Another tough breezy day on the Great Sound along with a few scattered rain showers did nothing to dampen the spirits of the 38 RenaissanceRe Junior Gold Cup sailors. Upon completion of 6 races, and at the halfway mark, Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association (BODA) National Squad sailors, Magnus Ringsted, Sebastian Kempe, Ahzai Smith and Christian Ebbin are currently in the top 10 positions in the regatta. BODA Vice President Somers Kempe said, “I am very pleased to see the progression of the Bermuda sailors. The sailors have been travelling overseas and training very hard with their high performance international coach and while the regatta is not over yet, their results show the potential of the BODA National Squad to compete at a higher international level than in the past few years.”
The 2017-2018 BODA National Squad is Magnus Ringsted, Sebastian Kempe, Ahzai Smith, Christian Ebbin, Nicole Stovell, Laura Hupman and Rachael Betschart. Current top Bermuda female sailor Nicole Stovell is new to the Squad and BODA is very pleased to see her position thus far as 4th girl and 16th overall. Magnus Ringsted currently in 6th overall said, "I like sailing in a strong breeze so these conditions have been pretty good. I'm looking forward to two more days of sailing against some great sailors"
While the Bermudians were putting on a good show and rising upward, Jose Rother of Argentina was flawless winning all three races today and two by a large margin. Close on his heels is Santiago Pacheco of Uruguay in 2nd and in 3rd overall is Calle Lagerberg of Sweden. Top female sailor is Antonia Schultheis of Malta while younger brother Richard is in 4th overall.
Weather conditions are supposed to change tomorrow which may see a shake-up of the leaderboard. Potentially the breeze may drop down to 5-10kts which will favour the smaller sailors in the fleet. Three more races are scheduled for tomorrow before Saturday’s team Race Championships in Hamilton Harbour and a final three fleet races scheduled for Sunday.
Top 10
Jose Rother, Argentina
Santiago Pacheco, Uruguay
Calle Lagerberg, Sweden
Richard Schultheis, Malta
Fltecher Walters, Australia
Magnus Ringsted, Bermuda
Sebastian Kempe, Bermuda
William Pank, Great Britain
Ahzai Smith, Bermuda
Christian Ebbin, Bermuda
