Bermuda Youth Team Finishes at World Champs

April 12, 2010

Over 68 male and female sailors from 28 countries converged in Cannes, France for the 2010 Byte CII World Championships from April 7 – 11. Bermuda sent five top youth sailors [aged 14 - 16] who all performed well, with one local teenage sailor achieving a top ten finish in the world class field.

The 16 race regatta was held over a number of days, and only 2 races were held yesterday in very windy conditions. The final two scheduled races were abrupty cancelled as the wind suddenly built to 30 knots in a matter of minutes during the starting sequence for the third race and and it became unsafe to continue. The Sailing Association tells us the Bermudians had a difficult day on the water which was reflected in their scores.

Byte CII 010

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Owen Siese ended up in 9th place overall after carding a 30th and a 22nd today, a disappointment for Owen as he was sitting in 2nd place going into the final day.

Kalin Hillier finished the regatta with a 25th and 27th today ending up in 22nd place overall. Rahiem Steede finished in 32nd place with a 34 and 31 today.

Dimitri Stevens finished 29th and 30th in the last 2 races to end up in 34th place overall.

Alex Davis scored a 38th and 39th to end the regatta in 42nd place.

Final Results for Team Bermuda:

  • Owen Siese 9th
  • Kalin Hillier 22nd
  • Rahiem Steede 32nd
  • Dimitri Stevens 34th
  • Alex Davis 42nd

Video Report:

Bermuda’s Coach Pablo Weber felt that despite the less than stellar performance yesterday, the Bermuda boys showed that they can compete with the World’s best extremely well. They now know who and what they will be up against at the Youth Olympics and will plan their future training accordingly with an aim to put Bermuda on the podium.

Darren Choy of Singapore won what turned out to be the final race of the Championship, clinching the World Championship title. This was his second consecutive World’s win and it was done with incredible consistency in a wide range of conditions. No one else was close as he finished 36 points clear of the second place finisher, Ian Barrows of the US Virgin Islands who was coming off a win in the NA and Caribbean Qualifier in Cayman three weeks prior.

Ian joined the Bermuda team here in France as he did at the NA Championships in the Cayman Islands under the guidance of the Webers. Third place went to Kaarle Tapper of Finland who had previously qualified his Country with a 2nd place finish in the European Championships in Imperia, Italy.

The final 6 male singlehanded dinghy spots for the Youth Olympic Games were awarded to Ukraine, Slovenia, Portugal, Turkey, France and Switzerland.

[Thanks to the Bermuda Sailing Association for contributing to this report]

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