Campbell Patton came into his own during the penultimate day of the Sail Sydney Olympic Class regatta in Sydney, Australia, yesterday.

Capitalising on the favourable conditions in Sydney Harbour, the 17-year-old posted a 5-1 record to surge from sixteenth to ninth in the 27-boat Laser Radial fleet.

“Today was a big improvement from the past two days,” Patton said. “This came with a change of conditions as the wind picked up and the more breeze, the better for me.

“I had a fifth in the first race which, given my speed, should have been a second, and I won the second race thanks to my upwind speed when the breeze picked up.”

The son of Tim Patton, the multiple national Etchells champion, will now look to build upon his momentum during the final day of the regatta being hosted by the Woollahra Sailing Club.

“I still need to work on the downwind legs,” Patton added. “But I’m looking forward to tomorrow [today], which is the last day.”

The lead in the Laser Radial fleet swapped hands yesterday with Australian Mara Stransky replacing compatriot Michael Compton at the top of the leaderboard.

Also representing Bermuda at the regatta is Rockal Evans, who is competing in the Finn class.

Evans, who is vying to qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020, slipped one spot down the pecking order from tenth to eleventh in the overall 26-boat fleet after producing a 14-11 record on the day.

The 30-year-old went into the regatta with momentum having placed third at the Sail Brisbane in Australia last weekend. The lead in the Finn class also changed hands on the penultimate day of the regatta as world No 1, Nicholas Heiner, of the Netherlands, replaced British sailor Ed Wright at the top of the pecking order.