Nathan Bailey, the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club sailing coach, has hailed the island’s strong showing at the Canadian Optimist Championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Bermuda’s contingent put local sailing on the map after producing three podium displays at the championships, which were hosted by Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron and contested on Halifax harbour.

Sebastian Kempe finished third among the 129 entries in the fleet racing event, while Leyli Walker was third among the girls and 18th overall.

Bermuda also made its presence felt in the team racing event, with Rachel Betschart, Millie Lewis, Laura Hupman, Walker and Kempe combining to win the silver medal after losing to hosts Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron’s A team in the best-of-three final sail-off.

“They all did very good so the future of Bermuda sailing is looking great,” Bailey said. “They have all been putting the hours in on the water, which has been good. All of them have been dedicated and committed to the sport and I think the team morale is really good by all accounts and I know Owen [coach Owen Siese] had a great time there coaching and he enjoyed it as well.”

Kempe topped the leaderboard going into the final race of the series, but fell short of a maiden fleet-racing title as a 34th place finish took its toll.

“I think Sebastian probably took it on the chin, a tough last day for him,” Bailey said. “He’s going in leading into the last race so for him to drop to third he was probably upset himself. But overall it was still a very solid result.”

As for Walker, granddaughter of late RBYC Commodore “Jordy” Walker, Bailey said: “Leyli did really well, it was a great result.”

Walker was one of six female sailors in Bermuda’s eight-member team.

“Those girls put some good racing together,” Bailey said. “I think they all did very well and for me what is more important is there was a group of six girls there which is really showing the sport isn’t just there for boys. It’s there for girls as well to compete at that level.”

Bailey also praised Christian Ebbin, who placed seventh in the fleet racing event.

“Christian had a superb day with the last two races and made a good little bump up there, which is good,” Bailey said.

Skye Oliveira and Genevieve Lau were the remaining members of the team.