By DAHALIA SMITH, NG Sports Reporter, dahalia@nasguard.com

GEORGETOWN, Exuma — In an exclusive interview with The Nassau Guardian, the 55th National Family Island Regatta honouree Lundy Robinson, expressed excitement about winning the B-class Championship on board the Eudeva. He prevailed over 15 other sloops in Elizabeth's Harbour on Saturday.

Robinson, one of the country's 'winningest' sloop sailors, has reportedly not given an interview to any print media since the 36th National Family Island Regatta. However, at the awards ceremony Saturday night, he noted: "I am very pleased to have won this title on board the Eudeva. To win a championship and be honored at the same time is a privilege and pleasure. However, it was our intention to get a C-class victory this time around because that is the only championship that has eluded us. This is the first time that we won a championship on board the Eudeva and I have been working toward this title in particular the pass three years. I won on board the B-class Peacemaker before but never on board the Eudeva."

Another first for Robinson at this regatta was his willingness to wear a coat suit for the awards ceremony, a far cry from his unique and usual short pants, T-shirt and cap attire

"Boy, I gave them a pretty hard time when they were trying to convince me to wear this outfit. However, I became very humbled and decided that I would wear a suit which is a very strange thing for me to do. Since I am being honored, I decided to give in, this one time. I know that my dad will be very happy to learn that I pulled this victory off. In the end, I appreciate all of the support that my family, friends, crew and fans gave me this year. May God Bless them all," Robinson added.

Eudeva boat owner and builder Sheldon Gibson was also elated to see his Commonwealth Sailing Association colleague Robinson sail to victory.

"What is most impressive about this win was that the majority of the crew on board were juniors who came up under me. This year, I decided that I would not sail and would hand the boat over to the juniors. They did a very good job and we also had my female junior Flo Baptiste on board for the whole series too. Also, I know that my daughter will be proud that her boat won because she is the one who designed the acronym 'Eudeva'. She decided to take letters from the names of our family to put the name together. For the most part, I cannot describe how happy I am," said Gibson.

Placing second overall was Georgetown, Exuma's the Lady Sonia skippered by Buzzy Rolle, third place went to Sampson Cay, Exuma's Tari Anne skippered by David Mitchell, fourth place went to Mangrove Bush, Long Island's New Susan Chase skippered by the youngest captain in the B-class Stephan Knowles, fifth place went to Long Island's Captain Ray skippered by Marvin Cartwright, sixth place went to Hope Town, Abaco's Lonesome Dove skippered by Jeff Gale, seventh place went to Mangrove Bush, Long Island's Rowdy Boys Pin-Ah skippered by Mark Knowles, eighth place went to Ragged Island's Ants Nest skippered by Lee Armbrister, ninth place went to Freeport's Ansbacher Queen skippered by 'King' Eric Gibson and 10th place went to Nassau's Cobra skippered by Dwayne Higgins.

The final B-class results, when released, were contested by Rolle. During one of the races, the Eudeva collided with the Tari Anne. The Tari Anne filed a protest but withdrew it later on. This withdrawal positioned the Eudeva to win overall with 41 points. The Tari Anne finished with 38 points, and Rolle's Sonia totaled 37 points.

Rolle maintained that once the Tari Anne protested, the protest committee should not have allowed him to withdraw and in his opinion, the committee displayed favoritism toward the Eudeva. Had the Anne won the protest, the top three results would have drastically been rearranged in favor of Rolle.

In response regatta committee member Margaret Tatum-Gilbert told Rolle and The Nassau Guardian that there was no "curry favor" given and that the Tari Anne crew had the right to change their minds about further pursuing the protest.

The next event on the 2008 sloop sailing calendar is the Mangrove Cay Regatta set for Mangrove Cay, Andros from May 8-12.