Cooper In 3rd At South American Championships
Bermuda’s five youth sailors attending the IODA South American Championships reached the halfway mark of the continental championship on Tuesday, completing 6 races over last three days.
Hosted by Veleiros do Sul on the muddy river waters near Porto Alegre, Brazil, the fleet experienced three challenging days of light, shifty winds punctuated with rain squalls.
Photo of Chase Cooper by Matias Capizzano
Chase Cooper is the top Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association [BODA] sailor and presently sits in 3rd place overall in the 144 boat fleet. Cooper’s finishes of 2, 22, 9, 4, 2 & 10 pushed him within twelve points of the leader, Brazillian Gabrial Lopes and four points behind the second place sailor, American Ivan Shestopalov.
All the sailors are allowed to drop their worst race of the regatta following the sixth race so a fair bit of movement occurred after the last race today. 14 year old Cooper will avoid taking risks and attempt to consolidate his position with more top ten finishes when the regatta resumes on Friday.
The other four local sailors have been less consistent and have found the conditions challenging. Ceci Wollmann is the 2nd Team Bermuda sailor in 68th place, followed by her brother Mikey Wollmann in 80th place. Benn Smith is in 111th position while Peter Dill is in the 130th spot.
Wednesday is the Team Racing event where Bermuda will race as a four boat team against the other non-South American countries for the Nations Cup in a series of short races on a unique course. Thursday is a day off for all the sailors where they will have a chance to rest and take in the local sights. Fleet racing resumes on Friday.
