Sebastian Kempe made a dream start on the opening day of racing at the ILCA Under-21 European Championships in Spain on Monday.

The Bermudian sailor won the first qualifying race in the 12-race series but could finish only twentieth in the second after a poor start and trying conditions took their toll.

“It was a tough day today,” Kempe told The Royal Gazette.

“I started the day off well with a first but race two brought very tricky conditions and I made a pretty crucial error on the starting line. I didn’t start in the right position and rounded the weather mark very deep in around 40th.

“I had a comeback through that race and was happy to minimise the loss but unhappy that I was in the position that I had to do so.”

Looking ahead, the former ILCA 6 youth world champion is determined to make inroads towards qualifying for the gold fleet at the business end of the regatta.

“You can’t win an event on the first day, but you can lose it,” Kempe added. “I don’t think that we have done either of that, so we just keep going.

“The forecast is quite variable for the week and I am sure everybody is going to make a mistake at some point. Tomorrow we are going to get a discard, and I am excited to start stringing together some good results.”

Rem Pulci Magen, of Israel, tops the 137-boat fleet by four points over second place Erik Norlen of Sweden after finishing fifth and first in the opening two races.

Kempe was crowned Junior Male Athlete of the Year for the third straight year at this month’s National Sports Awards ceremony and the 18-year-old is using this week’s regatta as a warm-up for his final attempt at qualification for the Olympics at the Last Chance Regatta in Hyères, France, next month.

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

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