The International Optimist Dinghy Association World Championships are proving to be a steep learning curve for Bermuda’s mostly inexperienced team in Argentina.

Tayte Stefaniuk is the only member of the team of five to qualify for the Yellow Flight, where he remained in 40th position out of 69 competitors after eight races.

Stefaniuk, who has posted two top-ten finishes, qualified for the Yellow Flight after being situated in the top half of the overall fleet which was divided into three divisions at the halfway stage of the regatta.

Nicolas Rolaz, of Switzerland, leads the Yellow Flight, with Greece’s Dimitris Papadimitriou in second and Brazil’s Gustavo Abdulklech in third.

Representing Bermuda in the Blue Flight is Paul Wollmann who sits in 42nd position out of 70 sailors after eight races. Wollmann’s best finish so far is fifteenth in the second race.

Santiago Rial, of Uruguay, Stijn Paardekooper, of the Netherlands, and Argentina’s Facundo Mónaco occupied the top three spots in the Blue Flight.

There are three sailors flying the Bermuda flag in the Red Flight.

Leading the trio is Adriana Ursula Penruddocke, who is placed fifteenth after eight races with a best finish of 23rd.

George Buckley is 25th, with Joe Arrowsmith, the son of newly elected Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association president Steve Arrowsmith, in 59th.

There are 68 sailors competing in the Red Flight, which New Zealand’s Sam Bacon leads after eight races, with compatriot Scott McKenzie in second and American Ricky Welch in third.

Bermuda’s sailors also found the going tough at the IODA Team Racing World Championships, where they were eliminated after losing to Turkey in the double elimination event.

Bermuda lost to Mexico in their opening team race but managed to keep their hopes alive with victory over the Netherlands in their second outing before being eliminated from the competition after losing to Turkey.

Thailand were crowned IODA Team Racing World Champions after defeating Singapore in the final sail off. Spain came second.

The Championships are being hosted by Club Náutico San Isidro in San Isidro, which is a traditional sailing town north of Buenos Aires.

There are more than 200 sailors from 50 countries competing at the Championships, which are being held in Argentina for the first time.

The regatta concludes tomorrow.