Just as a new king was crowned at the Argo Group Gold Cup, 15-year-old Ignacio (Nacho) Rogala of Argentina became the new champion of the Renaissance Re Junior Gold Cup, an event that brought 34 young sailors to Bermuda from 16 countries, ranging in age from nine to 15, to compete in Optimist dinghies.

After four days of racing, Rogala won with a spectacular 13 points, but Bermuda had four sailors in the top 10 including second place finisher Owen Siese with 72, Kalin Hillier with 81, Dimitri Stevens with 97 and MacKenzie Cooper with 104.

"These kids are amongst a fleet filled with talent," said Bermudian Paul Doughty.

"It is amazing that the children at this age have developed mentally into such talented sailors. It is like a chess game on the water and so many of them have already figured out how to play."

Siese, 14, has been a member of Bermuda's World Team and sails out of the Sandys Boat Club in Mangrove Bay. He is one of a generation of emerging Bermudian sailors who have been sailing on the international level for a few years now.

"For this event, my aim wasn't to win and I didn't really expect to beat Nacho," said Siese.

"But I sailed as well as I could and I am really happy with the result and it has been fun. I think the funniest part is the feeling you have when you do well and when all your friends call out to you to tell you that you did a great job."

All of the Bermuda sailors in the Junior Gold Cup have gone through the Bermuda Optimist Dinghy programme and although sailors like Siese have been able to travel the world in competition, some of the younger sailors who raced in the event were only nine years old and were racing in their first major event.

"What impresses me most about these kids is the age range as there have been nine-year-olds out there racing against 15-year-olds," said Charles Tatum, the principal race officer at the event.

"For the nine-year-olds to keep up with the 15-year-olds is pretty tough but very impressive. The Bermuda Opti programme has been doing magic things with kids and it really gives them a lot of self confidence.

"It is a clean sport and it has been so great for Bermudians to see results with their kids on many levels. They are learning a skill set that will carry them through all of their lives."

For Bermudian Ellie Wollman, 13,. who finished 23rd overall but was the top Bermuda girl sailor, the experience at the Junior Gold Cup was a positive one but she did note: "I think it is more fun to sail against girls as they are a lot nicer than the boys."

At the mark roundings and the starting lines, the 32 strong Optimist fleet can get pretty assertive. For Wollman, though, "it has been great meeting kids from all over the world. Overall, it has been really great."

Event organiser Somers Cooper agreed that "the kids really get along and the friendships continue to flourish on and off the water."

"What is happening with the level of sailing today is that these kids are far more advanced and far better sailors than any of us from the older generation ever could be at that age.

"They have opportunities to travel and sail all over the world. The opportunity that good young sailors have today is amazing."

Full results – see Page 14