Next weekend 46 AC Endeavour sailors will enter their first regatta in the 2016 Bermuda National Optimist Championships.

The regatta will be held at the West Endeavour Fort in Dockyard and is sanctioned by the Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association. This year’s regatta is the second largest one-design regatta in Bermuda after the IODA North American Championships, which were held in July 2013.

In total, 139 youth sailors, aged nine to 15, will participate in the event with 75 in the Championship fleet and 64 in the Green Fleet, which is for the beginner racers. The AC Endeavour students are all graduates and will be racing in the Green Fleet. Sailors are from both the West and East forts.

“I am thrilled to have 19 of our sailors participate in this regatta especially as most of our students had never sailed six months ago and now are at a level that they can compete against other sailors who have been sailing for years,” said Katrina Williams, the AC Endeavour Coordinator at West Fort. “Their love for the sport and commitment to improving is inspiring.”

The Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association is heavily subsidising the entry fees for the AC Endeavour sailors in an effort to encourage as many of them as possible to enter.

“It’s incredible that our AC Endeavour students make up half the Green Fleet in their very first regatta,” said Leah Collis, AC Endeavour Coordinator at East Fort. “All of the instructors are very proud of our students and we would like to thank the parents for the continued support to the programme.”

Racing starts on Friday, and ends on Sunday.