Bermuda enjoyed success on the penultimate day at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Dominican Republic today, with three medals clinched.

The sailing duo of Adriana Penruddocke and Sebastian Kempe capped off a fine week by securing medals in the International Laser Class Association fleet, while high jumper Sakari Famous broke her own national record to pick up bronze.

Penruddocke became the second Bermudian athlete to win gold at the Games in 16 years. Long jumper Tyrone Smith was the first to achieve that feat in 2010, when the competition was held in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.

She won the ILCA 6 fleet ahead of Elena Oetling, from Mexico, and Marina Isabel Escudero Negron, of Puerto Rico.

Penruddocke, Kempe and Famous took Bermuda’s medal tally to six, after swimmer Jack Harvey picked up silver and bronze, while triathlete Tyler Smith won bronze.

During the final race day, Penruddocke won the first regatta and was runner-up to Oetling in the second race.

“Beyond proud to get a medal for Bermuda,” Penruddocke told The Royal Gazette.

“Also thrilled to see that all the hard work is paying off and that I could showcase my skills in the breeze here in Dominican Republic.

“I would like to thank my coach Shaun Priestley for his continuous support with putting together the programme. I would also like to thank the Bermuda Olympic Association and Bermuda Sailing Association for their continuous support.

“I’m taking a short break after the CAC Games, then heading off to the World Championships in Dublin.”

Priestley applauded the 26-year-old on her exceptional performance throughout the week.

“Adriana sailed superbly during the week and fully deserved the gold,” the coach said.

“She held her nerve today on a short and shifty course and was rewarded with a first and second. I couldn’t congratulate her more.”

Kempe settled for third in the ILCA 7, a competition won by Pedro Luis Fernández Gamboa, of Puerto Rico, while Luc Chevrier, of St Lucia, was second.

In the first of the two final races, the 21-year-old was fifth, before he fought hard to win the decisive regatta.

Charles Baillie-Strong, Kempe’s coach, commended his athlete for not giving up during tough competition days.

“Full credit to Luc and Pedro for being first and second at the competition and Sebastian with a well-deserved bronze,” Baillie-Strong said.

“Sebastian was up against it and needed to make up some points against the St Lucian and the Puerto Rican sailors.

“He started very well and was joint leading at the first bottom mark with Luke and then unfortunately capsized, which was the end of that race.

“But he was pushing hard for first place at the time and that took him out of contention for gold and silver.

“It was just about securing the bronze medal, which he did successfully by winning the last race and being ahead of Joshua Higgins, the Bahamas sailor.

“Overall, it was a tough week with lots of learning from sailing in a small fleet, which is quite different from sailing in the big international fleets that we’re used to.”

Famous, who headed to the Games with a national record of 1.85 metres, jumped 1.89 for third position.

In netball, Bermuda made their last match count when they defeated Dominican Republic 36-35 to pick up their first win of the tournament.

Jahtuere Trott was successful with 18 of her 23 goal attempts, her twin sister Jahkenya contributed 13 goals, Inshan-Nae Smith chipped in with three points, while Selah Tuzo and Jasmyn Renfroe were on target once each.

On the defensive side, vice-captain Kianté Lightbourne made three interceptions, with one apiece coming from Smith, Terita Bean and Brianna Ray. Smith finished the match on three deflections, captain Debré Evans had two and Renfroe one.