuma came to contest the race along with their five Nassuvian compatriots.

The Gods looked kindly on our regatta and provided perfect racing conditions (especially for our light weight sailors) with light to moderate winds containing 10 to 15 degree shifts.

Donico Brown, Laser National Champion for 2012

Donico Brown, sailing in the Full rig and a BSA Sailing Instructor, won overall with 7 points; however, one of the country’s top juniors, Paul de Souza, was right on his heels with 8 points.  This position for Paul who is only 13 and has been sailing seriously over the last two years in the Optimist dinghy (the “starter” boat for juniors) confirmed how good he really is in the Laser and demonstrated that his win at the Junior Laser Nationals earlier in the year was obviously no fluke. 

Close finish between Nick Rolle and Alex Thompson; both from
Freeport

As Coach Dunkley put it: “We now have a number of young sailors with natural sailing talent,  who are extremely dedicated to the sport and are training hard and the benefits of this are beginning to show.  Even though he is a bit light for the Laser, Paul is proving that technique and sound tactical knowledge attained through sailing the Optimist well, can be transferred into sailing almost any other boat”. Third place Pedro Rahming and fourth place Spencer Cartwright are another two top junior sailors who have come through the BSA Optimist Junior sailing program in Nassau. 

The Bahamas representative at the ISAF Youth Worlds this past summer, Eric Nabb of Freeport , took fifth, his team mate Nick Rolle was in sixth , and the top female sailor Audrey O’Brien, also hailed from Freeport., 

A big thank you to the Nassau Yacht Club for hosting this event and again to the BSA junior program sponsors Bahamas Hot Mix, East Nassau Rotary, KPMG, Palm Cay, Royal Bank, Coca Cola, Odyssey Aviation, Cable Bahamas & Cable Cares, Kerzner Corp. and Ministry of Sports for their continued support and encouragement – we definitely couldn’t do it without you! 

Paul de Souza coming to the finish for his win of Race #5

Audrey O'Brien - Top Female

Results

Photos 

LASER NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2012 - POSTPONED TO DEC 8 & 9

Dear all,

In the interest of having our sailing friends from Freeport join us, we have postponed this event to December 8 & 9. They will be sending 6 of their sailors/boats. 

The revised NOR is posted under the 'Results & Documents' tab.

We are looking forward to a fun weekend.

Best regards,

Robert

Robert Dunkley

Director - Bahamas National Sailing School

c/o Nassau Yacht Club

P.O. Box N-752

Nassau, Bahamas

Tel: 242-357-3959

Bahamas Laser Junior National Championships- Article by Kathryn De Souza

The Bahamas Laser Junior National Championships was held at the Grand Bahamas Sailing Club in Freeport on September 22-23^rd.  Young sailors from across the Bahamas competed for the title of National Champion. Paul de Souza, hot off his recent Sunfish Junior National Championship victory, clinched the title of Laser Junior National Champion. Hot on his heals was Paul’s friend and rival Spencer Cartwright, who finished in 2^nd place, just one point behind Paul.  Allande “AJ” Forbes, who represented the Bahamas in the Optimist World Championship along with Paul and Spencer, finished an impressive 3^rd overall.

A series of 7 races were held on Sunday, as the sailors were unable to compete on Saturday due to severe weather conditions. The competitors made the best of the rain day by playing sports and feasting on the delicious food prepared by the Grand Bahamas Yacht Club and others. 

The 6^th race proved to be one of the most exciting of the day, when Spencer sailed to the finish ahead of Paul, leaving the two sailors tied for first going in to the last race. According to Coach Robert Dunkley, the most exciting part of the regatta was watching Spencer and Paul battle it out for first.  “In the last race, Spencer was over the start line early and had to double back. This left Paul out in front and Spencer sailed down the entire fleet other than Paul in the first leg. Both quickly left the rest of the fleet behind and battled it out over the next four legs. Paul covered him like a champ and there was no way he was going to let Spencer pass him. It was a fun race to watch”, commented Coach Dunkley. Spencer wished he had sailed the last race more conservatively, but he proved he was a tough competitor by not letting a problem at the start keep him from trying to win. Paul said “Spencer always pushes me to sail my best. Today I sailed my best, and I was happy with how I did”.

