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BERMUDA | RSS PODCAST

Opti sailors on the up

Photo by Julie SmithBermuda's Optimist sailors in Italy: (left to right) Ceci Wollmann, Benn Smith, Mikey Wollmann, Chase Cooper, Campbell Patton

Bermuda sailors improved on their performances on day four at the IODA Optimist World Championships on the waters of Lake Garda, Italy, but the fleet were only able to complete one of the two scheduled races due to unstable weather in the late afternoon.Chase Cooper had a 21st place finish to lift him from 91st to 87th position overall in the 259-boat fleet while Ceci Wollmann posted a 46 which dropped her slightly to the 100th position.Campbell Patton's13th-place finish was the best score for the Bermuda team and propelled him up the leaderboard to 117th. It was his third top 20 finish of the regatta. Benn Smith improved his position with a 26th and he currently sits in 154th. Mikey Wollmann also moved up four places with his finish of 37th, leaving him in 159th.Earlier in the day the sailors were forced to wait longer than usual for the southerly wind but eventually they enjoyed a steady 10-12 knots for the first group of starts. As the first four flights of races progressed the wind continually decreased making it challenging for the sailors.Towards the end of the first races the strong westerly wind arrived and all fleets were instructed to quickly head for shore. Today the race committee hope to complete three races if the wind conditions are more stable.With two days until the conclusion of the championships, the overwhelming power of Singapore has been confirmed with four sailors in the top six positions.Singaporean Loh Jia Yi, with a scoreline of 1-1-1-2-3-2, recorded a 23rd yesterday but continues to lead the fleet, five points ahead of German Nils Sternbeck.Sternbeck is in second while third overall is Swiss Damian Suri, who finished fifth yesterday. Nipping at the heels of the top three are the trio of Singapore with Edward Tan, fourth just one point from the podium, followed by team-mates Han Bertha and Koh Kun.