Stefaniuk Wins Bermuda Optimist Sailing Title
Two races were sailed to complete the Bermuda Optimist National and Open Championships from the East End Mini Yacht Club. The shift from the forecasted breeze forced the Principal Race Officer Martin Siese to abandon plans to sail in St George’s Harbour so the fleet returned to the North Shore where they were met by moderate breezes to finish.
In the National Championships, Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club sailor Tayte Stefaniuk continued the charge from the day before, securing himself the title of Bermuda National Champion with two firsts amongst the Bermuda fleet. Battling it out for 2nd and 3rd was Adam Larson and Campbell Patton.
The consistent sailing today gave Larson the edge and 2nd place with Patton finishing up in 3rd. Camille Chin-Gurret was able to hold onto her lead after sailing a steady regatta and is this year’s Female National Champion.
In the Junior division a strong day yesterday with two top 10 finishes put Leyli Walker above her competition for the title of 2014 Bermuda Junior National Champion.
In the Open Championship, Tayte Stefaniuk came out ready to unseat Carmen Cowles [USA] from the podium by winning the day’s first race. However she bested him in the second and final race and kept her lead of 4pts to be this year’s Open Champion. Tayte placed second and last year’s champion Jack Corbett [USA] placed third.
Carmen also won the top female prize and her compatriot Sofia Segalla from Connecticut won the Jr division prize.
The Peter Mitchell Sportsmanship Prize was won by nine year old Sebastian Kempe who turned around during a race to return and check on a fellow competitor who had capsized.
The Green Fleet saw 23 sailors spend 4 days improving their skills and learning the fundamentals of racing in St George’s Harbour. This was a great warm-up for those sailors heading to compete in the Orange Bowl Green Fleet in Miami in December.
Regatta Chairperson Dede Cooper was pleased to see so many sailors in St George’s, including the visitors, and even more pleased to see how the sailors of Bermuda are continuing to challenge the international sailors at the top. She said, “there is great potential and depth in the fleet here in Bermuda and from what I can see 2015 is going to be another great year”.
Full results at www.boda.bm
