Sailors Patton And Nicholls Excel In Italy
The World Record Regatta in Italy came to a close on Sunday [Apr.8] on Lake Garda as the 1,100 Optimist sailors from 26 Nations raced their boats together for one last time. There continued to be an amazing “wow” factor for many spectators as the boats left the shore and sailed off to their racing area one last time.
The winds were a little lighter than has been experienced most of the week, never realy getting above 12 knots.
The young Bermuda sailors continued their run of very commendable results with the controversial Race 3 being re-sailed in the morning, Matilda Nicholls (10) finished the race 16th, a drop of a few places from the first attempt to complete race 3 on Friday. Campbell Patton (11) finished 30th, but was able to keep his result of a 4th place finish on Friday which pushed his overall position for the Cadetti Fleet into the top 10! Whilst the results of Race 3 were now finally scored, it was not possible to split the Fleet into the Gold and Silver Divisions as had been the plan for the final [Matilda and Campbell are pictured here]. The Bermuda sailors representing the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club [RBYC] and Sandys Boat Club were a little disappointed by this, both of whom had comfortably qualified for the Gold Fleet.
One final race was sailed, again in lighter breezes and both the Bermuda boats had good starts and sailed the first leg intelligently, they both rounded the 1st mark in the top 25. Patton ended the race in 8th, with Nicholls 17th.
This secured a top 10 result for Patton who finished 7th Overall after discard. His race scores were 53rd, 19th, 30th (counting 4th), 2nd, 2nd & 8th. These impressive results resulted in a top position in a major International regatta, something not seen for quite a while by a Bermuda Optimist sailor.
Matilda Nicholls with race results of 19th, 10th, 14th, 18th, 14th and 17th ended the week 19th overall and 5th girl.
RBYC Sailing Director Tom Herbert-Evans said “I am speechless, this is a fantastic result by these two young sailors, Bermuda Optimist sailing is on the rise and these youngsters are leading the charge. To see them competing so well at the highest level for their age group against 26 other Countries and over 260 sailors is remarkable. At the RBYC Sailing Academy we believe in encouraging kids to properly start sailing aged 6, to see how quickly they can progress to the International stage is extremely fulfilling and shows that we have the chemistry right. We start our Spring Sailing Programme as an RYA Training Centre after the Easter Holidays, we have many youngster already signed up. Hopefully a number of them will be sailing in events like the Lake Garda Regatta in a few years to come.”
President of the Bermuda Sailing Association, Tim Patton, accompanied his son Campbell to Italy. He said “this event was simply spectacular, the organisation to put together two fleets of over 1,100 Optimists is to be commended. Bermuda sailors traveling to the event was one of the highlights for the host club in Riva del Garda and they were particularly welcoming to us. We will certainly be back soon and hopefully with a lot more BER sailors in 2013. Optimist sailing is a rapidly growing sport the World over, we are lucky in Bermuda to already have such a strong heritage in the sport. There is plenty of talent to be unleashed and the Bermuda Clubs have the ability to coach Bermuda’s kids to International standards.” I am of course extremely proud of my boy, but there were two young BER sailors in Italy who both deserve significant praise for their endeavours and achievements.”
Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association [BODA] executive Ben Nicholls said “The experience gained by Campbell and Matilda at this huge International event will stay with them for a long time. The competition on the water, the spectacular sailing venue and the friendships ashore all made for a hugely successful week.
“Aspiring Bermuda sailors should definitely build this event into their Easter Holiday plans in future years if they can. We met several Teams from any number of Countries and many of them have expressed a genuine interest in coming to Bermuda to train and race Optimists.
“They can see something special is developing once again in Bermuda Optimist sailing and it is great to see such interest. The BODA Exec have been working very hard to encourage the growth of the Green Fleet and Silver Fleet in Bermuda, from a strong base, there are some young sailors emerging who are able to compete at the highest level against their peers from other Countries. The next 18 months promises to be extremely exciting with Bermuda hosting the North American Continental Optimist Championships in July 2013.”
The sailors return to Bermuda on today [Apr.9] and look forward to sharing their experiences with their fellow sailors.
