The Cat Boat Club adds some Caymanian Culture to thePirates LandingSports
Modern day Catboats made theday
The Cat Boat Club adds some Caymanian Culture to thePirates Landing
Skinny LeeLee rounds as much in the Slolom course
H.E. Ross
From 10:00am to 3:30pm, the waters of HogSty Bay were for the Cayman Catboat with two separate race coursesand beach landings. A crowd stayed at Hog Sty Beach throughoutthe time, encouraging the racers and Catboat Club members in thedeed in which they were involved, namely, the preservation ofCayman maritime traditions.
The Cayman Catboat has strong lines that seem delicate. They arenot as bulky as a lifeboat nor as over-built as a whale boat.But, they share the development of both. The boats that are representedin the Club at present are a little easy to tip over, which addsthat dimension to learning how to sail them. It also adds to theirwindward ability and that bit of excitement to the race for boththe racer and the spectator.
The element of speed is what interests the young and at last Saturday'sevent, the Scott's Marine Catboat Race Day, speed was an essentialin the winds and courses laid out.
On the beach, the Honourable Thomas Jefferson called the HonourableTruman Bodden, attempting to get the latter to put his Jessie-Arch-builtCatboat into the water and race. The former was volunteering toride the weather board.
Children ran around the boats and over them, imagining, I guess,that they were pirates attacking Spanish Galleons. The Captain'smeeting succeeded in explaining the course and rules to the contestantsand spectators before the Catboats were shoved off into Hog StyBay.
Unfortunately, the marker buoy for the Speed and ManeuverabilityCategory was taken up by its rightful owner, and the confusionof that event postponed the Category until the following week.With the termination of this part of the competition, $10,000will be awarded to the crew with the most points.
The Scott's Marine Catboat Race began next with a stiff breezeblowing and a short chop, but bright skies. It was a picture-perfectday for Catboats.
Tradition II, sponsored by Cash To Payday, answered the startingblast a little before it went off and was across the line beforeanybody else. The crew, comprising Nick Joseph, Richard Stewartand CITN's Simon Boxall, kept going, their smiles stretching rombow to stern.
Tradition I, another of Elford Dilbert's Catboats and sponsoredby the National Drug Council/RCIP and Thompson Shipping, led thepack across the line after the horn with, Mark Clark ( a pictureof determination), Jerris Miller and Kelly Garvin crewing.
See Her Go, sponsored by Kirk Freeport/ Tropicana Tours, SkinnyLeeLee, sponsored by Cable & Wireless and the Foster Group'sBrac Cat followed respectively.
Texaco's Fiddlesticks had a bad start but the novice crew, ledby Kenny Ebanks, pushed the fast, newly-painted over her varnishedhull through the seas. ?? None of those aboard had ever sailedon a Catboat before.
The stiff 14-16 knots of breeze from Nor'Nor'East leaned the boatsso far over you could see bilge water shining off their toes.The weather- boards went out as the boats spread their surgingacross the city front. It was a breeze that some boats were builtfor, as proven by Captain Crosby Ebanks' and Marybeth Seher'sSee Her Go. She just moved steadily forward with bow lifted, hardlyany bounce and no trail to mark her path through the sea. Shesimply leaned over and slid past the two Traditions, leaving BracCat and Skinny LeeLee to try and keep up.
Rumour has it that the boat Captain Crosby originally purchasedwas built for racing. She has had her stern cut off and had beenneglected for a while. Captain Crosby and Marybeth formed a partnership,redesigned the boat and rebuilt her, adding more fullness aftfor stability and four feet for more waterline length and therebyspeed.
Captain Crosby has been racing Catboats since he was a kid withthe likes of Billy Bodden, Dawson Ebanks, Peter Ebanks, DallasEbanks, Henry Bush, Aruneh Powery, Dalson Ebanks, Goldburn Boddenand Bennie Bodden,Senior. For those who know, to be in this companywas not a bad way to learn.
After the first buoy was rounded, though there was confusion aboutwhich was the first buoy, Captain Crosby increased his speed butmissed a critical turning point for the next buoy, which was capitalisedupon by Tradition I, Skinny LeeLee and Brac Cat.
See Her Go tacked and caught up to take over third position. Atthe second mark, her speed moved her on past Skinny LeeLee tocontend with Mark Clark's strategies for the home stretch.
Playing the anchored vessels along the course and a little waveringto spill bad water and air on See Her Go, Mark, Jerris and Kellykept the speedster behind him almost up to the finish.
See Her Go passed Tradition I with a 16-second lead at the line.After a four-mile gallop, the pack was relatively close with thefirst four boats within a minute of the leader.
The race results for Scott's Marine Catboat Race Day are:
1st Place - See Her Go
2nd Place - Tradition I
3rd Place - Skinny LeeLee
The next and final race in the October Month Of Catboats, theTropicana Tours Catboat Race Day, will ironically be on November4. The boats will meet at the Hog Sty Bay Beach and redo the Speedand Maneuverability Category of the $10,000 Best Cayman CatboatCompetition.
The races will close inshore along the city front from the PortAuthority Pier to the Tree House. The Category race will beginabout 11:30am and the Tropicana Race will commence at 1:00pm atthe same pier.
The public will be able to see the boats racing from anywherealong North Church Street around noon. The awards ceremony willbe held on the Tree House Restaurant Beach and the public is alwayswelcome to any Cayman Catboat Club function.