The presence of a new crop of talented young sailors did not go unnoticed by those watching the popular Edward Cross Long Distance Comet Race on Monday, but Gladwin Lambert, the region president of the Comet Class of Bermuda, said that can only be good for the future of the race which will be 70 years old next year.

Like any sport, new talent coming through is necessary so when Lambert and 11-times winner Rudy Bailey missed the race, three 15-year-olds stepped up to compete as skippers for the first time in a fleet of just 17 boats. Quinton Simons in Stir de Pot did not finish while Gerald Smith in Ismay was disqualified after sailing to Somerset without his crew, something not allowed in the race.

Stevie Dickinson, the record holder, romped to his seventeenth long distance title but Lambert, whose son Lorenzo Lambert skippered Melody with Dandy Town football captain Brendon Minors his crew, has vowed to return next year. In fact he plans to race on Sunday when the West End Sailboat Club hosts a regatta.

“In my case I’m not ready to throw in yet, I’ve still been racing,” Lambert said. “I raced Race Week, the Flagpole to Flagpole and finished third and I raced in a regatta in St George’s and was fourth.

“I was sick yesterday and that kept me out of the race. My son has been racing with me all through last season and this season and he sailed the boat and ended up finishing seventh. He’s been in the race three times before but his first time as skipper. In 48 years I have probably missed the race three times [before Monday], on two of the occasions I was in the Regiment and had to march that day. It’s been over 30 years since I last missed it.”

Lambert popped down to West End Mini Yacht Club briefly to see the finish of the race as the returning Heath Foggo, a former winner, finished third behind Scott Fox as East End Mini Yacht Club took the podium finishes. Benn Smith and Ellie Woollmann were fourth and fifth and Anthony Smith sixth.

“That means we’re doing in the class to encourage young people to come into the class,” Lambert said. “I came into the class when I was ten-years-old as a crew. Now we’re getting children 15 and 16 who are coming in to race as skippers and have no fear of the comets. And they are top junior sailors, every one of them.

“Benn Smith, who is Malcolm Smith’s son, is 15-years-old and is developing into a better sailor every year. He was with Rockal Evans [in 2011] when only one comet finished. His crew yesterday, Peter Dill, is also 15 and they have been taking turns skippering. Peter skippered in the Flagpole to Flagpole. They are top junior sailors and have been away representing Bermuda.

“Ellie Woolman comes out of the Dinghy Club and is 17 or 18 and has raced in this race three times and has had excellent finishes, two fifths and a fourth. She sailed with her brother Mikey yesterday.”

Lambert said that there are still quite a few comets not being used that could get the numbers back into the 20s for the popular race. The size of the fleet this year, and even the noticeably smaller number of spectator boats, may have had something to do with World Cup football on TV, Lambert feels.

“We’re feeling real good about the comet class and the long distance race,” Lambert said. “Geovanni Masters and Liam Perry are both 15 and it was their first time racing yesterday. Geovanni’s crew, Trey Maxwell, is also 15,” he said.

“The new batch coming in is helping to keep the comet class going. Howard Lee we’ve lost, Alton Millett we’ve lost, Howard Simmons in My New Mary hasn’t raced for three years, Colin Clarke was sick and didn’t sail. We have about 28 competitive comets on the Island and last year we had 21 boats while this year we had 17, so luckily we had some of the youth come in, otherwise the fleet would have been even smaller.”

Added Lambert: “I’m so sure the fleet is going to grown. I’m the oldest skipper in the fleet outside Colin Clark, but I think I’ve got another ten years left.”

Dickinson, who skippered his first long distance race 40 years ago at the age of 14, used his experience to beat out a young fleet for his seventeenth title. He estimates that he has had at least ten crew members over the years and is pleased to see the new crop of young sailors showing interest in the class.

“I’ve always encouraged them, some I have coached a little bit in the junior programme and always encouraged them to come out in the comets,” Dickinson said.

“If I was going to take a break they can take my boat and get a feel for it. We need more juniors in there and if we can get a boat for them — even if they get out once a month — it’s good for the class. We’re constantly feeding them information about the boat and how it should be sailed.

“If these guys stick at it is going to be an amazing fleet with a lot of competition. And it’s going to be exciting to see. It’s like any competition, when youngsters start coming in things start to happen, and for some [older] guys it makes them pick their game up.

“And they are a nice bunch of fellas, nothing arrogant about them. Malcolm was there with Benn helping him get set up and it is nice to see.”