By ,NG Sports Reporter,dahalia@nasguard.com

Gerard Moxey, son of the late legendary sailor Hezron 'White Head' Moxey who passed away in October, was recently voted in as the new Commodore of the Commonwealth Sailing Association (CSA) at the body's biennial General Elections. As a native of Black Point, Exuma, Moxey at age 34, is the youngest person ever to be elected commodore of a sailing club, according to several veterans in the sloop-sailing community.

Serving on his executive board are Vice-commodore Craig Miller, Secretary Mipze Johnson-Hart, Assistant Secretary Tammy Forbes, Treasurer Laurie Lightfoot and Assistant Treasurer Margaret Tatum-Gilbert. According to the newest and youngest commodore in The Bahamas, he decided to put his name in the hat for the top post in an effort to introduce new ideas to the sloop-sailing community.

"Most of the executives in sailing right now are getting older and some of them are getting ready to retire, so it is up to us younger persons to step up to the plate, pick up where they left off and enhance the sport," Moxey said.

Moxey's platform for the next two years as commodore is mostly based on, "changing the public's perception toward sailors" and Family Island development.

"Our plans deal with making a difference not only in sailing but also in other sports in The Bahamas. The CSA wants to eliminate the attitude of clubs not supporting the others or certain sailing events on the calendar. We want to get past this, promote unity and be in the position to cause social change instead of only being well-known for just sailing. Many Bahamians are under the impression that sailors are selfish and only into partying or having a good time, so we want to change the mindset. Also we have a lot of boat owners in Exuma who are not affiliated with an association. In an effort to give them a voice we will encourage them to join our club or the other two clubs in New Providence," Moxey explained.

Whenever local or family island regattas are held, CSA sloops usually participate. In this light, Moxey further noted that he would like to continue this tradition starting with this weekend's Farmer's Cay Regatta.

"This is always a well-attended regatta with over 12 sloops registered every year. We plan on sending at least three boats. In all, we might have four participating. As CSA members and natives of small Family Island communities, we are very aware of the economic impact that these minor regattas have. People on these cays and islands look forward to the homecomings as the economy is very slow during other parts of the year," explained the new CSA Commodore.

On Sunday, the CSA's A-class sloop, the Red Stripe, skippered by Lundy Robinson won the Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports and Culture's 'All for One' Regatta at Montagu Bay. Moxey said this win sets the tone for the remainder of the season as the CSA intends picking up the most wins at the end of the year to capture the 'Boat Of the Year' awards.

Placing second behind the Red Stripe in this first points race of the season was last year's champ, the Good News. The Pieces of Eight was third, the Anna Nicole was fourth and the Red Hot Thunderbird ended up fifth.

Winning overall in the B-class was the Cobra. The Eudeva was second, Ant's Nest was third, Ansbacher Queen placed fourth, the Barbarian was fifth, Passion sixth, Hummingbird was seventh, Three Sisters eighth and Rosalie placed ninth.

The Irene Goodnight won the C-class, Legal Weapon was second, Sweet Island Gal placed third, Lady Eunice was fourth, Chaser placed fifth, Thunderbird was sixth, Barbarian II was seventh and Stache placed eighth.