Veteran sailor Stevie Dickinson easily won Bermuda?s Laser Radial championships over the weekend, finishing on top after seven races in the Great Sound and on the North Shore off Spanish Point.

Dickinson posted three bullets to finish with a total of 14 points after dropping his worst finish.

In a sign of strength for both local women?s and youth sailing, second place went to former Pan-Am Games silver medallist Sara Lane Adderley (29 points) while only one point behind in third place was 15-year-old Eleanor Gardner.

Gardner will represent Bermuda next summer in the Volvo ISAF Youth Worlds women?s single-handed class in Kingston, Ontario.

While Dickinson?s experience came to the fore, competition was intense with recent graduates from the Optimist dinghy class, some returning from university especially to take part, making their presence felt.

Laser class president Brett Wright, who placed fourth, commented: ?The regatta was fantastic, light on the first day with a medium wind on the second day.

?The class is super strong now and is building well, particularly with the influx of Bermuda?s Optimist graduates.

?Eleanor Gardner is sailing extremely well. She sails unemotionally with a strong clear mind.

?But Stevie sailed the tactical, shifty winds extremely well.?

Bermuda?s Joshua Greenslade seized the early lead, winning three of the first five races and placing second in another, on the opening day of the fourth annual XL Capital Bermuda International Optimist Regatta which got underway on Sunday.

Some 42 sailors from four countries are competing in the Great Sound event which is due to finish tomorrow.

Greenslade, with five points after dropping his worst finish of eighth, is followed closely by Japan?s Takumi Saitama, who had a first, second and third for a total of nine points.

Bermuda?s Jordan Saints was in third place with 16 points.

Bermuda placed a superb fifth in the Women?s Snipe World Championships, sailed off Punta del Este in Uruguay recently.

The Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club pair of Maria Stefani and Catalina Sposato ? at 14 the youngest sailor in the regatta ? battled competitors from Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Italy, Japan, Mexico and Norway.

Victory went to two Uruguayan sisters who were followed by Japan, Chile, Italy and then Bermuda.

Skipper Stefani, coach at the RHADC, had high praise for her team-mate who only started to sail in snipes three months ago.

?Other teams had a vast amount more experience in the boat and sailing together as a team,? she noted.

Among the Bermuda team?s results was a prized ?bullet? when they placed first in race 10 which they led from start to finish.

In addition they achieved a second place in race four and had fourth place finishes in races eight and 11 as well as fifth place finishes in races six and seven.

Winds during the regatta were moderate in the eight to 18 knot range and the water ?lumpy? with a cross current.