Foreign Youth Sailors Join Locals
The RBYC’s Hardy Autumn Series welcomed 4 foreign guest racers this past Sunday [Oct.2] as early arrivals for the Renaissance Re Junior Gold Cup joined the Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association (BODA) sailors on the Great Sound.
Youth sailors from Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and Netherlands Antilles raced in the Optimist Gold Fleet with the local BODA sailors, attempting to get acclimated prior to the start of this week’s regatta. Sweden’s Oliver Osterberg and Germany’s Marvin Frisch wasted no time in displaying their heralded sailing skills as they dominated the top two spots most of the day.
Photo of Sailing Action on Sunday by Somers Cooper:
A tie breaker was required to determine Osterberg as the overall winner of the five race day ahead Frisch, while locals Rory Caslin and Ceci Wollmann were 3rd and 4th.
Competing purely for practice, the foreign sailors are not eligible for the Hardy Series points. The official leaders in the Gold Fleet for the day were Caslin, Wollmann and Antonio Bailey in third.
After 14 races Caslin finds himself tied for the lead with Chase Cooper in the series, both with 23 points. Caslin is the new leader of the series based on count-back procedures. In a distant third place is Ceci Wollmann with 40 points.
In the Silver Fleet Matilda Nicholls continued her winning ways scoring 5 “bullets” in the five races sailed, creating an almost insurmountable lead in the series. George Buckley and Yannick Hiller rounded out the podium for the day with 9 and 10 points respectively.
Nicholls leads the series handily with 12 points, leaving a close battle for second between George Buckley (42 points), Kieran Swann (46 points) and Yannick Hillier (46 points). The next race day and end of Hardy Autumn Series 1 is October 23rd.
This Thursday the 2011 Renaissance Re Jr. Gold Cup will commence with a competitor list that is probably the most impressive and varied in the history of the event.
The 9 year old youth event has 17 sailors from 16 countries and 6 regions, (Asia, North America, Caribbean, Europe, Scandinavia and Oceania), 11 National Champions and 14 have made their Nation’s Worlds team heading to New Zealand in December.
Organizers are boasting a record number of girls with 6 in attendance. All Argo Gold Cup skippers from the Match Race Tour have a junior representative from their country except for one.
