Exuma Sailing Club 2023 recap

2023 was an amazing year from start to finish for the Exuma Sailing Club. This year ESC team members competed in eleven regattas, including the National Family Island Regatta, the Long Island Regatta, Opti Nationals, and Sunfish Junior Nationals.

At the 2023 Opti National Championships in Nassau the ESC took a team of 6 sailors, three in the rookie green fleet and three in the advanced championship fleet. For the second year in a row, they had a new sailor win the green fleet, Treysean McKenzie, brother of last year's winner Tyreese McKenzie.

Treysean McKenzie

For the first time this year, ESC hosted another National event: The 2023 Sunfish Junior Nationals in Elizabeth Harbour. The event had fourteen sailors from Exuma and ten sailors from Nassau. Joss Knowles of the ESC placed 3rd overall out of twenty four boats and lost only to the two current best junior sailors in The Bahamas from Nassau.

In the end, the regatta was a huge success even though the wind was very high, some of the newer sailors struggled, and many boats broke down. All of the visiting sailors enjoyed themselves and are looking forward to the next event, which is forecasted to be next year.

In late November, two of the top junior sailors, Joss Knowles and Tanaj Manos, traveled to Nassau to compete in the Sunfish Open Championship against adult veteran sailors. Joss sailed amazingly and was leading the final race which would have crowned him the champion of the regatta except the wind died and that race was canceled, which resulted in him coming in second overall.

Since December last year, when The Exuma Sailing Club lost to the team from Lyford Cay in the final race of the 2022 Best of the Best Regatta, one of the major goals this year was to take revenge and win the 2023 Best of the Best Regatta.

ESC was represented by 3 E class boats:

One Bahamas (Tanaj Manos), Mako (Emit Knowles), and last year's runner-up Lady Kayla (Joss Knowles). Several other ESC sailors sailed in other private E Class boats as well. The three ESC boats sailed well from the beginning of the regatta and swept the top three finishes in two out of three races, and Lady Kayla won every single race. All three ESC boats qualified for the “winner take all” final race on Sunday, boasting three out of the five finalist boats.

Joss Knowles

This time, Joss in Lady Kayla won the overall championship, completing a four-race clean sweep of the E class series. No E class boat has ever swept all four races in a major regatta ever! This was a major goal that they trained for and were able to accomplish this year. The best of our performance boats in this one event netted $4,300 for the Exuma Sailing Club in prize money from the four races.

Another major focus in 2023 was to secure the A class boat Lady M from Staniel Cay. While progress has been made and both the ESC and the interested parties in Staniel Cay are in agreement for the acquisition of the boat, as of December 2023 Lady M still remains in Staniel Cay and work has not begun on her yet. ESC remains committed to this endeavor and will continue to work to make it happen.

Another great win for the club this year was that the Prime Minister, the Hon. Philip Brave Davis, while naming sailing as the Bahamas’ National Sport at the 2023 National Family Island Regatta, also verbally committed to giving the ESC the property adjacent to where the club currently operates, giving us the green light to begin planning the layout for our future clubhouse building and boat building shed. A big focus of 2024 will be officially securing the property and fundraising for the clubhouse building.

The ESC membership grew at the end of the summer after the annual Learn to Sail Camp. The Sunfish fleet is currently at sixteen sailors and the Opti fleet is at twelve sailors.

Thanks to the continued funding from the Friends of Exuma the ESC have once again been able to grow this year, keep the fleet in good shape, and are preparing for another great year in 2024.

Update provided by Dallas Knowles of the Exuma Sailing Club

Exuma Sailing Club Update

2023 is shaping up to be an incredible year for the Exuma Sailing Club. This year they celebrate their 10-year anniversary, as well as accomplishing a few milestones that will likely change the trajectory of the ESC’s future.

In the early months of 2023, the ESC hosted a fundraising event with the goal of raising funds to acquire an A-class Sloop for the Club and for George Town, which has been a long-time dream of the ESC. 

The legendary A Class Sloop “Lady Muriel” has been unused and in slight disrepair in Staniel Cay since 2016. The estimated costs of the repair are about $30,000, and with the support of donors, the ESC was able to raise that amount. At recent meetings in Staniel Cay, the ESC met with those in charge of “Lady Muriel” and have reached an agreement for her to be repaired and sailed by the Exuma Sailing Club. It is forecasted that she will be repaired and ready to be sailed for the Best of the Best Regatta in Nassau in December.

