Bermuda Sailors Excel In Italy Optimist Regatta
Five young Bermuda sailors have just finished competing in Europe in the world’s largest one-design regatta for Optimists. Over 800 optimist sailors from 33 countries took part.
In a week when more than 1,500 of the world’s best Optimist sailors were competing in Europe, it was on Italy’s stunning Lake Garda where the world’s largest one-design regatta was raced with over 800 optimists.
The five Optimist sailors from Bermuda included Bermuda’s top-ranked sailor Campbell Patton, Bermuda’s top-ranked female sailor Matilda Nicholls, Bermuda’s top-ranked Junior U12 Flo Nicholls, Bermuda’s “most improved Spring Sailor” Luke Madeiros, and Ethan Madeiros, who experienced his first overseas regatta in the racing fleet.
Sailing vessels cover Italy’s Lake Garda during the regatta:
The five RBYC Sailing Academy sailors enjoyed the spectacular scenery and awesome sailing conditions that Lake Garda is famous for. The Madeiros brothers joined the SailFast Squad, while Patton and the Nicholls sisters trained with Team Winner.
During the training, some warm-up regattas were held with sailors from many different countries competing. Bermuda’s Matilda Nicholls revelled in the windier conditions and surprised some of Europe’s strongest sailors competing in the Sailing Garda Regatta.
The RBYC sailor finished 1st Girl and 2nd overall in a strong fleet.”
Matilda Nicholls receives her awards following her qualifying round:
The opening ceremony of the main regatta took place on Wednesday, April 16 with a high-spirited Bermuda Team joining the mass of other Optimist sailors from countries around the globe; Algeria, Ecuador, Ghana, Israel, and Russia were just a few of the many countries that took part in the parade through the historical town of Riva del Garda.
Racing was soon underway, with three days of events in the Qualifier Series. In the Juniores Fleet, Campbell Patton and Matilda Nicholls both qualified for the Gold Fleet for the top 125 sailors placing 41st and 49th out of 625 competitors after seven races, a significant achievement for these young sailors.
Luke Madeiros qualified for the Emerald Fleet. Meanwhile in Cadetti, Flo Nicholls placed 27th out of 205 boats to qualify for the Gold Fleet, while Ethan Madeiros joined the Silver Fleet.”
BER1008 Campbell Patton with BODA Chairman Tim Patton:
The final day of racing saw some very varied conditions in different ares of the lake. The Cadetti sailed one race in windy conditions with a second race much lighter. Flo Nicholls gained some places to get into the top 20 overall, finishing the Regatta 19th and 6th girl. Ethan Madeiros ended the week 189th, 84th in the Silver Fleet.
Meanwhile, the Junior sailors also had some very varied conditions in a different part of the lake with sailors seeing occasional moderate winds while at the same time drifting conditions during their final two races. The results for the fleet were varied, but Bermuda’s number one sailor Campbell Patton excelled in the second race of the day to finish 9th which gave him an overall position of 27th, placing him in the top 5 percent of the entire fleet.
Matilda Nicholls had a tough day and dropped to 90th overall, still an impressive performance over the week, which saw her as the second placed 12 year old in the Regatta. Luke Madeiros had a good day, finishing 96th in his fleet placing him 471st overall.
Flo Nicholls of the 19th Cadetti Fleet:
BODA’s Chairman of Sailor Development Paul Doughty said, “13 sailors have, this Easter week, taken advantage of BODA’s policy of encouraging their sailors to compete at major regattas, with eight in Uruguay and five in Italy; plans for summer regattas are already being made. The results achieved by these young sailors bode well for the future.”
Full results of the ongoing Italian regatta can be found online.
