Eight of Bermuda’s top young sailors arrived back in Bermuda last week after representing the Island at the IODA North American Championship held in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico between July 4-15th.

This year saw 185 sailors from 20 countries competing in the waters off of the Vallarta Yacht Club.

James Anfossi came in second overall after recording three first place and mostly top-ten finishes.

In the “Closed” Championship (meaning they do not count the non-North American countries) Brian Bulhoes came in ninth and Anthony Bailey 19th.

Together these three sailors were in the top 20 of the Closed Championship results.

Each Bermuda sailor in Mexico had one or more races where they finished in the top 15 and six BODA sailors finished in the top half of the fleet.

The final overall standings for Bermuda’s North American Optimist Team were: James Anfossi - 2nd, Brian Bulhoes - 16th, Anthony Bailey - 30th, Jordan Saints - 60th, Jason Saints - 70th, Owen Siese - 87th, Kelsey Durham - 106th and Mackenzie Cooper - 122nd. The team was accompanied by Bermuda’s national Optimist coach Pablo Weber and team leader Eddie Saints.

• In other news, the four sailors representing Bermuda at the IODA European Championship being held in Varkiza Beach, Greece also did well.

With temperatures up to 110 degrees and the winds running at between 15 to 30 knots, Blake Burgess won the last race of the regatta which vaulted him into eighth place overall.

It was a fine finish in a very competitive fleet. Out of eight races, Blake finished five of them in the top 12. The results for this years Bermuda team in the 143-boat boys’ fleet were: Blake Burgess - 8th, Kalin Hillier - 50th and Kyle Burgess - 122nd. In the 86 boat Girls fleet was: Renee Greenslade - 62nd.

Finally, earlier this week the Bermuda team headed off to Italy to compete in the IODA World Championship.

This year will see 252 sailors from 59 countries competing in the waters off of the Yacht Club Cagliari in Sardinia Italy.

Representing Bermuda will be Jordan Saints, James Anfossi, Connor Astwood, Anthony Bailey and Brian Bulhoes.