The Harbour Island Sailing Club are delighted that they have been chosen by the Bahamas Sailing Association to host the Bahamas Optimist Nationals 2012.  This is the largest sailing regatta event held in the Bahamas. Around 100 junior sailors will attend the event from sailing clubs all over the Bahamas including Grand Bahama, Nassau, Abaco, Long Island, Eleuthera and even some sailors from the Cayman Islands, Canada and Puerto Rico.

The sailing will take place in the natural bay between Harbour Island and North Eleuthera with two days of events on October 5th and 6th. There will be four different race categories.  The Championship Fleet which is split into three groups, Red, White and Blue according to the age of the sailor and the Green Fleet for less advanced sailors of any age.
We are also pleased to announce that Bahamas Ferries have agreed to be the Official Transport Providers for the Bahamas Optimist Nationals 2012 and are offering free transport for the sailors and their boats to Harbour Island from Nassau in order to help encourage sailors to attend.

The Harbour Island Sailing Club was started over 3 years ago to provide the opportunity for the boys and girls of Harbour Island to sail in varying junior sailboat classes. During this time we have truly established ourselves within the community. The club has upwards of 30 children registered and we now have 6 Optimist Dinghies, 6 Sunfish, 3 Lasers and an impressive 22ft Aqua Sport Committee Boat.
The benefits of the club go beyond just sailing. By nature sailing provides awareness of how hard work, discipline and good decision making can lead to the value of personal accomplishment and the pride of meeting these challenges.

For more on this story go to:

http://www.eleutheranews.com/local/2613.html