The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

Day one of the seventh Best-of-the-Best Regatta got off to a thrilling start yesterday at Montagu Beach.

The races kicked off in the B Class, C Class and E Class to jumpstart four days of exciting competiton on the water. The A Class race was postponed until today because the wind conditions were not ideal for racing.

Sindy Gay, unit head of the Regatta Desk, was pleased with the competition and turnout on day one.

“Day one has been great so far. I am very pleased about the turnout and what has happened. The sailing has been awesome. Unfortunately, we were not able to get in our A Class because the wind died but I am so happy we got in E, C and B. The support from the people has been great and the site for Thursday has been wonderful,” she said.

Joss Knowles, last year’s Class E champion, skippered Lady Kayla to a first place finish in race one of Class E. The Birdrock sloop came in at second and the Captain Peg capped off race one in third.

The Whitty K narrowly claimed the victory in race one of the C Class. The Bul Reg, skippered by last year’s Class A champion Leslie “Buzzy” Rolle, placed second overall on day one. The Xena sloop rounded out the top three in third place.

Rolle, who hails from Exuma, said there were some challenges on day one but he is expecting to do well the rest of the way.

“The wind was a little challenging. This morning we did pretty well but we made a mistake at the windward mark on the last leg and that put us in a photo finish with the Whitty K. We expect to do well the rest of the way,” he said. 

The Lonesome Dove was the victor of the B Class race. 

Chester Fox, Commodore of the Best of the Best Regatta, is expecting competition to pick up tomorrow with the wind speeds expected to increase.

“We have all of the top boats so what I expect going forward is clean competition straight through. We have our favourite boats that people think will win but they do not always win. In both classes, the boats that people expected to do well did well so the trend may continue going forward as well as it may not. Some boats perform well in lighter winds and some perform better in heavier winds. Tomorrow the wind is supposed to come in a little bit better so we will have some different results,” he said.

The 2024 Best of Regatta continues today with the E Class race at 8:30am. The C Class race continues at 10:30am followed by the B Class race at 12:30pm. The first A Class starts at 3:30pm. 

Entertainment featuring Bahamian artists KB and D-MAC kicks off at 8pm.