Sebastian Kempe is confident that he has taken his first steps towards sailing at the Los Angeles Olympics after qualifying for the Junior Pan American Games.

The 19-year-old was victorious in the Midwinters East Regatta in St Petersburg, Florida, at the weekend and feels great that his first event in 2025 has banished any lingering memories of a disappointing end to 2024 in the European Grand Prix in Portugal.

“This event was just a tune-up for the season, to get back into it, see where I stand and qualify the country for the Junior Pan Ams,” Kempe said.

“It’s been a busy winter, obviously having the disappointment in Portugal in December. I came back home, did a lot of training and I’ve been in Florida for the past two weeks doing some training and I’ll be here for a while after this event.”

Kempe’s victory in Florida guaranteed Bermuda a spot in the ILCA 7 division but not an individual sailor, although Kempe is confident of getting the nod given a lack of credible alternatives for the position.

“I’m pretty sure I am the only person who sails in the ILCA 7 who is in the age bracket, so it’s going to happen but you never quite know it is 100 per cent confirmed,” Kempe said.

“I put on a pretty good performance here to show that I deserve to go to Junior Pan Ams. I’m excited if I do get the chance to go because it means I get a chance to qualify the country for the Pan Am Games, which I didn’t get to go to last time.”

Competing in the Junior Pan American Games would be the peak of many young sailors’ careers, but for Kempe, a winner of the Youth World Championships in Oman in 2022, it represents the latest wave to ride on his journey to the Olympics.

“The Junior Pan Am Games is not super big, but in terms of the road to the Los Angeles Olympics, it’s obviously a good step,” he said.

“But it’s not about just going to the Olympics and barely getting in through the Pan Am Games or a universality spot. I‘ve always wanted to go to the Olympics and do well; that’s always my goal.”

Not many teenagers would have the foresight to strategise and plan for the next three years but for Kempe and his team, which includes Shaun Priestley, who helped to guide Adriana Penruddocke to the Olympics in Paris last year, the focus is on 2028.

“I’ve been thrown into this arena quite young, so I’ve had to take it in my stride and try to do the best that I can,” Kempe said.

But everything that we do now is in preparation for the Olympics in 2028. I’ve got a good team around me, a good coach, a good team-mate and we work together and help each other out.

“I’ve known Shaun for a long time and our first event together was in Italy for the World Championships in 2021 where I came third. Six months after that, I won the Youth World Championships in Oman.

“Our relationship together is probably the biggest strength that we have and it’s good to have a coach that understands you as a person. I hope the relationship continues to grow. It’s not always about him telling me what to do; it’s about having constructive conversations about the management off the water and on the water. It’s an ideal situation.

While the goal remains Los Angeles, there are still plenty of regattas in 2025 to attack, with Kempe entering a busy part of the season as he racks up the air miles in the next few months.

“Right after this I’m going over to Europe to do the Princess Sofia World Cup event in Majorca,” he said.

“I then have a two-week break and compete in French Olympic Week, another World Cup event, in the South of France. Then it’s another two-week break before the World Championships in China, so for the next two or three months it is pretty full-on for me.

“After that it’s going to be training for the Junior Pan Am Games, which we’ll probably do at either the Los Angeles Olympic venue or in Bermuda. That’s not decided yet, but the next three months are pretty mental.”