Bermuda sailor Lenny DeSilva will be keen to make up precious ground in his bid for Olympic qualification when the European Championships resume in Vilamoura, Portugal, today.

DeSilva, who is competing alongside Belgian helmsman Jan Van Maercke in the 49er class, was shown tied for 88th overall after placing 30th in his qualifying group in the one and only race held before light wind brought proceedings to an early halt yesterday.

Spain’s Martin and Jaime Wizner, New Zealand’s Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie and Switzerland’s Sebastien Schneiter and Arno de Planta presently occupy pole position in the three qualifying groups, with the eventual regatta winner to secure the sole Olympic qualification spot up for grabs.

DeSilva and Van Maercke have exhausted a lot of time and effort preparing for the championship, which they hope ultimately pays off.

“We've been doing two to three-hour sessions practising boat handling, starts and practice racing with our training partners from Finland and Italy and we’re now confident we can handle this venue in all conditions,” DeSilva told The Royal Gazette.“Our coach, Mauro Finazzi, has been instrumental in getting us up to standard.

“He has previously coached the Spanish 29er squad to four world champion victories as well as one European Championship.

“His experience with the 49er also come from an Olympic campaign.”

As for the level of competition the pair are up against, DeSilva, who teamed up with Van Maercke this summer, added: “The current world champions Bart Lambriex and Floris van den Werken [Netherlands] will be hoping to secure yet another victory while Spain’s Diego Botin and Florian Trittel [who won the championship last year] are also expected to be at the top of the fleet.

“The Spaniards are among three other crews attending this event employed full time by Sail GP teams to race their boats that gives a sense of the quality of what we will be lining up against.”

DeSilva is following in the footsteps of siblings Jesse and Zander Kirkland, who represented the island in the 49er at the 2012 London Olympics.