Exuma youth sailing club
2024 continues to be another amazing year for The Exuma Sailing Club! After a full summer of international travel for the ESC kids, the focus has turned to what's coming up at home in The Bahamas.
In October, The Exuma Sailing Club hosted the 2024 Fidelity Bahamas Optimist National Championships in Elizabeth Harbour, Exuma. This is the second time the club has hosted this top level National event. 48 sailors visited from clubs in Abaco, Grand Bahama, Harbour Island and Savannah Sound Eleuthera, Long Island, Nassau and from New Orleans in the USA. The event featured lots of great sailing, great food, and lots of fun for everyone involved. Two of the young sailors - Joss Knowles and Tanaj Manos - did the live commentary of the races and interviews with the competitors. Dallas Knowles, the coach and director of the Sailing Club, reported, “This event couldn’t have happened without the huge support we get from the Friends of Exuma. You have really helped us strengthen the club over the last few years to the point where we felt comfortable once again to add this high pressure regatta to our plate.”
After traveling to Buzzards Bay, MA and Vienna, Portugal over the summer, the next stop for the Club was the 2024 ISCA Sunfish World Championships in Heath Texas just outside Dallas. The team was made up of 5 young Bahamian sailors, the youngest team ever to represent The Bahamas at the event. Three Exuma Sailing Club sailors - Alvington McKenzie, Tanaj Manos and Dai Major, along with two brothers from Long Island - Dawson and Drake Knowles. The team did incredibly facing a 100 boat fleet for 12 races, easily the largest regatta any of them had ever sailed in. They had several top 30 finishes and Alvinington ended up 39th out of 100 boats.
Next up is the Bahamas Junior Sunfish Nationals. Then in early December it will be time to head back to Nassau for the Best of the Best Sloop Regatta. Last year Joss and Kianno of the ESC won the E class so they will be hoping to defend their title against the largest E class fleet ever to sail in the Best of the Best Regatta. This is the second largest sloop event the Club sails in besides the National Family Island Regatta.
Thank you so much for your continued support of the Exuma Sailing Club!