TCI CHALLENGE-A SAILING WORKBOAT REGATTA

PROVIDENICIALES, TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS—MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2007

A year back representatives of traditional Bahamian racing Sloops were enthusiastic about joining the Turks and Caicos racers to have a traditional regatta in the Turks and Caicos Islands. It would be the first time these two Island Nations would have competed on the water.
It almost happened, but not enough certainty on this end scattered the determination to fulfil this enormous logistical task.

The concept was postponed and eventually dropped until last November when it was taken up again in casual email conversation between the Turks and Caicos Maritime Heritage Federation and a member of the National Sailing Committee of the Bahamas. Sparks again flew and smoke started rising and momentum was gained to get this thing real this time.

In a surprise stand, the TCI Tourist Board saw the cultural tourism potential in this type of event being held here and the fact that it was not an expensive event to hold. The TCI Tourist Board’s Deputy Director Ralph Higgs promised support for the project and decisively came on board as a consultant in the preliminary meetings that formed the Mariners’ Week Committee.

A further development was the rotation of the event between the two Island nations with the Turks and Caicos first this year and the TCI Challenge next year in the Bahamas.

The Mariners’ Week Committee are proposing not just a race between the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos but a week of commemoration for Turks and Caicos and in general Caribbean mariners emphasizing a respect for their contributions and sacrifices to continue a moral and economic foundation for these Islands’ progress. The Fools Regatta was also to be included in its almost original form as a multi-hull race, keeping it’s popular attraction and building on it.

When mention of the possibility of a joint TCI-Bahamas overall first prize of $50,000, the Cayman Islands asked to be invited, and Bermuda asked if they could send some sailors to race on Caicos Sloops. The Challenge started to take on the position of hosting a pan-Caribbean sailing workboat regatta here in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

In joining the ranks of international sailing workboat regattas the Turks and Caicos would be in company with similar events throughout Europe, Southeast Asia, North America and Canada. As a British Overseas Territory we would be added to the list of over thirty workboat regattas in the UK, which means another attraction for a European and British visitor market.

From the standpoint of the Maritime Heritage Federation it means more investigation and research on the subject of the evolution of the Turks Islands’ and Caicos Islands’ Sloop designs; more studies of the roles that the Turks and Caicos has had in the Old World’s presence in the ‘New World’.

From the viewpoint of the sailors and boatbuilders it means more races and more chances to beat anybody showing up in these waters with an evolutionary design that directly goes back to the first fore and aft rig. This is a chance for the Turks and Caicos boatbuilders and designers to strut their stuff in not only traditional design concepts but pushing past to the future.

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Kayla Lightbourne
Public Relations Officer
Turks and Caicos Tourist Board
Stubbs Diamond Plaza
Providenciales
(649) 946-4970
(649) 941-5494
www.turksandcaicostourism.com