Jack Swikart retained his Comet International Championship title in the Great Sound on Saturday.

The Shrewsbury Sailing and Yacht Club helmsman won the seven-race series competing alongside sister crew Kate in the one-design Comet dinghy, with Bermuda’s Stevie Dickinson and Benn Smith finishing second and third to round off the podium.

“Defending the title is a great feeling and is what we hoped to do in coming down to Bermuda,” Swikart told The Royal Gazette. “It’s one thing to win at home in New Jersey but another altogether to win the Internationals here, where many of the best Comet sailors hail from.

“For us, the key to success was maintaining our boat speed and sailing in clear air on the right tack upwind. Even when we didn’t have especially good starts, we felt like we could come back in any race with our speed.”

Overnight leader Swikart began the day with a ten-point advantage over nearest rival Dickinson and went on to clinch the title with a race to spare.

Swikart and his sister dominated the 30-boat fleet as they won four of the seven races on the trot to claim their second title in local waters after winning the Edward Cross Long Distance Race five days earlier.

“We’re very proud of our performance this week and it’s especially meaningful for me to win with my younger sister, who did a phenomenal job as my crew,” Swikart added.

“We were grateful to have the chance to sail against such a strong field of sailors, including some legends from Bermuda like Stevie Dickinson and Rudy Bailey.”

Dickinson and crew Wesley Tucker finished six points behind the winners to claim the silver medal.

“I spent most of the week fighting back from deep,” Dickinson said. “I felt the boat was sailing very well, it’s just that I had a hard time getting off the line.

“But, all in all, Wesley and I sailed very good and I will take second as there was some really competitive sailing out there, especially with this young guy Jack who was very fast. Once he went on his way, it was very hard to keep up with him in the conditions because that’s his stuff.”

Smith and crew Damian Payne finished another three points off the lead to claim the bronze.

“The regatta was good, it was a great experience,” Smith said. “I’ve never done a Comet regatta like this before, and it was great to come third.”

Bermudians occupied six of the top ten places in the standings with ten-times regatta winner Rudy Bailey finishing fourth, Kelsey Durham seventh, Rockal Evans, who competed under the Australian banner, eighth, and Dale Brangman ninth.

Durham and crew Jordan Vieira were the only local team to win a race after leading the fleet across the line in the series finale to finish on a high.