Miguel Power made sure he improved on his last year’s display in his last appearance at the Optimist North American Championship by finishing 21st overall out of 180 and ninth among the North American sailors in Puerto Rico yesterday.

His final placing was better than the 22nd he achieved last year when the competition was held in Antigua.

Racing in the gold fleet in the final series, the 15-year-old Power, who will be overage when the continental competition rolls into Bermuda next May, was in a great position at the end of the day’s racing on Thursday. He was fourteenth overall and the third North American sailor.

However, a tough day of racing yesterday saw Power slide down seven positions overall and lose six places on the North American rankings.

Nina Gotfredsen, another senior in the nine-member team who is moving to the next boat class in 2025, was the next Bermudian in 44th position, while Thomas McBain completed the gold fleet in 59th, with the newcomer recording three finishes in the top 14.

In the silver fleet, Harry Brown finished 106, followed by Evan Davis in 110th and Rory Savage was 120th.

James Ganal also made his last NAMs appearance count with a consistent display to win the bronze fleet, which placed him 121st overall. Emma Brown was 137th while Noah Amaradasa closed out the bronze fleet in 149th.

Commenting on the performance of the sailors, Dede Cooper, the Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association secretary, pointed at the difficulties faced by the youngsters.

“Our sailors faced very challenging conditions with shifty winds ranging from 12-22 knots and huge swells,” Cooper told The Royal Gazette.

“They did very well especially considering that Thomas, Harry and Emma were attending their first International Optimist Dinghy Association regatta and all three are on the smaller side.

“Our team also had the right attitude and even after a disappointing day, they came back ready to go with a positive outlook.

“Consistency won overall, the Argentinian [Luca Barutta] who won did not have a race outside of the top ten.

“Miguel Power didn’t start well on Friday and made a few little mistakes, but in this fleet and given the conditions, mistakes can be costly. It was a difficult day for many in the gold fleet with many sailors losing places.

“It was a great result for James Ganal, considering that he had back-to-back massive nosebleeds, which saw him completely miss two races, and he had five top ten finishes too.

“Six members of our team will all be over-age next year, only Thomas, Harry and Emma will be eligible.”