Another big accomplishment is that the ESC has been given permission from the Prime Minister to use the land next to the ESC to officially begin building a permanent clubhouse, sailing academy, and boat-building workhouse. At the National Family Island Regatta this past April, Hon. Brave Davis publicly gave the land between the fish fry and the Augusta Bay hotel to be used by the Exuma Sailing Club to begin construction on a clubhouse. After 10 years, the ESC begins to have a real home with proper storage and a classroom and clubhouse to hold events and train more young sailors in Exuma. This will mean presenting blueprints and plans for buildings, and seeking assistance from those that love the sailing club and want to help build a better future for sailing in Exuma.

This year, Dallas Knowles of the Exuma Sailing Club was named the next commodore for the National Family Island Regatta. He will be in charge of next year's regatta, and with this responsibility it will also mean a more active role for the ESC in the event as well. 

Sailing in Exuma is growing fast and the community is becoming the capital for Sloop Sailing, NFIR will become more organized and better funded as Dallas looks to restructure and refocus the event more on the amazing sailing that takes place that week. 

2023 is off to a great start, and this is in large part because of the generosity of Friends of Exuma and those who love and support the Exuma Sailing Club.

Exuma Sailing Club has its sights on an A Class boat

2022 was probably the best year the Exuma Sailing Club has had. Sailor membership grew and they are excited to see some of their younger sailors now maturing into stronger sailors and even assistant coaches.

The Club is looking forward to another successful year, and one of the major goals of the Exuma Sailing Club for 2023 is to obtain an A Class sailboat for their fleet.

A potential good fit for the Club has become available, a proven champion that would allow the junior crew to be competitive against the best boats in the A Class. The boat has sat unused since 2019 and requires some work which means it could be purchased for about half the price of a new A Class boat.

If the Club can obtain a boat and get her to Exuma by the beginning of March, it could be ready to be sailed competitively by April. The boat would be crewed exclusively by a junior crew and have a junior skipper, something that has never been done in the A Class.

With the support of Friends of Exuma and its donors, the Exuma Sailing Club would be able to realize its dreams of competitively sailing an A Class boat.

Please consider donating to the Exuma Saling Club and helping them achieve their goal.

History of the Exuma Sailing Club

If you’ve spent time in The Bahamas, you’re probably aware of the popular sport of sloop sailing and annual sailing regattas held in most island regions. It was actually shocking to find out, after doing some background research, that sailing is not the national sport of The Bahamas. The national sport of The Bahamas is in fact, cricket. A sport with a rousing history of popularity in the 1930’s until the 1970’s when The Bahamas became independent from Great Britain. These days when many people think of cricket in The Bahamas, it turns into conversation about the fabulous pot pies and draught Guinness served up at The Cricket Club in Nassau.

From the early days of settlement, sail work boats and fishing schooners were always an integral part of life in the Bahamas for inter-island commerce and connection. By the early 1950’s these working sailboats were disappearing in place of engine-powered counterparts.

In 1954 a small group of Bahamian and American yachtsmen came up with an idea to hold a regatta for the remaining working sailing boats to showcase and honor their heritage. In April of 1954, nearly 70 sloops, schooners and dinghies gathered in Elizabeth Harbour in Great Exuma for three days of sailboat racing. It was such a success that it was decided to make this regatta an annual event, and the George Town Family Island Regatta was born. Before long, local regattas were popping up throughout various island communities.

Out Island Regatta, 1957. Photo courtesy of Vintage Bahamas.

In the 1970s, the sport of cricket was on the decline, and The Bahamas was looking at independence from Great Britain. Competitive sloop sailing regattas began to gain popularity as a national sport. In an article in the Freeport News several years ago, the author pitches a call to reconsider the cultural sport of sailing as one of utmost importance, classifying it as THE National Sport…

“So it came to pass that as early as the 1970s, a strong case could have been made for sailing to be declared the official National Sport of The Bahamas. There were several lobby efforts subsequently, but successive governments never quite got around to making sailing officially the designated national sport. Sailing deserves such a status. Sailing led the way for The Bahamas on the world sports stage. Today, more official sailing events take place throughout the country than those organized for any other discipline.

The National Sport of The Bahamas is indeed sailing!

All that needs to happen now is for the ceremony to take place with the Governor General and the Prime Minister in attendance, to give the affair a fitting endorsement.”

