Two of Bermuda’s promising sailors have been gaining valuable exposure competing among a formidable fleet at the Mapfre Middlesea Euromed Regatta which concludes today in Malta.

Flying the island’s banner at the regatta are Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Sailing Academy pair Magnus Ringsted and Rachael Betschart who are among the 121 competitors in the Optimist Open division.

Ringsted is positioned in 36th among the 61 entries in the Gold Fleet going into today’s final day of the racing in the Mediterranean and Betschart 17th among the 60-strong Silver Fleet.

“Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association is pleased to see two of our national squad sailors expanding their skill set by competing against some of the top Europeans,” Dede Cooper, the BODA sailor development officer, said.

“Currently in first in Malta is Richard Schultheis who represented Malta at this year’s Junior Gold Cup, placing third.”

Ringsted and Betschart are the first Bermuda sailors to compete at the regatta thanks in part to the generous support of Schultheis’s family.

“First time for any Bermudian and it was arranged by Richard Schultheis’s family as a thank you for their hospitality in hosting Richard and his sister when they came to Bermuda [Junior Gold Cup],” Cooper added.

These are indeed exciting times for Maltese sailing after the Royal Malta Yacht Club’s Challenge for the 36th America’s Cup was accepted by Defender Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and Challenger of Record Luna Rossa earlier this month.

It is the first time in the 167 year history of the America’s Cup that Malta, one of the smallest countries in Europe, is competing for the oldest trophy in international sport.

Bermuda successfully hosted the previous America’s Cup in the Great Sound last year where Kiwi Challenger Emirates Team New Zealand thrashed American Defender Oracle Team USA 7-1 to regain the coveted showpiece.