The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

JOSS Knowles continues to perfect a consistent steady pace after the first two days of competition at the 55th International Sunfish Class Association (ISCA) Open World Championships.

Knowles, one of two Bahamians from the Exuma Sailing Club competing at the week-long championships in St Croix, US Virgin Islands, is now sitting in 18th place in the standings.

Tanaj Mnos, the other member of Team Bahamas, is in 49th position with two more days of competition to go in the 3-race series that will be completed on Friday. 

After his performance on Wednesday, Knowles noted that the conditions had been "very interesting" so far. 

"On the water, the waves were very weird," he said. "We had to lay a lot of down wind across and it was up and down with very light windy patches."

He noted that the support they got from onshore helped to motivate him even more.

"It was a great experience," he said. "I enjoyed my races even though I had some high and low positions. But overall, I felt my performance was very good."

Knowles said he's looking forward to the rest of the competition and hopefully he can continue to move up in the standings.

Manos, on the other hand, said he's still trying to get adjusted to conditions and the whole atmosphere.

"Compared to what we were expecting and what we've been told, I'm still getting used to it because I haven't had a whole lot of practice before the races," he said.

"I'm still proud of my performances. The first day started off hard, but I saw a slow decline today so it's starting to feel pretty good. I still need to do some work on my upward speed and fleet management." 

Team head coach Dallas Knowles said he's very happy and impressed with how unintimidated the two sailors are by the level of competition here and the size of the fleet. 

"They know what it takes and the skills to compete with the best and they are not backing down no matter who’s next to them at the starting line," he said. 

"Joss especially has been training very hard for the last few weeks since the CAC games in preparation for this event. There have been hours on the water, weight training and hiking stamina training in preparation for 12 races in big breeze and waves."

Knowles said Joss Knowles' starts are improving every race and if he continues to excel, he will be right on the edge of being in the mix for top five finishes.

As for Manos, Knowles said he still has a chance to make his presence felt.

“Tanaj is fighting hard in some pretty challenging conditions," Knowls said. "Being fully prepared for an event like this is not fully possible but he’s not backing down and is trying to improve with every race”

The competitors are expected to sail three more races today before they complete the final three on Friday.