Sailing on island has received a huge vote of confidence after the Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association was awarded the hosting rights for the 2025 Optimist North American Championship.

The event will feature more than 150 young optimist sailors and is a great opportunity for Bermuda to showcase its hospitality and culture. It will be the fourth time the island has hosted the event, with the last occasion more than a decade ago in 2013.

Dede Cooper, secretary of the BODA, spearheaded the bidding process and is overjoyed by the announcement, which was made at the International Optimist Dinghy Association annual meeting in Spain last week.

“As the BODA representative who put together the presentation for the bid for the 2025 North American Championships, I am elated with the outcome of the vote at the IODA AGM,’’ Cooper said.

“It is the fourth time Bermuda has been host for this championship and my second time as co-chair. It's an amazing opportunity and one that the country should be proud to host. The optimist class is the largest class in the world and recognised everywhere as the foundation for the sport.”

Cooper views the event as an honour and she will soon be reachng out to the island to seek assistance from various stakeholders to enusre the competition is a success.

“The task ahead is a big one and BODA will be reaching out to the community for support,’’ she said.

“We will need hotel rooms and food providers among other services. We will be seeking assistance and volunteers to help supply boats and support on the water during the racing.

“Bermuda has a solid infrastructure for running large sailing events and I have no doubt this event will be as successful as the ones that came before.

“The exposure to Bermuda for the parents, coaches and sailors that come will hopefully make them lifelong fans. It's a great day for Bermuda youth sailing and I am sincerely thrilled and cannot wait for 2025. Events like this also give Bermuda a chance to showcase her hospitality and culture, which is like no other.”

Bermuda Sailing Association president Tom Clarke was among those to applaud Cooper and the BODA for their success.

“Huge congratulations to the Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association for being awarded the International Optimist North American Championships in 2025,’’ Clarke said.

“This is an auspicious event for any North American nation and we thank Dede Cooper and the BODA organisation for putting together and being awarded this bid.

“From the BSA’s perspective, any championship of this calibre always brings up the level of competition and skills to Bermudian youth sailors, improves our race management skill set and brings a fresh international perspective to the island.

“With over 150 competitors expected, plus coaches, parents, and all the other associated attendees, this is great event for Bermuda as a whole and we wish them every success.“

On the water, Noah Amaradasa, Nina Gotfredsen, Trystan Hocking, Dylan Menzies, Miguel Power and Brady Mackay will represent Bermuda in the Optimist North American Championships in Antigua from July 2 to 9. The event will feature 13 different nations and about 125 sailors.

Gotfredsen, Hocking, Menzies and Power, along with Shiloh Cruickshank, were in the Bermuda team that competed at the Optimist World Championships last month in Costa Brava, Spain.

Cruickshank and Power performed best, narrowly missing out on making gold fleet and finishing strongly among the silver fleet, with Bermuda’s sailors challenged by the conditions as well as having to contend with a four-day interruption to the action waiting for waves to die down and wind to settle.

“Our sailors put a tremendous amount of effort into competing against top sailors from 48 different countries,’’ Cooper said.

“Challenging conditions prevented racing for four days and changed the dynamic of the regatta but they represented Bermuda well and BODA is proud of this team.”

National coach Pablo Weber, who has led Bermuda at 16 IODA World Championships, said: “Although it was not ideal conditions, four of the five sailors are heading to Antigua and would have benefited from training and experience ahead of the North Americans next week.”