Sports
Cayman SailorsPerformed Well in France
2002 WorldSailing Games Cayman Islands Women's Team. Photo by Luissa Smith
The ISAF World Sailing Gameswere completed recently in Marseille France. This event is oneof the largest international sailing events held, attracting morethan 800 competitors from 64 nations and is unique in that allboats and equipment are provided for the competitors. Eleven worldchampionship titles were awarded in various sailing disciplinesranging from boardsailing to keelboats.
2002 WorldSailing Games Cayman Islands Men's Team. Photo by Frederic Speich
The Cayman Islands was representedin two disciplines the men's keelboat which was raced inJ80s and the women's keelboat which was raced in J22s. The 2002Games marked the 3rd hosting of the event which is held everyfour years.
Cayman has been representedat all three Games so far with team members Donald McLean, JohnBodden and Jane Moon competing in La Rochelle France in 1994,Dubai in 1998 and recently in Marseille 2002 and are all keenfor the event to continue to be held with a similar format whichallows for fair and even competition amongst all nations.
2002 WorldSailing Games opening ceremony. Photo by Jane Moon
Cayman's sailing team memberswere Donald McLean, John Bodden, Craig Nixon and Niko Whittakerin the men's keelboat and Jane Moon, Judy Bullmore, Pam McDonoughand Lindsey MacFee in the women's keelboat with assistance fromthe land based team of Nancy Bodden and family, Andrew Moon andfamily and Jesus Renedo.
Following a challengingfirst few days of competition in fairly typical Mediterraneansummer conditions of either no wind or a full blown Mistral of30 knots plus, the racing built up to an exciting conclusion.Cayman's sailors performed well and gradually settled down intothe unfamiliar conditions on the race course and the challengeof big fleet racing. Donald McLean, skipper commented that histeam found stiff competition in their fleet but felt their boatspeed was good and tactics and boat handling improved as the racingdays progressed. They finished their event on a positive notewith 8th & 11th place finishes on their final day of racing,placing them 36th overall in the 40 boat fleet.
The women's keelboat teamwent from strength to strength and finally found their form inrace 7 with a convincing win. This was followed by a second placefinish in race 8 and another win in the final race of the regatta,securing them 3rd place in the Silver fleet and 12th overall intheir event ahead of teams from Japan, Ireland, New Zealand, Italyand Belgium.
"We were very excitedand pleased with our performance," commented Skipper JaneMoon," especially as we more than met our participation goaland I was truly delighted with the way our sailing came togetherduring the regatta".
The Cayman Islands enjoyeda high profile during the regatta, being voted the friendliestteam and attracting much media attention. Of particular interest,was Judy Bullmore's transatlantic trip to Marseille on her 45'racing/cruising yacht Wild Woman.
Various local newspapersfeatured articles and photos of the team and the leading Frenchyachting magazine Voiles et Voiliers will be running a featureprofile of the team in its upcoming edition.
The young supporters --Moon and Macfee children -- were highly visible on the dock flyingthe Cayman flag as their mothers and teammates left for the racecourse. "It was a great regatta," commented Donald McLeanafter the closing ceremonies "The Cayman team performed welland made a significant impact at the event, once again puttingthe Cayman Islands proudly and visibly on the world sailing scene."