The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

UP until the 1964 Olympic Games, Sir Durward ‘Sea Wolf’ Knowles and Cecil Cooke were a formidable crew. You named the event in Montagu Bay and they won.

But Percy Knowles said after Cooke was unavailable to travel to Tokyo, Japan, the search was on for a new partner for Knowles.

“There were only three other Star boats besides the ‘Gem’ that kept the Star fleet alive in those days,” said Percy Knowles as he shed some light on how the selection process was made during the gala luncheon yesterday to honour Knowles and the late Cooke for their gold medal performance at the Tokyo Olympics.

They were the pink ‘Mother’ sailed by Roy Ramsey and Percy Knowles, the white ‘Creepy’ sailed by Foster Clarke and Cecil Cooke, the green ‘Brutus’ sailed by Basil and David Kelly and the red ‘Gem’ sailed by Sir Durward, who did so without a crew.

The three crew members were considered with their size being a priority. Percy Knowles was 5-foot, 6-inches and 145 pounds, while David Kelly was 5-8 and 160. Cecil Cooke was 6-feet and 200lbs. The rest as they say, was history.

“As the forecast for the Olympics was windy, Cecil had the perfect build,” Percy Knowles said. “It was like he was born to fill that position. So he was chosen.”

The ‘Gem,’ now comprising of Sir Durward and Cooke, were off to Toyko to compete in the Star Class, along with Bobby Symonette, Roy Ramsey and Percy Knowles in the 5.5 Class and Godfrey and Basil Kelly and Robert Eardley in the Dragon Class with Bob Levin as the boatman.

The yachting team comprised the Bahamian team at the games that also included the late legendary Thomas A Robinson, the lone track and field competitor.

“Bob’s job was to make sure all three yachts were in perfect ship shape to race,” Percy Knowles said. “The racing rules did not allow for boats to be hauled over, so we had to get in the water to scrub the boats every couple of days to prevent slime or moss appearing.

“If we did not do this, it would slow the boats down more every day. The Olympic Association supplied Bob and I with wet suits to go overboard to scrub the bottom of the boats. Bob knew what and when to do it, but me, I was a good swimmer and could hold my breath longer than anyone else.”

On the final day of racing, Percy Knowles said there was quite a difference between first and second, compared to second and third or third and fourth. However, he said there was a bonus for coming first, which made the difference between winning the gold or silver after the ‘Gem’ had won two races.

“After crossing the finish line in the last race, the Bahamas was not sure they had won the gold,” Percy Knowles said. “First of all, we were not sure how the USA and Finland finished as they were very close to the ‘Gem’ in points. Secondly, the question of whether they calculated the points correctly.

“Then they passed the committee boat, and they yelled: ‘Well done Bahamas.’ They were still not convinced until Bob pulled up in his small runabout and yelled: ‘Congratulations Randolph (Sir Durward’s middle name), you all have just won the gold medal.’”

That night during the awards presentation, Percy Knowles said they played ‘God save the Queen’ as the Union Jack was rasied as the Bahamas was still under British rule.

“I was so thrilled I sang the whole anthem with tears flowing down my cheeks,” Percy Knowles said. “It was the most joyful night this side of heaven.”

And that, according to Percy Knowles, was the genius of the gold medal celebrations for the Bahamas 50 years ago when Sir Durward and Cecil Cooke teamed up to compete at the 1964 Olympics in the Star Class in Toyko, Japan.