Cop, OC and Bush join premier in St Tropez ride
(L-R) Inspector Andre Tahal, Chief Officer Eric Bush and Premier Alden McLaughlin
(CNS): Orrett “OC” Connor, host of Radio Cayman’s For the Record call-in show, will be bringing home the ‘Silver Pedal’ award for being the oldest cyclist to complete a charity bike ride in the South of France on Sunday. OC had joined his long-time cycling partner, Premier Alden McLaughlin, as well as Eric Bush, the new international trade chief officer, and Inspector Andre Tahal from the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service in the 87-mile charity ride from St Tropez to Monaco.
Riding through towns and mountains, it took around seven hours for all four members of the Cayman team to complete the course. Contending with narrow winding roads, traffic and pedestrians and not knowing the route made the trek challenging, staff from the premier’s office said in a release.
With temperatures around 60° Fahrenheit and 23 mile-per-hour winds, the premier was happy that he had fellow Caymanian cyclists with him for mutual support and camaraderie over the course of the ride. This was the first time that a team from the Caribbean participated in the charity ride.
More than 100 riders participated, including several professional bicyclists, former athletes and business people, most of whom participate every year. Prince Albert of Monaco, who had invited the premier to participate in the event when they met last year, was unable to ride as he recently underwent surgery. But he was there at the finish line to welcome the riders to Monaco and meet the Cayman delegation.
Later that evening at the awards reception the organisers, as well as the prince, acknowledged the participation of the premier and the Cayman team. While all four of the Cayman riders completed the race in good form, Connor was awarded for being the oldest cyclist to enter and finish the course.
McLaughlin said the ride was difficult but rewarding and the weather a little colder than he is used to.
However, not only did the cycling platform allow for building new relationships with “high net worth individuals and business people across a diverse range of backgrounds in a key market segment for the Cayman Islands”, officials said it also gave both him and Bush an opportunity to firm up relationships with individuals they met last year.
On Monday night Joel Walton, the CEO of the Maritime Authority of the Cayman Islands (MACI), joined the premier and Bush to host a reception for yacht managers and yacht designers in Monaco in an effort to continue the promotion of Cayman’s already market-dominant shipping registry for super yachts.
“Whilst the Cayman Islands is a dominant player in this market segment there are many competitors looking for every opportunity to take our place,” said the premier, who has taken on the new portfolio for International Trade, Investment, Aviation and Maritime Affairs.
“In a market where relationships are key, it is important to not only show a presence but to do so consistently and whenever possible at the highest levels of government. The new ministry intends to not only strengthen our relationships and market share in this competitive market but to increase it,” he added.
OC and Inspector Tahal paid their own way to France to take part in the race, officials said in a release.
Category: Politics
The Premier look tired as hell in them pics…. must be all the champagne and whiskey on his travels!
Cute outfits *wink wink*
Why Tatum didn’t ride with them ?
LMAF …. good one he needed the exercise most
God knows he should have…. would be well needed physical exercise!
A very good way to market the Cayman Islands. Well done Premier
It’s a fun boozy day out put together each year by The Champagne & Oyster Cycling Club of Monaco. Sponsorship (entry fee) is a mere €1000/$1,116USD approx. $930KYD
https://cocc.squarespace.com/new-events
Kiwanis Cayman Blowhole to Smith Cove Ride needs to step it up!!
Average speed -12MPH
Sure hope they brought back some oysters and champagne for NAU clients, just to show them how the 1% live.
While Cayman hemorrhages our political elite and their unscrupulous supporters cycle around the world on our toil and suffering yet some empathize on the radio that they feel our pain. All Fake and pretending they care! Vote straight Ppm next time if you want this to continue yah fools!
Which Caymanians did this “charity event “ benefit?
8.32pm I would like to know which Caymanian you are, to make such an ignorant comment.
Abused children?
It’s a charity that promotes water safety and children’s participation in sports – in Monaco – so not sure where you get that from ( or why 8:57 thinks 8:32s question is ignorant).
I almost pooped my pants at the headlines, thinking that McKeeva was riding a bicycle in the mountains of France.
LMAO!!!! Good one.
I mean, CNS allows all kind of comments, but it is up to you to maintain at least some sort of civility and class.
Seven hours seems a bit of a stretch, but nowhere near the stretch of that spandex over the Premier’s circumference.
Interesting decision to participate and who was apart of the CI team! Alden, we see through you… continuing to enjoy your last 2 years of the premiership all on the CI govt dollar. Would you have attended this is you personally if you had to pay for it? The answer is NO!
How can you Alden really challenge the management and wastage in funding to entities like OfReg when you and your posse’ are gallivanting around the world too!
CNS: This trip need be FOI because God knows how much it cost us?! Would love to also know how much the government donated to this charity?
“Neva see cum see” is the term that fits this jolly. Couldn’t cut it otherwise to go abroad to work or even study and make friends so politricks must be the way forward. Wonder why the rest of the drinking crew didn’t go as well.
They will chalk it all up to promoting the Cayman Islands!! Government you can trust, all right. (Yeh, as far as Mack got in the race)
7.29pm The question is how much did it gain us. The answer is..we don’t know yet but hopefully it is lot. Why is it that when the private sector spends money to promote it’s business that’s a good thing..but if government does it that’s bad.
Pathetic in every way.
I try to keep an open mind … but honestly what value does this have for Caymanians? just looks like one of Joel’s usual world tours to keep Alden et al happy and turn a blind eye to issues in the management of MACI. Also why are we still saying “high net-worth individuals” when all of our financial service providers are seeking institutional business? such references are dated and amateur at best … The worlds billionaire will already have advisers who know the benefits of the Cayman Islands. All stuff like this does is get Cayman mentioned in 3rd class press ….
Sounds like the usual sourpuss here again.
Boy some ppl knows so much about everything….why don’t you just go do something more constructive than need your negative spew on anything the CIG do!!
you might want to spew your comments through a dictionary next time lol
Maybe when ‘they’ start doing something constructive we will.