The Caribbean Sailing Association (CSA) held its Annual General Meeting via ZOOM, November 13-14, with members from 17 countries from Puerto Rico to Trinidad and Tobago attending. The group unanimously re-elected President Alison Sly-Adams to serve her third term. Fellow board members Michele Korteweg of St. Maarten, Karen Stiell of Grenada, Pat Bailey of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Jaime Torres of Puerto Rico will continue to serve. Joining them as new members are Tamsin Rand of the British Virgin Islands and Brian Sylvester of Grenada.
On the first day, members agreed to support two World Sailing initiatives. One showcases women role models sailing across the region, while the second is using VirtualRegatta, World Sailing’s virtual sailing platform, as a pathway into the sport. Day two focused on the challenges of the upcoming season regarding the COVID-19 Pandemic.
“Over the last few months, the CSA has been invaluable to the small island nations which form our membership as a sounding board for regatta organizers,” says Sly-Adams. “For the majority of islands the yachting industry plays a significant part in creating economic activity and therefore governments are focused on how to enable the industry to operate events in 2021 while ensuring the safety of visitors and the resident yachting and the wider community. Those planning to race should understand that each regatta will need to work with the protocols as dictated by their islands and this will mean events will be modified to reduce person to person contact. With safety as a given, however, we invite our international and regional sailors to join us for a season of exciting Caribbean sailing in near perfect conditions made all the sweeter by the absence of racing this year.”
