Six rising Bermuda sailing stars fly to Uruguay this week to compete in the South American Optimist Championships.

Coach Pablo Sanguinetti from the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club will lead the team in what is considered to be the second toughest regatta in the world for sailors under the age of 15.

And Bermuda will be hoping to do as well as the team last year when they finished runners-up in the team racing championship, losing in the Nations Cup final to USA.

Nearly 200 sailors are expected to start the first race on Sunday.

Bermuda have a young team this year which includes Sam Stan (14), Ellie Wollmann (13), Rory Caslin (12), Ferdinand Arnold (12) and Ceci Wollmann (12). The youngest sailor is Mikey Wollmann who is only nine-years-old.

Most of the sailors competing in these championships will be from North and South America and the conditions on the Punta del Este are known to be tough with very strong winds and high waves.

But Team Bermuda are well prepared for these conditions having practised during the winter in the high winds and rough seas in the Great Sound.

Bermuda's sailors have also participated in regular clinics with Zdzislaw Staniul who is regarded as one of the top Optimist coaches in the world.

He ran week-long clinics for both the sailors and local coaches and his previous charges have included numerous national champions and IODA world champions.

The official arrival day at host club, Yacht Club Punta del Este, is tomorrow and the sailors will compete on the Bay of Maldonado.

Friday will see the opening ceremony with a practice race on Saturday. The official racing will start on Sunday and the series will conclude on Saturday, April 3.

A number of Bermuda sailors in last year's South American Optimist Championships have since moved into the Byte class and they recently qualified Bermuda for a spot at the Youth Olympics in Singapore this August at a regatta in the Cayman Islands.