Sebastian Kempe released a wave of emotion after beating the world’s best sailors in the French Olympic Week regatta on Wednesday.

Kempe beat 56 other sailors to take the fifth Ilca 7 race in Hyeres, with his display the highlight of a fantastic day in which he also finished fifth and eighth in the other two contests.

The Bermudian’s fine displays in the World Cup event left him fourth overall ahead of the fleet splitting into gold and silver group on Thursday, and his confidence is high as he hopes to sail into medal contention.

“I got to the coach boat and I just let out so much emotion,” Kempe said.

“It’s probably the most emotional I’ve been since winning the Youth World Championships in 2021. We don’t talk about it but it’s been tough for almost three years now.

“This is the hardest fleet in the world and these are the best sailors in the world in a boat that doesn’t have a lot of speed advantages. If you win a race against these guys you are really doing something good.

“You get a lot of pent-up energy, waiting and waiting and waiting, and when it happens you have to celebrate your wins because they do not come often. It was more relief really and now we can move on.”

While Kempe knows he belongs in the upper echelon of sailors, it was a surprise even to him that he made his race-winning breakthrough in conditions he usually finds far from ideal.

“The conditions were wild,” he said.

“We started the first race in quite light winds, very tricky, but by the time we finished the day the winds were up to 30 knots with gusts and that is huge for us.

“Another big point is that I’ve never been in my life a windy sailor. Through juniors, youths, I’ve never been a guy who goes out in heavy winds and dominates. I’m a Bermudian sailor and always like the light winds.

“So today to be able to hold it with the top guys in 30 knots at the top end, it fills me with a lot of confidence in the work that I’ve been putting in last summer, the fall and the winter.”

Kempe has not tweaked anything in his training or changed his usual routine in the build-up to this important regatta.

“I honestly couldn’t tell you why today was the day but this whole week felt like it had clicked,” Kempe said.

“The performance hasn’t changed. No secret training has been happening and I’m the same person competing against the same sailors and executing a plan, but sometimes that’s just how sport works.

“Some days you are on and some days you are not and it doesn’t come together, but it’s just important to keep the head down.”

There are two more days of racing before the medal race on Saturday but the level-headed Kempe is not getting carried away with his magnificent victory.

“I’m going to try to take the next few days in pretty much the same I did going into the week,” he said.

“I’ll stay calm and relaxed. I can only control my controllables so I’m just going to go out there and hopefully not do anything uncharacteristic and play a consistent game.

“This venue is so tricky and so wild, it always has been, and I will never take that for granted. All I can do is accept that it’s going to be tricky and control the things I can control. I’m not smiling yet, the week’s not over, but right now I’m really happy with the performance and what it means for the future.”