IMS & CISC Little CaymanSummer Sailing Camp

Submitted by the CaymanIslands Sailing Club

Sailboatingis fast becoming a sport across all ages

It's on again ­ the 3rd Annual IMS &CISC Little Cayman Summer Sailing Camp! What do you get when afleet of dinghies, support crew, rescue boats and instructorstravel 80 miles from one island to another and then bring 14 kidsin from another island all to have fun sailing? The answer oneof the finest and most novel summer camps that the Cayman Islandshas ever seen!!

The plan this year is for more sailing,with the addition of an extra day and transport from The Bracdaily by boat, this is surely a unique operation that only Caymancan pull off. This year we will have between 12 and 14 youthsfrom Cayman Brac coming over to Little Cayman to have all-daylessons from Monday the 30th of July until Thursday the 2nd ofAugust.

The great thing about this week's eventis that the kids won't have to pay a thing, but they better workhard, because all the organisers and sponsors have. Below is abreakdown of all the sponsors and helpers who have helped putthis unique week together.

International ManagementServices (IMS)
IMS is one of the oldest Company Management firms in the CaymanIslands and was established in 1974. The owner, Paul Harris, spendsa lot of his leisure time enjoying many watersports and oftenhelps sponsor waterbased sports for Cayman's youth. Paul has supportedthis camp from the very outset and has been to Little Cayman tooversee its success.

Paul's input to the week is that IMS willcover all costs incurred by the kids, so that the Brac's youthget full access to the sport of sailing that their forefathersmastered to support their families and help build the Cayman Islands.

Cayman Islands SailingClub
CISC could be argued as the oldest Sports Club in the Cayman Islands?Its roots go all the way back to the 1920's and has survived asthe sole institution for sailing instruction in all 3 of the CaymanIslands (not many Sports Clubs can claim that!).

The Club is a non-profit organisation, whichis set up primarily to give everyone, access to sailing in Caymanand to teach anyone from the age of 5 to 95 years of age to sail.The first ever entry to the Olympic Games from Cayman was fromsailing and as such there is a powerful following within all threeislands today.

The CISC will provide, 2 instructors, 6boats, all spares and safety equipment and one of the best funweeks that the sister islands will ever see. Mike Weber, who hasrecently joined the Club from Canada, is one 'pumped' instructor!His goal is nothing short of getting every youth in the CaymanIslands out on the water and sailing. As the camp this year hasbeen extended by one day, he has managed to put together a funpackage, which make all the old hands challenged and teach thenew kids how to sail.

Youngsters atthe Foster's Food Fair 17th Annual Half-mile Sea Swim on Saturday21 July

Southern Cross Club
This has been our base ever since the beginning. The SCC is ideallysituated in South hole and has a perfect cross on shore breeze.The SCC provides accommodation for the instructors, DoE staff,and food for the kids, safety boats and all the maintenance backup we could ever need.

Without the SCC this camp would never comeoff. Pete Hillenbrand (owner) and Ken and Nicky Thompson (managers)have gone out of their way this year to make this camp the bestever ­ and it most definitely will be!

Cayman Islands Government
Another integral part of the team. The C.I. Government has variousdepartments that are all involved in the week. The Social Servicesdepartment ensures that the programme is well attended, Annie-RoseScott is the liaison in the Brac. Annie-Rose has been helpingorganise the week for two years now and makes sure that all thepaperwork and organisation of all the kids is well in hand. Thiscamp is incorporated into her summer programme that the socialservices department runs for the kids on the Brac.

It is very hard to sneak anything past theDistrict Commissioners office with regard to watersports, andespecially anything to do with the youngsters! Kenny Ryan hasalso been involved with the programme since it's conception andhas always fully supported it. This year Mr. Ryan has come throughwith help for our transportation problems and is organising aboat to transport the kids back and forward from the Brac to LittleCayman each day.

The Department of Environment.
What can we say These guys schedule in their annual repair workon the sister islands at the same time as our camp so that theycan service all the dive buoys out there and they transport allour equipment from Grand Cayman. There is no question that withoutthem the camp would be impossible.

The DoE staff are giving up their Sundaythis year so that the camp can start a day earlier! They alsoprovide essential expertise in repairs and help with safety coverfor the week, pack and un-pack all the equipment and basicallylend a hand whenever they can. Jon Clamp is the liaison in LittleCayman and he is helping to organise the transport of the kidsfrom point of sands to the SCC.

All in all, this is one of the best sailingweeks that the Cayman Islands have to offer. A huge amount ofeffort is put in by a lot of people and the kids can easily seethe benefit.