Two sailors were robbed three times in four days while visiting for International Race Week.

Yet despite being repeatedly targeted by criminals, Greg Schertz and his friend Robin Jackson praised local residents who went out of their way to help.

"It was a crazy week," said Mr. Schertz, 53, reflecting on the incidents befalling him and Ms Jackson, 47, who are both from Denver, Colorado.

The trouble began on Monday April 19, as they were riding along South Road on their rental scooter, heading for dinner at Henry VIII in Southampton.

They felt a bumping, then noticed the bungee cord holding Ms Jackson's rucksack in the basket had been cut, and the bag containing her wallet and $150 cash was gone.

"We thought at the time that maybe we hit a rough bump and the bag had hopped out. We called the Police and reported it as missing in case someone found it," explained Mr. Schertz, who described the bag as blue, with "US Ski Team" written on it.

But events on the way home made them realise they'd fallen victim to more than an unfortunate accident.

"We were on our way back to our hosts' house in Flatts and were at a roundabout. I'd stopped to yield to traffic and this motorbike came up next to us and bumped into us," explained Mr. Schertz. "There were two people on it and the person on the back grabbed my knapsack from the back, which I'd strapped in with one of the straps on the knapsack. They were able to either cut it or jerk it out of there.

"Fortunately for me, based on losing Robin's knapsack, I didn't have too many valuables in there they were in my pants pocket. But I still had to put the bag in the basket because I had more stuff than could fit under the seat. They made off, scooted away with my knapsack."

Mr. Schertz pulled into a gas station to report the theft.

"The locals in the gas station were very nice. They were very upset to hear what happened and one of them asked to speak to the Police while I was on the phone to them," he said. "That's when we realised Robin's knapsack had been stolen, it didn't just come out of the basket."

The following morning, a lady found the knapsack on the ground along the Railway Trail with Mr. Schertz's belongings strewn around.

"It was terrific, she found a prescription phial with my name on it. She Googled my name and found out I was sailing in Bermuda," said Mr. Schertz.

"She put a lot of work in. She called the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and asked them if I was really sailing in the regatta. Then she called the Police. That was a real kind effort on her part, there are a lot of people who wouldn't go to that trouble."

He was eventually reunited with his knapsack, although a few items including a pair of sailing sunglasses and his Motorola cell phone were missing.

Two days later, on the evening of Thursday April 29, the friends were targeted again when two men on a bike drew up behind them at the intersection of Tee Street and Middle Road in Devonshire.

"This time I had my knapsack on the back tied on really good. All it had was dirty clothes and a beach towel. I knew better this time," said Mr. Schertz. "One of the guys on the motorcycle tried to pull it out. Now Robin and I knew what was going to happen. We started swinging at them. I got off the back to try to grab them and pull them down but I wasn't able to get a good grip and they scooted away."

He noted down the licence number and a passer-by called the Police on their behalf. As of yet, none of their missing belongings has been recovered.

It was the first visit in Bermuda for Mr. Schertz, a civil engineer with the US Federal Government. Ms Jackson, an interior designer, has visited several times before.

The week did have some positive news, as they won the J24 class in the regatta as part of a combined team from Colorado and New York. And according to Mr. Schertz, they will not let their unfortunate experiences put them off coming back.

"Both Robin and I feel like the people in Bermuda are extremely nice people who go out of their way to make tourists feel welcome. We had a number of experiences where people did that," he said.

"We would love to come back. The bad things we had happen, I guess we were just unlucky."

Ms Jackson said she is "very angry", but added: "I know that things like this happen and a very select few get targeted. It's just one of those things."

However, she said that Oleander Cycles did not warn them not to put their belongings in their bike basket.

"I think they really need to tell tourists this does happen," she said.

Oleander's operations manager Johann Moik told The Royal Gazette all customers are warned.

"I'm sorry this happened," he said. "It seems like they were really watched. We advise everybody not to put personal belongings in the basket and to strap things in with the bungee or to put them under the seat. At every store we have safety tips."

The Police have requested that we do not publish the registration plate of the bike that was noted down by the couple. A Police spokesman said all the incidents were reported, and are under investigation. Anyone with information should call the Police on 295-0011.