Bermuda?s young Optimist sailors left Chile on a high over the weekend following a string of successful performances during the South American Optimist Championships in Algarrobo, highlighted by Sean Bouchard?s second place overall.

The 12-strong team shone brightly against some 156 sailors from 12 countries, finishing the regatta with a bang with four first places on the final day of racing.

Overall, it was Bermuda?s strongest-ever showing at the South American regatta.

Bouchard?s second place ? he finished behind Ecuador?s Edgar Diminich ? represented the highest placing to date for any Bermuda sailor at the championships, regarded as second only to the Worlds in terms of prestige.

But there were other highlights as, along with Bouchard, Cameron Pimentel and Oliver Riihiluoma both collected medals by virtue of placing in the top 15 overall.

And in team racing for the Nations Cup, Bermuda brought back the trophy for the second successive year after finishing first ahead of Trinidad, Mexico and the USA.

Eleanor Gardner?s first place in Race Six represented the first time a female BODA skipper had triumphed in an IODA Continental Championship.

Gardner was one of five Bermuda skippers who bagged a first place in one or more of their seven races.

The Bermudian sailors exploded on the last day of racing with four first-place finishes in ideal conditions to snag second overall and five places in the top 50.

They enjoyed 16 top ten finishes in the last three races.

Bouchard picked up two more firsts to hold off a challenge from Ecuadorian Pedro Velez but was unable to catch leader Diminich who finished eight points ahead and who did not need to compete in the last race.

Bermuda coach Pablo Weber said: ?I am pleased. They were fast, very fast.

?This exceptional level of year over year improvement is hard to do.?

Bouchard, the reigning North American champion, made a huge jump from 2003 when he finished 21st in the same championship. Pimentel?s 10th place also represented a massive improvement over his 79th a year earlier.

The team were due to return to Bermuda yesterday.

Overall finishing positions of the Bermuda sailors were as follows:

2nd Sean Bouchard; 10th Cameron Pimentel; 12th Oliver Riihiluoma; 31st William Hutchings; 37th Eleanor Gardner; 51st Elijah Simmons; 75th Ryan Saraiva; 79th Jordan Saints; 88th Peter Miller; 103rd Jason Saints; 123rd Ben Bernardo; 130th Campbell Duffy.