Bermuda’s contingent found the going tough on the opening day of the ILCA 7 Men’s World Championship in Adelaide, Australia.

Campbell Patton, Sebastian Kempe and Benn Smith were unable to produce the start they had hoped for in their bid to secure one of the Olympic qualification spots for the island on offer at the regatta.

Patton coped best among the local trio under the circumstances in the first two races of the qualifying series with finishes of 23rd and 31st placing him in 84th in the overall 151-strong racing fleet.

Twelve places below Patton in 96th is Kempe who produced finishes of 34th and 28th.

Farther down the pecking order in 118th is Smith who managed finishes of 37th and 40th.

Bermuda’s sailors will now look improve on their ranking heading into the second day of the championship.

At least one of them must finish in the top third of the overall fleet to clinch a spot for Bermuda at the next Olympics.

Kempe and Patton warmed up for the regatta in the Oceania and Australian ILCA Open and Youth Championships this month.

Kempe finished runner-up in the under-21 division and 48th among the 102-strong fleet, while Patton finished eighth in the silver fleet and 59th overall.

The World Championship offers one of the final chances for Bermuda’s ILCA 7 male sailors to book a place in Paris with the Semaine Olympique Française regatta in Hyères, France, the only other opportunity for Olympic qualification.

Adriana Penruddocke is the only Bermudian sailor to have so far qualified for this summer’s Olympics in the ILCA 6 women’s class.

She secured a spot for the island competing in the Pan American Games in Algarrobo, Chile, last November, and will represent the island at the main event as the only local female involved in an Olympic campaign.