Coach Dunkley described the wind conditions as” light and shifty” which often favors the lighter sailors. A Pre-race favorite and 5^th place finisher Pedro Rahming felt the wind conditions were disappointing , as he had been training in heavier winds during the three weeks leading up to the regatta. He commented that he plans to focus more on “”the conditions instead of the sailors” at the next regatta. Spencer Cartwright commented that the “conditions were strange because the waves were coming at a different direction than usual.”  

 AJ worked hard to fend off the other sailors to maintain his place in 3^rd overall.  Fellow competitor Mishael Taffin said his favorite race in the regatta was the 4^th race, where “I somehow managed to overtake AJ near the finish but sadly he was just too fast on the upwind.” Mishael went on to say, “The challenge was worth it as I managed a fourth place finish in that race.” Spencer was impressed with fellow sailor Tyler Cartwright, who was the only sailor from Long Island. Spencer commented that he “admired Tyler’s determination.”  Paul felt the team from Freeport displayed excellent sportsmanship during the regatta. 

Coach Dunkley is certainly proud of his sailors, and is impressed with the improvements they have shown over the last year. However, they “still have a long way to go to compete at the top international level” according to Coach Dunkley.  He went on to say  “with the enthusiasm and dedication of the sailors to their sport along with the support of our local sponsors and good coaching, it will not be long before we will be seeing them in the winner’s circle at major international events.”

Event: Laser Junior National Championships 2012

9-22-12: Regatta report - Day 1: Early morning thunderstorms postponed racing hour after hour on the first day of Laser Nationals. Unfortunately, once the storms cleared around 1:30pm the southern shore was left with 0 knots of wind. At 2pm racing was called for the day as the forecast predicted more rain and little chance of wind. Zero races were completed today. On the positive side - the sailors enjoyed

 an amazing breakfast prepared by Sofia Thompson (Pancakes, eggs, sausage, & coffee cake), multiple games of extreme souse (Freeport vs Nassau, we're not sure who won), and other versions of non-regulated tennis. Jason Thompson grilled some great burgers for the evening Social and everyone seemed to enjoy a long day "off" the water. 3 races need to be completed Sunday to constitute a regatta series.

9-23-12: Regatta report- Day 2: 7 races completed today in light conditions to finish up the 2012 Bahamian Laser Junior National Championships.



Final Results:
1) Paul De Souza
2) Spencer Cartwright
3) Alande Forbes
4) Nick Rolle
5) Pedro Rahming
Link to Full Score Sheet.

Elliot DeGregory, 1st place in Laser 4.7 Division

Paul DeSouza, 1st place Overall and in Radial Division

Four boats battling for the lead in the first downwind leg. Pedro Rahming (637), Trevor Goodrum (477), Alex Thompson (390) and Spencer Cartwright (135)

Alex Thompson, Nicholas Rolle, and Nikolas Olssen rounding the windward mark

More info, results, and photos to be posted as we receive them!

Event: RNSC Mix-Up Regatta 2012

     What a fun weekend of sailing! This past Saturday and Sunday all of our dinghy classes, Snipes, Lasers, Sunfish and Optis were on Montague Bay battling it out.  This was a challenge regatta with many sailing in boats they don’t usually sail - and it wasn’t just the junior sailors making all the noise. Many of our recent Adult Learn To Sail participants were right there in the mix of things yelling with their newly acquired expertise and spouting words like “staaarboard!”, “buoy rooooom!” and a repertoire  of other battle-cry words. Also amazing was how obedient the fathers were to their sons’ commands as dads were crewing for the youngsters in the Sunfish class.   As one of the kids said; “This is a first! It is the first time I have ever been in charge of my dad. Telling him what to do was great and he did what I said most of the time, cause if he didn’t he was going to have to swim back to shore…. and he ain’t that good a swimmer”.

