A Class

We headed to town first thing on the Saturday morning of the races. On our way in we saw this race above that is the Junior Races apparently.... I got so excited when I saw this. Our boys will be in this race one year before much longer. Joss is old enough already, but we'll have to work toward it. It was so cute seeing all the kids in their sloops.

In the photo above, which is not a great capture, you can see Dallas' Great Uncle Durward Knowles (looks like a pinkish colored shirt sitting under the umbrella). 1964 Olympic Gold Medalist in sailing for the Bahamas! Yeah, he's a big deal around the Regatta. This place they are at is called Regatta Point. The little lady there on the right sitting on the wall is Nancy, the owner and operator of this quaint guesthouse. This is where all the judges are during the race.

We saw a bouncy castle in Regatta Park, so of course we HAD to go bounce a bit :)

Our newly renovated dock looks amazing and was SO nice to have for this year's races and crowds. Such an improvement! 

Below you'll see me in the 'trenches' of Blue Shadow (a B Class sailing sloop). I was itching to get on one of the boats, but I figured it was a long shot. These guys were so cool and very willing to let me sail with them. They had me go in the hull like this and I was going to be the Jibman, and be in charge of the jib sail. Good for me, I would have just been here in this spot instead of climbing all over the place with the crew as they tack from one side to the other and shift those big ole pry boards back and forth.

We were getting ready to head out. Dallas took off and was going to head out to be set up to take some pictures of us underway.

Unfortunately, as we were heading out of the mooring area here, our boom (beam for the bottom part of the sail that swings across the boat and out over the water) snapped into pieces. It had already been repaired a few times, and it just wasn't able to withstand much pressure at all. I was so bummed, but thankful it didn't happen out there during the race. I have a feeling it would have been a lot more intense and 'verbal'.

Lyndsay and Baby Raelynn were our passengers this day of the races :)

Don't worry, our Sonic backpack hasn't been forgotten or left behind!

See this tiny little canon above? That is the starting signal for the races. I thought it was a starting gun they used, but it was this little guy... too cute! Can 'canons' be cute??

Dallas and our friend, Ian, were able to snag spots on this boat from Nassau for the A Class race. They were {this} close to getting on the boat that won this particular race, but we couldn't get Ian to the water quick enough. Maybe, next time...

The final "A Class" race of the Regatta brought tons of spectators. I had a sweet lady in a dinghy tell me she was very impressed with me when I was holding my spot here at the starting line in the boat. It's the little things that make ya feel good :)

Remember how I said there were about 15 guys on the A Class boats? They get very crowded, but it takes every bit of the weight from those 15 guys plus hundreds of pounds of lead in the bottom to keep these things from tipping over in the strong gusts.

You'll notice above that these two boats are tipping in opposite directions. Whenever they are going downwind the boats all get to rocking like this. They look like giant bells to me.
{Ding, Dong, Ding}

Joss' turn with the backpack, and a little nap!

The iPad can come in very handy at times like this too. They will grow into the thrill of the race, but it's a little boring for them at times...unless there's a collision or sinking taking place that is.

Hanging out on the pries!

We are officially FANS of Regatta time now... when before we sort of hated it because of the crowds it brought. NOW... we'll be anxious and getting ready for it with the rest of the island!