Patton Wins Canadian Optimist Nationals
Royal Bermuda Yacht Club sailor 10 year old Campbell Patton sealed his victory in the White Fleet (Under 11s) of the Canadian Optimist Nationals. Campbell’s consistency across a range of conditions proved too good for his fellow competitors.
After a top 10 finish in the last race, Matilda Nicholls finished 3rd, followed by George Buckley in 6th and Macey Acardi in 7th.
Coach Paul Doughty said the young Bermuda sailors coped admirably with the tricky conditions and the long term future of Bermuda Optimist sailing seems to be in good shale once again.
In the Blue Fleet (Ages 11-13), Bermuda sailor Michael Wollmann representing the Lake Ontario Optimist Team sailed a very solid week to finish 3rd in his Fleet and a very respectable 8th overall.
Benn Smith finished in 9th place with Alice Reeves in 14th and Camille Chin-Gurret 19th. Paul Doughty singled out Alice Reeves in her first ever regatta outside Bermuda as having a very good week, particularly on the first day when very challenging conditions prevailed.
The oldest group of Bermuda sailors (Red Fleet) was headed by Cecelia Wollmann in 5th place, she finished the week 6th Overall out of all the sailors. Peter Dill came in 20th, with James Amarel 25th, Christian Chin-Gurret 27th and Kieran Swann 37th.
Paul Doughty was thrilled with the performance of the Bermuda sailors, many of whom were competing abroad for the first time and many of whom have only just graduated from the Green Fleet in Bermuda, the beginner racing group. Coach Paul said the Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association has succeeded in getting Optimist sailing in Bermuda back on track and the future seems particularly healthy.
Doughty said the Coaches at RBYC and RHADC put a lot of time and energy in to coaching the Bermuda sailors and now a more competitive circuit is in place, the results will begin to show.
RBYC’s Junior Gold Cup is sailed in October with the Bermuda Optimist Nationals being hosted by Sandy’s Boat Club in November, both events are expected to attract a number of the World’s best Optimist sailors to compete in Bermuda.
Many of the BER sailors who competed in the Canadian Nationals will join the Bermuda Gold Fleet sailors for these events.
