Rockal Evans demonstrated that he will again be the man to beat in the Comet class this year.

The 2020 Olympic hopeful successfully defended his Comet crown at last week’s Digicel Dinghy Regatta with young crew Damian Payne.

Because of stiff breezes the Comet fleet only completed one of the three race days, with Evans’s blistering start on the opening day in the one-design, double handed dinghy securing the sailor victory by a narrow three-point margin over Stevie Dickinson.

“We had three good races which were very competitive,” Evans said. “We had three overseas sailors and one of them, Talbot Ingham, was a really good sailor. He was putting the pressure on Stevie and I at the same time, so it wasn’t an easy task.

“To make it even more interesting my crew was sailing with me only for the second time, so it was kind of like a guessing game going into the day with it being windy like that, because the first time he sailed with me it was blowing like four knots.”

Evans’s youthful crew proved equal to the task.

“Damian did an awesome job and understood the communication and everything,” Evans said. “He was actually showing me a few things and we worked together pretty good.”

Evans’s triumph was his third straight in the Comet in this regatta and his fifth title overall, having previously won back-to-back titles in the single-handed Olympic class Laser.

His fabulous start to the season has once again suggested that there has been a changing of the guard in the local Comet fleet, which was once mightily ruled by fierce rivals Dickinson and Rudy Bailey.

“It shows that I have improved over the years and I really don’t think that Stevie and Rudy have downed their game a bit,” Evans added. “This victory has definitely boosted my confidence a lot in the Comet class.”

American Ingham, who sails out of the Shrewsbury Sailing and Yacht Club, rounded off the podium and was the top overseas sailor in the Comets at last week’s regatta. He finished tied on points with Dickinson, but was pipped for second in a tiebreaker.

Meanwhile, winning the Laser Radial title by a landslide was promising local sailor Benn Smith who led from start to finish.

Smith’s training partner and Bermuda Red Bull Youth America’s Cup team member Peter Dill was second followed by Mikey Wollmann in third.

Cecilia Wollmann, who is representing the island in the single-handed Laser Radial dinghy at this summer’s Olympics in Rio and is also in the Bermuda Red Bull Youth America’s Cup team, was the top female sailor and fifth overall.