Position: N 23 30.788 W 075 44.902
The Family Island Regatta has been one of the highlights of the season for us. It is THE event of the
year for Bahamian sloop racers. Boats and people arrive from all of the islands during the week. We watched mail boats from all directions piled high with boats. The closer islands tow their boats, sometimes 3 or 5 behind a big power or fishing boat. George Town was humming with excitement. The government dock, usually just a flat concrete area, is suddenly covered with wooden ‘buildings’ selling food and drinks and everyone is milling around, ‘strutting their stuff’.Tuesday and Wednesday were the junior races then Thursday through Saturday were the serious ‘A’, ‘B’, and combined ‘C’ and ‘D’ class races. Each class is a different size boat but they are all the same basic design. Flat decks with huge sails, there are 2 boards (called ‘prys’) that slide from one side to the other and as the boats heel (tip to the side) with the wind, more and more people clamber onto the boards to balance the boat and stop it from tipping
over. The number of crew aboard depends on how much wind is blowing for that day. We were lucky in that the winds all week were going to be 20-25 mph resulting in some very exciting racing.The start of a Bahamian sloop race is really something to watch. All the boats line up at the start line with anchors set and their sails down. The start gun fires and there is a mad frenzy aboard to haul the anchor, pulling the boat forward to provide a bit of way allowing some control of the helm until the sails are raised, the wind fills them, and then they’re off. This can often seem very chaotic and exciting to the spectators. At one start, three boats got their masts tangled up together causing one to drop out and the other two to finish last.
The course is set up with a windward leg and a downwind leg, usually with 2-3 trips around the buoys. We spent most of the races in our dinghy anchored near the windward mark. We watched the sloops tacking back and forth towards us from the starting line. Every time the boats tacks all the guys out on the board scurry back onto the boat, the pry is shoved out onto the other side and they all clamber back out as quickly as possible while the rest of the crew are bringing the sails over to the other side. What an exciting week we wouldn’t have missed it for anything.
The times from the 3 days of races are all combined to produce the winners. The Staniel Cay boat “Tida Wave”, previously raced by Rollie Gray (we wrote a bout his funeral last year) took the class ‘A’ honors. During the races some boats capsized due to the heavy winds, a few sank (there’s something sad about a lone mast sticking up above the water in the middle of Elizabeth Harbour), and one lost it’s rudder and sank right after crossing the finish line! It was thrilling and we loved being here!
On the last day we decided to watch the class ‘A’ race from shore, close to the starting line. We got there fairly early and picked out a great spot at the end of aptly named Regatta Point. As time went on more and more people arrived. The race was about to start when we realized that a big crowd of Bahamians with beer, mainly men from all the different islands, had gathered just behind us. These were the tacticians!!! As soon as the race started they were all shouting instructions and play by play to the racers (who of course could not hear them), and to each other. As the race progressed more beer was consumed and the voices got louder and louder. It was such a din we couldn’t understand most of what was said. It was impossible not to get caught up in their excitement and frenzy. By the time the first boats crossed the finish, these guys were all shouting, cheering, moaning, and carrying on to beat the band. What a show!
Speaking of beating the band, we also got to see the Royal Bahamas
Police Force Band perform immediately following the class ‘A’ finals. These men and women are amazing! Complex rhythms, great song selection, beautiful uniforms, and leopard skins. Various members of the band got to showcase their stuff – the snare drummers tossing sticks back and forth, the bass drummers tossing a bass drum over the heads of other band members, the cymbal guy doing some gymnastic cymbal playing, and the drum major doing some pretty hot movin’ and shakin’. 
He even picked out a lady from the audience to hootchie-coo with! It was really great. It’s at times like this and the New Years Junkanoo we attended in Green Turtle Cay that we wish we had a video camera. Oh well…
