Bermuda Optimist sailors Chase Cooper and Ellie Wollmann are both competing in this week's Ernst & Young USODA New England Championship.

The event is the highlight of the Opti racing season, being sailed on the waters of Narragansett Bay and Newport with a fleet of 330 boats.

In windy conditions on Monday's opening day, Wollmann did well to recover from a capsize in the first race to finish 23rd. She then followed up with three top 10 finishes (6,5,5) and is in 28th position overall (8th female).

Chase Cooper is in 133rd position with a top finish of 25th. Last week the Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association had a trio of sailors taking part in the 500 boat UK Optimist National Championships held at Weymouth, England – the venue for the 2012 Olympics.

Rory Caslin, 13, qualified for the Gold Fleet and finished 75th out of 161 boats.

Matilda Nicholls, 8, raced in the Regatta Coaching Fleet and won two of the 13 races and counted seven top five results. She finished 5th out of 82 boats and was awarded the Little Charger Trophy for the top under-10 sailor. She was also presented with the Musto Award for Sailor of the Week.

Florence Nicholls, 7, raced in the Regatta Starter Fleet of 36 boats. She came 4th overall and managed a first and second place finish in her last two races.

The three sailors are continuing onto other Optimist Regattas in Europe before returning to Bermuda. Caslin heads to the Irish National Championships, while the Nicholls' are off to the UK East Coast Junior Week at Aldeburgh.