Out Island Regatta, 1974. Photo courtesy of Vintage Bahamas.

Sloop sailing and sailing regattas were winning spots in the hearts of the Bahamians and weaving their way into Bahamian culture. With such strong ties to the ocean, is it the least bit surprising?

Fast forward to 2013 and a roundtable discussion at the Peace & Plenty Hotel in George Town where a group of enthusiastic Exumians were brainstorming a junior sailing program. Their aim was to encourage the youth in the community to fall in love with the sport of sailing at a young age. They would train a group of competent young sailors to embrace this sport and the competition of regatta, with the potential to lead to a lifetime love-affair, involvement in adult regattas, and perhaps even giving back to their community by training a new batch of young sailors one day.

Dallas Knowles reminisces upon the early days. “When I sailed in the National Family Island Regatta in 2013 I realized firsthand how special this tradition was and how it was more than just sailing, but also uniquely Bahamian. When Chris Ketel and Danny Strachan approached me about starting the sailing club for kids, I was 100% onboard because I wanted the kids in Exuma to have the chance to experience it. We didn't want the kids living on the out island to be disadvantaged and not have great opportunities in front of them, so we got to work.”

‘One Bahamas’ was one of the first E Class boats ever built, commissioned by Sir Duward Knowles. It is one of the oldest and best E Class boats still competing in the Bahamas.

The newest class of Bahamian sloop in the regatta scene was a 12-foot-long E Class vessel, which was perfect for blossoming young boys and girls to handle on the water. As timing would have it, The Exuma Foundation had recently been gifted two E Class boats and were in need of a team, and so, in October 2013 the Exuma Sailing Club was established.

The biggest challenge they faced in the early days was that they only had two boats available for the many interested participants, so it was difficult for each child to get ample time on the water. In time, the need was met, and 3 more boats were added to the fleet. As the demand grew, community members took notice and began donating Sunfish and Hobie Cats so that more kids could get hands-on experience on the water. Another challenge faced by the Club was the condition of the E Class boats – probably some of the most difficult boats to learn on. If they made a mistake, the boat would sink, and it would take time and much effort to raise it up from the bottom of Elizabeth Harbour.

The first major fundraiser took place in 2015 when the Club had its sights on a competitive C Class boat called Termite. Dallas Knowles, one of the founding Club members, set to work writing letters to local businesses and individuals, discussing club goals, accomplishments, and aspirations for the additional C Class boat. The Club raised $15,000 and was able to purchase this top-level boat in October 2015. Termite pulled her weight and quickly established herself as serious C Class competition against the adults in the league. In 2018, she placed first, second, or third in each of the seven regattas she competed in. Since 2018, Termite has not placed outside of the top three in nearly every local regatta in Exuma.

Termite helped to establish a positive reputation for the Club. The Club asked the community for help and proved itself by providing a dedicated and successful sailing team.

During the lockdowns of 2020, the Club struggled to stay afloat. But thanks to local charitable organization, Friends of Exuma, the Club was able to persevere. Knowles voices his gratitude: “Friends of Exuma has been a savior for the Club for 2021. With no regattas to sail in for coming up 2 years now we would have had little to no funding for the Club and would have most likely had to close practices and camps until regattas returned.  Thanks to the generosity of FOE we actually had the biggest and best year the club has ever seen.  We ADDED boats, ADDED sailors, HOSTED the 2020 postponed Optimist Bahamas National Championships for the first time ever in Exuma, and have been able to spend the year getting our 43-foot Trawler boat ready for the return of regattas (a liveaboard boat that was donated to the Club for us to use to carry the team to Long Island, Farmers Cay, and Nassau Regattas). None of this would have happened without the assistance Friends of Exuma offered us this year!”

Many young sailors have gotten their feet wet with the Exuma Sailing Club. Some have turned into impressive adult sailors. Many more will pass through the doors. As young sailors have come and gone over the years, the goal has remained the same “To teach the young men and women of Exuma teamwork and discipline through the sport of sailing with consistent practices and competing in regattas throughout The Bahamas.” With assistance from local donators and charitable organizations like Friends of Exuma, the Club hopes to continue to thrive. Here’s to many more years of fair winds and following seas.

To learn more about how you can help, visit the Friends of Exuma Donate page.

Written by Mariah Moyle with contributions from Dallas Knowles of the Exuma Sailing Club