In all, 42 sailors in 32 boats competed with teams coming from Grand Bahama and Abaco. The “hotshots” of the events were Eric Nabb (Freeport) in the Lasers, our junior representative this year at the ISAF Youth World Championships, Paul de Souza, Spencer Cartwright and Alande Forbes, our top three Optimist sailors who just recently returned from the Optimist World Championships and last but not least, Nicky Saddleton, the “reigning champion” of our Adult Learn To Sail J22 Match Race Championship.  Paul and Alande accepted the Laser challenge with Paul actually winning in this class while Spencer took on and won the Snipe challenge. Nicky who with crew Lori Lowe raced in the Snipes, also made her debut helming the Snipe for the very first time and sailed amazingly well.

In the Jr./Dad Sunfish class two teams,  the Rachel / Tim Sands Team (Abaco) and Tristan / Roger Eldon Team (Nassau) battled it out every race with the Eldons coming out ahead at the end of nine races….but by only one point. 

In the Opti Advanced Fleet there was also close racing especially between Richard King and Brenden Sands. Brenden won his class and is on his way to doing well in the up-coming Bahamas Optimist National Championships (Oct 5 & 6 in Harbour Island). In the Optimist Green Fleet Tre Romer took top honors while Tahj Ramirez, who just started sailing this summer, placed second. 

Judging by the smiles on all the sailor’s faces, I would say everyone had a great time. As you will see from David Valentine’s video and Dunk’s photos – all on the new BSA website www.BAHsailing.org and Facebook – the racing in all classes was close, challenging and fun.

It was extremely encouraging to see so many sailors of all ages and socio-economic backgrounds participating in this event. With thanks to the support of the Bahamas Sailing Association’s sponsors so many more young sailors have taken to the sport and now make regattas like this possible.  So thank you JS Johnson, Cable Bahamas and Cable Cares Foundation, Rotary East Nassau, Odyssey Aviation Bahamas, Bahamas Hot Mix, KPMG, Bahamas Maritime Authority, Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture for your financial assistance. Your support really does help young Bahamians develop healthy, disciplined and productive lives. 

Robert Dunkley

Paul De Souza leading the way to the finish of the 8th race in the Mix-Up Regatta - In 9 races he took 6 firsts, 1 second and 1 third. - Way to go Paul!

Two juniors with their dads as crew battling to the finish line of the 7th race. Rachel Sands with her dad Tim (#3927) and Tristan Eldon with his dad Roger (#3963). In the end, the Eldons won by 1pt over the Sands duo.

Richard King sailing his new boat upwind during the Mix-Up Regatta. Congratulations on your second place overall finish in this event!

Spencer Cartwright (skipper) and Daniel Gibson (crew) crossing the finish line to win the Snipe division. Great sailing guys!

Trevor and Andrew Goodrum ducking the stern of Fernando De Cardenas. It was this sort of close sailing that was present in the Snipe class during the entire regatta.

Check out the rest of the photos here!

Mix-Up Regatta Scheduled for this Weekend

This weekend Montagu Bay will play host to 7 teams and 35 boats competing in the Mix-Up Regatta. This event will feature Opti Beginners, Opti Advanced, Lasers, Sunfish, and Snipes. 

Teams form Freeport and Abaco will be joining in. Be sure to come out to Montagu Bay and see these 35 boats all competing on the same course!

Event: ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships 2012 Young Bahamian Set for 2012 Four Star Pizza ISAF Youth Worlds

Eric Nabb, who is only fourteen years old, won The Bahamas National Laser Radial (singlehanded) division in November last year and has now qualified to represent the Bahamas at the 2012 Four Star Pizza ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships.
He will be the third Bahamian to ever compete at this stage and age for his country. Young Nabb is part of a phenomenal sailing program that began five years ago in Grand Bahama and has produced a group of confident sailors and independent young men and women... (Continued)