Cecilia Wollmann made a fine start to her Olympic Games qualifying bid at the Sailing World Cup in Miami yesterday.

The promising sailor made the most of the light air conditions, which she thrives in, to get her qualifying bid off on the front foot.

Wollman finished eighth in the only race contested in the women’s Laser Radial on Biscayne Bay to place fifteenth in an overall fleet of 81 boats.

“I am really happy with my start to the regatta,” Wollman said. “But we still have a lot of racing left.”

Cameron Pimentel, Bermuda’s remaining Olympic hopeful in Miami, endured a much tougher day out on the water competing in the full Laser rig.

Pimentel posted finishes of 23rd and 40th and after the opening two races sits in 66th spot in an overall fleet of 98 boats.

In order to achieve their qualifying objectives, Wollmann and Pimentel must finish as the top North American sailors yet to qualify for Rio in their respective racing fleets.

Should both sailors fall short in their Olympic bids there remains the possibility they can earn a wild-card to Rio.

Yesterday’s racing began in a gentle four-knot north easterly breeze that increased in the afternoon to 8-11 knots after the wind had shifted to the east.

Variable conditions prevailed in the final lead up to the regatta and seem to be in a holding pattern with ups and downs in wind velocity, wind direction and temperature forecasted this week.

The Sailing World Cup, to run from January 25 to 30, features more than 780 Olympic and Paralympic sailors from 64 countries competing across ten Olympic classes. Saturday’s Medal Races will be televised live.

Also competing in Miami are Artemis Racing pair, Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen, who claimed the gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics in a 49er fleet that also featured Bermudian siblings Jesse and Zander Kirkland.