While sailing’s supermen and women do battle in Hamilton Harbour in the Bermuda Gold Cup and Women’s Match Racing Regatta, the next generation of stars are testing themselves in the Renaissance Re Junior Gold Cup.

The competition for the 38 youngsters gets under way a day later than the seniors on Wednesday morning with a strong local contingent facing 13 of the best young sailors from around the world.

One of the youngest sailors has also travelled the farthest to be here, with 13-year-old Will Fyfe making the journey from New Zealand. Here with his parents, Fyfe is delighted to be in Bermuda.

“I’m very excited to be the top New Zealand sailor here,” Fyfe said.

“I am ranked third in the country but the highest two rejected the opportunity, and I am very excited. It’s really nice here, I’ve been to Horseshoe Bay for the last two days and it’s really beautiful.

“I’m here with my parents, which is really good, but it can be a bit boring travelling with them sometimes.”

Fyfe, who seems mature beyond his years, is using the Junior Gold Cup as preparation for the world championships in Argentina in December, and is not thinking about life at home or his school work.

“I’m just trying to get some good training in leading up to the Worlds in Argentina,” Fyfe said.

“After this I go home for a couple of weeks, then I go away again, and my friends think I’m quite lucky to be missing school. I’m missing a lot but I’m in intermediate school and they don’t seem to mind. They might care more when I get to high school next year.”

Fyfe, who is hoping for a top-five finish at the regatta, is steeped in sailing tradition with his older brother and sister both competing at Optimist World Championships.

“It was quite inspirational seeing them do so well when I was young,” Fyfe said.

“I got to travel with my parents when I was young and watch them. My brother still does a bit of wing foiling and my sister did a bit of match racing last year.”

Optimist sailing at the highest level for teenagers offers the rare opportunity for boys and girls to compete on an equal footing, with Swedish sailor Cornelia Baldock Frost, 15, falling in love with Bermuda.

“I arrived here on Friday and it’s so lovely,” Baldock Frost said.

“It’s like paradise and I love the weather. Sweden is so cold right now. My mum and I, we travel a lot, and we really like warm weather.”

Baldock-Frost is in her last year of being able to compete in the Optis, with sailors ageing out at 16, but she has been in the fortunate position to attend regattas around the world, with one of her last events set to be her first world championships in Argentina.

“I’ve been to Garda and competed there, I’ve been to Greece at the start of the summer and Valencia — basically every regatta you can name — and I’m very excited to be going to the world championships,” she said.

“I don’t really care about the results here as worlds is the one event where I want to succeed. I’m just working on details, speeds, and I want to sail in waves here.”

Baldock Frost is preparing for exams in Sweden and will be forced to catch up on any tests she misses.

“We have exams now in autumn and spring and when I get home in week 45, 46 and 47, we have these national tests in every subject, where you speak, write and listen,” she said.

“I will miss a lot of tests but I will have to do them in the spring. It’s a little difficult when you are not in school so much.”