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From thebahamasweekly.com - Sports
Nassau, Bahamas - After a year of intense planning and preparation, the Nassau Yacht Club is once again hosting the International Star Class in The Bahamas. The Western Hemisphere Championship 2010 commenced with a packed opening reception on Monday 12 April. Racing will begin in earnest on Wednesday 14 April with competition proceeding through until Saturday 17 April. Races will be sailed in the area known as the Douglas Roads off the eastern end of New Providence, which boasts the signature clear blue waters of the Bahamas against a backdrop of the surrounding islands and cays. Tuesday 13 April will see the three race Harry Knowles series sailed as a separate warm up regatta. Much anticipated is the promise of a brief return to the Star of legendary Bahamian sailor Durward Knowles, now in his 94th year, who will compete in the first race of the series. Currently Commodore of the International Star Class Yacht Racing Association, Knowles has the distinction of being not only a past Star Class World Champion, but also a Star Class Olympic Champion, winning the former in Los Angeles in 1947 and the latter, as the Bahamas’ first ever Olympic gold medal with crew Cecil Cooke, in Tokyo in 1964. Knowles’s Olympic career spanned an extraordinary 40 years from 1948 through 1988, and saw him also win an Olympic bronze medal in Melbourne in 1956 with crew Sloane Farrington. The Championships are being supported with the help of the Bahamas’ Ministry of Tourism, and the generous assistance of the Nassau based branch of private bankers’ Lombard Odier Darrier Hentsch. The Nassau Yacht Club has been a frequent host of the Star Class Western Hemisphere Championship, having last hosted the series in 2005, at which time past Yachtsman of the Year sailor Paul Cayard led the high class field, and was presented with the Santa Maria perpetual trophy that is unique to the Western Hemisphere Championship when sailed in Nassau. Competition in 2010 is expected to be fierce as competitors continue their preparation for the London Olympic Games in 2012.
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