Richmond Yacht Club Makes Sailing Hardware Donation in Exuma

Richmond Yacht Club sailor and photographer Jan Pehrson, who was in the very first issue of Latitude 38 in April 1977, continues to build bridges and connect sailors as she spends time in her winter sailing playground of the Exumas in the Bahamas. She and her sailing partner, Captain Ken, flew into the Bahamas carrying the suitcase shown in the photo below with donated boat parts from the Richmond Yacht Club to Junior Boat Builders at Black Point, Exuma, The Bahamas.

After delivery of the parts, Jan wrote back to RYC with a thank-you from the Youth Boatbuilders of Black Point Settlement to the Richmond Yacht Club Foundation. They appreciate the 50 pounds of boat parts just donated to them from the foundation, offering special thanks to Del Olsen, Scott Easom and Tim Knowles. These sailors, wearing Black Point T-shirts and Richmond Yacht Club hats for the photos, picked out hardware for their boats and for new projects.

Jan reports, “They have built about five new E-Class wooden racing sloops recently and just tested these new boats’ speed in a local regatta. The performance was great, and they were able to take home trophies and prize money. Because of them and other Bahamian youth boat builders/racers on other Bahamian islands, wooden sloop sailing is growing and is now the national sport of the Bahamas.”

In fact, it was in 2023 that the Bahamian parliament voted to make sailing the national sport of the country.