Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC) flag officer Leatrice Roman is Bermuda Sailing Association’s (BSA) new president.The veteran female sailor was appointed to the top post during the association’s annual general meeting late last year.She was unanimously appointed by an eight-member board that included predecessor Tim Patton who has served three terms as BSA’s president over the past two decades.Roman is regarded as one of the most experienced female sailors on the Island having sailed in various designs including the Etchells, IOD and Fitted Dinghy.She has also represented Bermuda in the Snipes at the Pan Am Games and was Team Leader for local duo Peter Bromby and Paula Lewin at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.The RBYC Rear Commodore has also made several appearances in the Argo Group Gold Cup as crew for skippers Bromby, Lewin and more recently Lance Fraser.Roman currently runs Bermuda Para Olympic Association’s sailing programme and serves on the Bermuda Byte Association board and Newport Bermuda Race committee.* Polish Olympic sailor Zizi Staniul has returned to Bermuda to assist with Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC) Sailing Academy’s Winter Training Programme.Over the next few weeks Staniul will put RBYC’s Optimist sailors through their paces in the hope of taking their sailing skills to the next level.“Zizi has been to Bermuda many times before to coach the Optimist sailors,” said RBYC coach Paul Doughty. “He is one of the best coaches in the world and we are very lucky to have him come here for a few weeks to coach our sailors.“Zizi was coaching the current best Optimist sailors in the world only a few weeks ago in Singapore, so he brings to Bermuda the very latest techniques and some useful tips for our sailors.”Staniul is currently working with Optimist sailors of various levels, including Silver and Gold Fleet.Last weekend saw the Polish sailor take a group of 20 Optimist sailors offshore to gain valuable experience sailing in Northerly winds and the choppy seas they create.“The wonderful sailing conditions combined with an excellent all year round club programme is a great opportunity for the Bermuda sailors,” he said. “The positive attitude to learning and improving by some of the younger sailors is excellent."Not only are the sailors benefiting from Staniul’s experience on the water, but off the water they are having several shore-based sessions where they run through videos of the local sailors’ techniques. This allows the youngsters to analyse their performance against other leading sailors from around the world which is an invaluable development opportunity.Staniul will continue his coaching after school during this week and all of next weekend.The RBYC Sailing Academy Winter Training Programme will continue through to the Easter holidays.“We are really excited to have such a great opportunity offered to our sailors,” said RBYC junior sailing chairman Ben Nicholls. “It is our intention to run this high level coaching throughout the winter and we hope the kids will benefit enormously from it as they build towards the prestigious North American Championships being held in Bermuda in July. We are very grateful to Digicel for helping us bring Zizi to Bermuda."