Bermuda?s national Optimist sailing team headed off to Galveston, Texas, this week where they will compete in the Optimist North American Championships, hosted by the Texas Corinthian Yacht Club.

Fifteen Island sailors, ranging in age from 11 to 14, were selected by the Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association (BODA) to represent Bermuda following their performance in the team trials that were held during March.

And following their recent success at the South American Championships in Chile where Sean Bouchard placed a highly creditable second and the Bermuda team won the Nations Cup, Bermuda will be seeking to repeat their outstanding performance at last year?s North American Championships where they grabbed six top 10 finishes and won the racing championship off Valle de Bravo in Mexico.

This year?s regatta will host 119 leading international youth sailors from 11 countries including New Zealand, Japan, Germany and Argentina. It is recognised as one of the most prestigious and competitive yachting events on the international youth sailing calendar.

John Gardner, president of BODA said: ?We are very pleased to be able to send our Bermuda team to this important event which is the second of four international sailing events that our young sailors will be participating in this year.

?It provides an excellent opportunity for our team to take on some of the world?s best sailors as the Bermuda team prepares for the 2004 World Optimist Sailing Championships in Ecuador in July followed by the European Championships in Sweden in early August.?

Campbell Duffy, Ryan Saravia, Ben Bernardo, Eleanor Gardner, Peter Miller, William Hutchings, Martin Finegan, Oliver Riihiluoma, Cameron Pimentel, Jason Saints, Jordan Saints, James Anfossi, Sean Bouchard, Joshua Greenslade and Elijah Simmons

Team leader John Greenslade, country representative Lezlie Pimentel and coach Pablo Webber.