Sailor Sebastian Kempe has secured a place for Bermuda at the Junior Pan Am Games this year.

Kempe won the 2025 Ilca’s Midwinter East Regatta in St Petersburg, Florida, to guarantee Bermuda representation at the Games in Paraguay in August but must still wait to find out if he is the sailor chosen to compete for the island.

Although Kempe was successful, the spot at the Games is given only to the country and not the winning sailor, which means it is now left to the Bermuda Sailing Association to select the official competitor.

But Kempe must surely be the leading contender to get the Ilca 7 spot after winning three of the eight races in Florida and topping the standings on 12 points. He was victorious in three of the eight contests and finished in the top three on four other occasions, with his worst result of fourth dropped.

Also in action in the Midwinter’s East regatta were Bermudians Adriana Penruddocke and Nicole Stovell, who both competed in the ILCA 6.

Penruddocke made it into the gold fleet, finishing 26th overall, with her best performance coming when fourth in race four. She also had two more top-ten finishes.

Stovell secured a spot in the silver fleet and finished 76th of the 150 sailors, with her best effort sixteenth in race four