North Eleuthera Regatta brings sloop races to Harbour Island

From Bahama Islands Info

HARBOUR ISLAND, The Bahamas — The 25th North Eleuthera Regatta (Regatta) hosted by the North Eleuthera Regatta Association (NERA) October 6-13, 2014 marked the last event on the country’s 2014 Regatta Calendar.

The Regatta activities kicked off with a Church Service at the Wesley Methodist Church on October 6th. Other events held during week under the Fig Tree on Bay Street included Cultural Activities, Live Band Entertainment, and Beach Bashes. The Bahamian Sloops took to the waters on Friday, October 10th for three (3) days of sailing ending on Discovery Day, Sunday, October 12, 2014. The HI 2014 Regatta races featured only B-Class and C-Class sloops.

In an exclusive interview with Mr. Stafford Armbrister, Regatta Race Coordinator, Armbrister dubbed the Harbour Island Regatta a success! He said that the “NERA met the demands of the sailors and the races were on schedule as planned.” Mr. Armbrister expressed how pleased he was with the weather conditions for the three days of races.

He said “the good weather conditions fostered competitive racing and no one sloop dominated any of the race points.” Armbrister excited about the races said, “the competition was close, there was no major damages, no injuries and all boats arrived safely back in Nassau.”

He fondly reflected on the B-Class race on October 11th 3:00 PM, Armbrister said that “the Acklins ‘Barbarian’ sloop hooked the buoy and dragged it, losing a point as penalty. The Barbarian was leading the race and in tacking picked up the buoy and broke its boom resulting in a DNF (did not finish).”

The only major challenge Armbrister reported was with respect to accommodations. He explained that “living accommodations for the sailors was a major challenge, which reduced the number of sloops participating in the races.” Mr. Armbrister especially thanked Mr. Tom Hanna owner of the Sea Spirit barge. He said “we are very thankful that Mr. Hanna allowed boat crews to live on his barge for the races.”

(Photo gallery courtesy Judy L. Simmons/Deputy Director of Cooperatives/MAMRLG Public Relations Unit)

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