By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Hailed as a “silver lining” in the destruction left behind by Hurricane Irma, Gavin McKinney returned home on Wednesday night to a “hero’s welcome” as the fourth Bahamian to win a world sailing championship title.

Displaying his gold medal and the floating trophy, McKinney was greeted by Government and sporting personalities, family members and friends as he touched down at the Lynden Pindling International Airport.

A brief ceremony was held in the VIP lounge where Carlton Bowleg, the Member of Parliament for North Andros and the Berry Islands as well as the Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resoruces; Timothy Munnings, the Director of Sports at the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture; Wellington Miller, president of the Bahamas Olympic Committee and Lori Lowe, president of the Bahamas Sailing Association all gave remarks.

Also in attendance was Donnie Martinborugh, one of the three other Bahamian world champions. The other two were the late Robert ‘Bobby’ Symonette and legendary Sir Durward ‘Sea Wolf’ Knowles.

In response, McKinney expressed his gratitude to fellow Bahamian Mark Holowesko, who provided his stiffest competition as the silver medallist at the recent International 5.5 Metre Class Association’s 2017 World Championships champion in Benodet, France.

“I’ve been fighting for this for a lot of years and everything just came together this time,” said McKinney, who would have secured a silver and seven bronze medals in previous world championships.

“I had an amazing crew with me. We sailed well, we sailed smart and our tactics were pretty good. Everything came together and that’s what made us the winner of the championships.”

Having won many races in the years, McKinney said it’s not enough to take him over the top. He attributed his success to his crew of Mathias Dahlman and Lars Horn Johannessen on the John B as they pulled off a six-point lead over the New Moon, skippered by Holowesko and crew Christoph Burger and Bahamian Peter Vlasov.

“Going into the last race, all we had to do was stay out of trouble and not be beaten by Mark Holowesko by four places,” he said. “So we had a conservative start, which turned out to be a good one. We led the whole race.

“When we got half way going to the finish, we knew that we had it. The pressure was off. We were sailing fast and we just had Mark Holowesko’s boat with us. If they had beaten us, it would not have mattered. We had a considerable lead and we had a lot of fun holding onto the lead for the win.”

In what turned out to be an historic regatta with two Bahamians going neck-and-neck for the title, McKinney said Holowesko was pushing them all the way and they secured the title with 12.80 points, compared to Holowesko’s 18.80.

McKinney, 63, joins two-time (1980 and ‘86) 5.5 metre class champion the late Robert ‘Bobby’ Symonette, three-time (1983, ‘83 and ‘88) sunfish champion Donnie Martinborough and legendary Sir Durward ‘Sea Wolf’ Knowles, the 1947 Star Class champion, as Bahamians holding the prestigious trophy.

Getting a taste of what it feels like to be the best in the world, McKinney said he will be looking for an encore again and again.

“Once is not enough,” he said. “I plan on keep sailing for as long as I can. I’ve got a great team now and so hopefully we can continue to build on this.”

His wife Virginia said their family is so relieved that he finally got the job done.

“I was there when he came so close at the last one when they called the race and snatched it from him, so it was so disheartening,” she reflected as she was joined by their son Morgan and daughter Sydney. “But this one was unbelievable.

“He was telling us about it and it was so phenomenal for him to do it.”

Martinborough said he was delighted to be able to share in the moment with McKinney.

“He’s worked so hard over the years and so it’s good to see that his hard work has paid off,” Martinborough said. “I’m so proud of him. We now have another world champion, so I’m happy to be here. We’re good friends too, so I couldn’t miss this for anything in the world.”

Miller said McKinney’s accomplishments now give him more reason to celebrate with his peers around the world when they sit at the table at their International Olympic Committee meetings.

“The Bahamas now has four world champions in sailing,” he said. “When I sit around the table with my collegiates in the world, I can say we just won the world championship title. So I’m proud of you. Thank you for your success.”

Lowe, who was accompanied by her husband Jimmy and local sailing rival Robert Dunkley, said it was 70 years ago this year that Sir Durward Knowles won the Bahamas’ first world title in the star class. But she is happy to celebrate this feat with McKinney, who follows in the footsteps of Symonette, the first Bahamian 5.5m world champion.

“While Sir Durward won one, Bobby Symonette won two and Donnie Martinborough went up one on him by winning three,” she said. “So we are happy that we can celebrate with Gavin as our newest world champion.

“In the words of Sir Durward last week, Gavin ‘never gave up’ after he tried for so long to finally win it. It just goes to show what one can achieve if they put their mind to it.”

Lowe said she hopes that McKinney’s accomplishment will inspire the young competitors in the sport to never give up on their dreams of one day becoming a world champion.

Bowleg said while he has only seen world champions on television, it was a pleasure for him to rub shoulders with one right in the Bahamas, bringing a ray of hope to the country in the wake of Hurricane Irma.

“It shows me that every time we have a dark cloud, there is a silver lining behind that,” he pointed out. “You are that silver lining as you brought some hope back to the country because of your medal at the championships.

“I understood that we have been trying at this for numerous times. It only brings to mind that if you don’t have success at first, try and try again and now you are on top.”

Representing Renward Wells, the MP for Bamboo Town and the Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources, Bowleg assured those in attendance that they will continue to support the sport of sailing.

And Munnings, representing Michael Pintard, the MP for Marco City and the Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, said despite what the country has gone through with the passing of Hurricane Irma, “they can knock us down, but they can’t keep us down.”

He credited McKinney as being a testimony of “never giving up. Hard work pays off. Success comes quickly for some persons, but for others, it takes trying for a while until you succeed at last and you’ve done that.”

When they left the VIP lounge after the ceremony, McKinney and the crowd were treated to the rhythmic sounds of junkanoo music on the outside of the terminal.