Could Somers Kempe’s days at the helm of Contest III be over?That’s the big unanswered question swirling around Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC) these days.The veteran sailor has suggested he may relinquish the helm of the RBYC’s famed fitted dinghy in the near future but has yet to make anything official.“I am trying to step back and it might be time to move on,” Kempe said. “Who knows, next year I probably won’t be the official skipper.”Two potential successors for Kempe are team-mates Peter Miller and Dimitri Stevens who have already proven that they are capable of taking over the helm.“Dimitri and Peter have shown this season that they are capable of putting some good results up and managing the programme so this year might be the time to hand over the baton,” Kempe said. “We have been trying really hard this year to hand over the helm to the younger members that are filling in nicely and taking the boat into the future.”The crew of Contest III has undergone a transformation in recent years with a number of younger members joining the ranks.“It’s very important to have youngsters involved because they are the future of the sport and some clubs have done better than others bringing up young people in their boats,” RBYC vice-commodore Kempe said. “The goal is always to pass on the tradition to a strong future.“If you pass it on to a young group that haven’t really come up through the ranks and they don’t get the sense of what it really means they could lose interest and the fleet could fold. So young people are the key to the future and obviously old guys can’t continue sailing forever.”Kempe said the younger team members that have joined the ranks have been equal to the task.“They stepped in and did a good job,” he added. “There’s some good young talent coming through so the future looks bright.”This summer saw the crew of Contest III successfully defend their Coronation Cup title, clinching the season series with two race days to spare.Kempe cited crew work and consistency as the key to the team’s success.The fitted dinghy is unique to Bermuda and has been in existence for more than a century. The first recorded race involving fitted dinghies was held August 26, 1853 in St George’s Harbour.Kempe, a veteran of multiple Newport Bermuda and Marion Bermuda Races, says there’s a huge amount of pride associated with sailing a dinghy only found in Bermuda.“It’s definitely a sense of pride sailing the fitted dinghy because there’s nothing else like it in the world,” he added. “You are doing something that no one else around the world does and it’s a good time.”The fitted dinghy is 14 feet in length, has a 14-foot bowsprit, a 20-foot spinnaker pole, a mast and boom that can vary in length and can carry nearly one hundred square yards of sail at a time.“It’s a very hard boat to sail being so small with so many people (usually six) and also with so much sail area,” Kempe said. “The opportunity for mistakes is always right around the corner.“When things go right you can make it look easy. But things can go wrong very quickly and you can end up having a long day.”