(Governor’s Harbour, Eleuthera, The Bahamas) On Saturday, October 5th, races got underway in the Bahamas Optimist Sailing National Open Championship 2013, being held by the Bahamas Sailing Association (BSA), and hosted by the Eleuthera Sailing and Swimming School at Anchor Bay in Governor’s Harbour, Eleuthera.  76 young sailors participated in the annual event, the climax of Optimist class sailing events in the Bahamas for the 2013 calendar year.

Competition, which began around 10am on Saturday morning, was met with indescribably beautiful blue skies, and ‘could not be more perfect’ water and wind conditions for the young skippers.

Five island groupings within the Bahamian archipelago were represented, including The Abacos, The Eleutheras, New Providence, Grand Bahama, and Long Island – with eight (8) sailors from The Abacos, twenty nine (29) sailors from the Eleutheras (21 of which were from the Harbour Island Sailing Club, and the remaining 8 from the Eleuthera Sailing and Swimming Club – based in Governor’s Harbour), twenty three (23) sailors from New Providence, twelve (12) sailors from Grand Bahama, and four (4) from Long Island.

Competitors ranged in age from 6yrs old up to 15 yrs old, and took part in their corresponding fleet class, of which there were four.   The first fleet class was the Green Fleet, which represented sailors under the age of 10 or novice sailors of any age – which had 40 competitors in total.  Next was the White Fleet, for 10 year olds with 5 competitors; the Blue Fleet for 11 and 12 year old sailors which had 16 sailors; and the Red Fleet with age 13 to 15 year old competitors which had 15 sailors.

Green Fleet sailors competed in races held fairly close to shore, while the Championship classes, which included the Red, White and Blue Fleets, competed in races further out, beyond the Cupid’s Cay Dock area of Governor’s Harbour. 

The 76 young skippers were from ten different participating clubs, including the Hope Town Sailing Club, Man ‘O War Sailing Club, Abaco Junior Sailing Club, Eleuthera Sailing and Swimming School, the Harbour Island Sailing Club, Grand Bahama Sailing Club (GBSC), Mack Knowles Sailing Club (MKSC – Long Island), the Nassau Yacht Club (NYC), the Royal Nassau Sailing Club (RNSC), and the Bahamas National Sailing School (BNSS).

Multiple races were held on Saturday, with another morning of racing planned for Sunday, October 6th. Competitors looked forward to the awards ceremony, which was set to be held at the St. Patrick’s Parish Hall in Governor’s Harbour at 3:30pm on Sunday afternoon.

Top female finisher in 2012, Melisha Higgins of Harbour Island (photo shown), commented that she had a challenging start in her first race of the day on Saturday morning, but came back stronger in her second race, finishing in sixth, and looked forward to continuing to improve throughout the weekend competition.

106 trophies were up for grabs, including participant trophies for all of the sailors that took part in the national event, top five finishers in each Fleet, top five finishers Overall, top female in each Fleet, as well as the Overall winner for the 2013 Optimist Sailing Championship.

 

Summary of the weather conditions as recorded by The Eleutheran in Governor’s Harbour:

Weather conditions were fair in Governor’s Harbour throughout the day. Colors were radiant in the sunshine and the breeze was cool in the shade.  We recorded a high of 92.1 °F   at 13:23  and an overnight low of 78.4 °F at 04:22. Humidity hovered around 60% and the highest wind speed (10 minute average) was recorded at 10 mph (F3)at 14:52 from the NE. The Barometric Pressure reached a High Pressure (SL) of 1015.5 hPa at 00:04 and Low Pressure (SL) 1012.2 hPa at 17:06.

Follow local conditions throughout the day at: http://www.eleutheranews.com/permalink/3543.html