Bermuda's five youth sailors attending the IODA South American Championships in Brazil have reached the halfway mark of the continental championship, completing 6 races.
Hosted by Veleiros do Sul on the muddy river waters near Porto Alegre, Brazil, the fleet has experienced challenging days of light, shifty winds punctuated with rain squalls.
Chase Cooper is the top Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association (BODA) sailor and presently sits in 3rd place overall in the 144 boat fleet. Cooper's finishes of 2nd, 22nd, 9th, 4th, 2nd and 10th pushed him within twelve points of the leader, Brazillian Gabrial Lopes and four points behind the second place sailor, American Ivan Shestopalov.
All the sailors are allowed to drop their worst race of the regatta following the sixth race so a fair bit of movement occurred after the last race today. 14 year old Cooper will avoid taking risks and attempt to consolidate his position with more top ten finishes when the regatta resumes on Friday.
Ceci Wollmann is the 2nd Team Bermuda sailor in 68th place, followed by her brother Mikey Wollmann in 80th place. Benn Smith is in 111th position while Peter Dill is in the 130th spot.
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