Sebastian Kempe’s title hopes have been dashed after he found the going tough at the Laser Under-21 World Championships in Morocco yesterday.

The Bermudian sailor’s confidence was soaring heading into the opening races in the gold fleet as the top qualifier.

However, his fortunes took a turn for the worse as finishes of 37th, sixth and 38th saw him plummet from first to tenth in the standings and out of contention for honours.

Despite coming up short in his title bid, Kempe still leads his age group, which he is determined to maintain in the hopes of salvaging something from the regatta.

“Today’s racing was tough,” the 18-year-old told The Royal Gazette. “Three races in the schedule and every race was different.

“Today I needed to put up some good scores. However, due to some equipment failure and poor judgment this did not happen.

“I will learn from this experience and move on and push for the Under-19 title nonetheless.”

Kempe, who was fifth at last year’s Laser Under-21 World Championships in Vilamoura, Portugal, is making his debut competing on the African continent at the event.

Meanwhile, England’s Finley Dickinson holds a two-point advantage over Australian Stefan Elliott-Shircore at the top of the leaderboard, with Ukrainian Oskar Madonich another two points back in third.

The Royal Yacht Club de Tanger are hosting the regatta, which concludes tomorrow.