Chase Cooper warmed up for next month’s IODA South American Championships in the best possible way at last week’s Mar del Plata regatta in Argentina.The teenaged Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC) Optimist sailor won the five-day regatta by a commanding 30 point margin over nearest rival Francesca Foronda of Peru.Argentina’s Fausto Cruz Peralta rounded off the top three overall finishers respectively.Cooper was chosen as Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association’s (BODA) 2012 Sailor of the Year.And he showed just why at last week’s regatta sailed in varying conditions that he led from start to finish and clinched with a day to spare.The Warwick Academy student was a model of consistency, reeling off ten top three finishes that included four bullets, four seconds and two thirds.Cooper had a worst showing of 11th in race seven that he discarded along with the ninth place he posted in the very next race.Last year saw the 14-year-old sailor represent Bermuda at the IODA South American Championships, World Championships and North American Championships.He produced Bermuda’s best showing at the North American Championships in three years after finishing 10th overall and placed 11th at the Orange Bowl in Florida and seventh at the Renaissance Re Junior Gold Cup to earn the Dick Kempe Trophy awarded to the top Bermuda sailor at the regatta.Cooper was among Bermuda’s IODA South American Championship team that competed in Argentina last week that also includes Peter Dill, Ceci Wollmann, Mikey Wollman and Benn Smith.The team's objective was to gauge the level of competition among South American sailors and take advantage of the large fleet experience prior to next month's continental championship in Brazil.Meanwhile, Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club (RHADC) sailor Ceci Wollmann also underlined her potential at the regatta after finishing third among female sailors and tenth overall.Her brother Mikey placed 38th overall, Smith 56th and Dill 59th respectively.Bermuda’s five-member team was accompanied by BODA High Performance Coach Martin Jenkins who was pleased with the performances of the local sailors.A total of 180 Optimist sailors from eight countries participated in the 12-race series in Argentina.