Five budding young boatmen have returned to the Island after representing Bermuda at the 2007 IODA World Championship held in Italy.

The star of Bermuda's team at the championships in Sardinia was James Anfossi who finished fifth out of 251 sailors from 59 countries competing in the waters off the Yacht Club Cagliari.

Team-mates Anthony Bailey came 55th, Jordan Saints 60th, Connor Astwood 143rd and Brian Bulhoes 163rd. The team was accompanied by Bermuda's national Optimist coach Pablo Weber and team leader and country representative Wynn Saints.

President of Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association, Ronald Stan, said: "Congratulations go out to James Anfossi for a spectacular performance in exhilarating conditions as he ended the Optimist World Championship in fifth place overall.

"Since the 2002 World's in Corpus Christi Texas, this is the fourth time a BODA sailor has cracked the top 10.

"Given Bermuda's population base and the relatively small size of our Optimist fleet, this is quite an achievement. It's a testament to the hard work being done by our sailors, coaches, clubs, the government's waterwise programme and the BODA programme.

"Year round youth sailing continues to put Bermuda in the forefront by capitalising on one of the Island's most abundant natural resources."

The IODA World Championships ran from July 22 through August 2.