Sebastian Kempe made a brilliant start to the new year after securing a silver medal on his debut at the Oceania and Australian ILCA Open and Youth Championships in Adelaide yesterday.

Competing in Australia for the first time in the single-handed ILCA 7 dinghy, the 18-year-old Bermudian sailor finished runner-up in the under-21 division with a best showing of fourth in the qualifying series on the way to reaching the gold fleet.

“It’s refreshing to be on the podium again,” Kempe told The Royal Gazette. “However, the goal is the Olympics, so I need to focus on that.”

Kempe is among those attempting to represent Bermuda at the Olympics in Paris, France, this summer used this event as a warm-up for the ILCA 7 Men’s World Championship, which is also being held in Adelaide later this month, with that regatta offering a chance of Olympic qualification.

“This event was more of a learning event and an opportunity to knock some rust off of my game,” he added. “This was a good event with lots of takeaways to learn from.”

The outcome was a personal best in the Olympic class for Kempe, who finished second to winner Theodor Middelthon, of Norway, and 48th overall.

“This was my best showing to date after a year and a half in the class,” he said.

“I have a lot of confidence coming out of this event and I think this year is going to be a good one for me.”

Kempe secured a spot on the podium despite posting his worst finishes at the regatta of 46- 47-47 in the three-race final series in the gold fleet.

“The last three races were very challenging. However, I know which things in my game went wrong and the areas that I need to focus on in the lead-up to the World Championships,” he said.

“The last day was very challenging with big wind and big shifts. It was difficult to always be perfect.”

Kempe now hopes to capitalise on the valuable experience he gained at the event at the upcoming World Championship, which will be held from January 24 to 31.

“I feel I understand this venue better now that I have raced here and I can take all of the knowledge that I have gained into the Worlds,” he said.

Also flying Bermuda’s flag at the regatta was Campbell Patton, who finished eighth in the silver fleet and 59th overall.

“I was not pleased with my results but proud of many elements of my performance,” said Patton who had a best finish of first in the opening race of the three-race series in the silver fleet.

“I have been executing my starts really well and it’s just been some key strategical errors that have had pretty big consequences for me on the upwind, and it’s been very difficult to catch back places.

“The training days leading up to this event were all very windy and it was all about speed, which I am really confident about and executing more clear-cut strategy.

“I was very prepared for those condition and we ended up with much more lighter wind, less predictable wind shifts and also the added difficulty with seaweed all over the course was actually a big challenge for me.”

Like Kempe, Patton was also using the regatta as a warm-up for the World Championship.

“This regatta is all about getting experience in this location for the World Championships, so that’s what I used it as,” he added.

“The points haven’t really gone my way but I am definitely taking this as a positive experience and gaining some key insights into the venue, which historically is very windy and all about speed but as I am learning can be about a number of other things.

“I will need to round out all those aspects of my game so that I can bring my very best to the World Championships, where we are hoping to get an Olympic spot for Bermuda.”

Australian Matt Wearn clinched the Open and overall title at the regatta this week by two points over nearest rival Tom Saunders of New Zealand. German Philipp Buhl finished six points further back in third to earn the bronze medal.