The Tribune

By JONATHAN BURROWS

Tribune Sports Reporter

jburrows@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas National Sailing School is continuing to introduce a new generation of young sailors to the sport through its annual summer camp held at the Nassau Yacht Club, giving participants the skills and confidence to safely take to the water regardless of their experience level.

The programme, which operates Monday through Friday from 9am to 4pm, is currently in its second of three two-week summer camp sessions. While the summer camp serves as an introduction for many children, the sailing school also runs year-round programmes during the academic year with after school sessions Tuesday through Friday from 3:30pm to 5:30pm and Saturday classes from 9am to noon and 1pm to 5pm.

Lead instructor Pedro Rahming, who first brainstormed the programme in 2008, said the goal is to make sailing accessible to every child willing to learn.

“This camp is all about getting kids involved in sailing,” Rahming said. “They come in not knowing anything about sailing and they leave saying, ‘I sail now.’”

Children are grouped according to their skill level and the type of boat they sail. Participants between the ages of eight and 15 primarily train in Optimist dinghies, while older sailors transition to Sunfish and ILCA dinghies. The school also has several E Class sloops available for training.

Rahming said the curriculum is designed to build a complete foundation in sailing over the two-week session.

Campers begin by learning fundamental knot tying, understanding wind direction, rigging their boats and how to respond if a boat capsizes before progressing to handling a boat independently on the water.

“You can come with zero experience,” Rahming said. “All we ask is that you know how to swim. In two weeks we get you leaving sailing.”

Fourteen-year-old Malaysia Munnings, a student at CW Saunders, is among the campers who have grown through the programme. After first joining the sailing school in 2024, she admitted she was nervous about getting into a boat.

“My first time sailing I was a bit scared,” Munnings said. “I didn’t want to go on the boat at all. I wanted to stay on the coach boat.”

She credited Rahming for helping her overcome those fears by giving her the confidence to sail on her own.

“My coach Pedro gave me a chance to sail by myself on one of the triangle courses, and I finally got comfortable with it,” she said. “Ever since then I have enjoyed it.”

Now entering her third year with the programme, Munnings said the camp has become one of the highlights of her summer.

“This camp is the best camp ever,” she said. “We’re out on the water morning and afternoon, we enjoy ourselves, we get the chance to sail all types of boats and the coaches here are so nice.”

For Rahming, seeing campers like Munnings develop confidence on the water is one of the most rewarding parts of the job.

What started as a weekend invitation from a friend nearly two decades ago developed into a life-long passion that eventually led him to become the school’s lead instructor.

Since then, he has competed in local regattas and represented The Bahamas internationally in Optimist and ILCA competition before turning his focus to coaching. He continues to race Bahamian sloops and Snipe class boats when time allows.

“Sailing has done a lot for me over the years,” Rahming said. “Without sailing, I probably wouldn’t be the man I am today. Sailing changed my life, and I love what I do. I love teaching kids how to sail.”

The Bahamas National Sailing School continues to accept registered participants for its summer sessions, with enrolment limited to ensure instructors can provide individual attention to each camper.

The programme is open to beginners, with swimming ability serving as the only prerequisite for participation.