Up and coming sailor, Chase Cooper carried the Bermuda flag all the way to Workum, Netherlands to compete in the Dutch Youth Regatta.
Cooper finished 57th out of 465 Optimist sailors from twenty countries on the chilly waters of the IJsselmeer, a large man-made lake in central Holland. The Dutch Youth Regatta is the largest multi class youth regatta in Europe. It gathers more than 900 competitors and covers eight youth classes on four different course areas.
Cooper struggled on the first day as he was got used to the breezy, cool and choppy conditions, but sailed better on the last two days, scoring five top 10 finishes over the final seven races. Cooper joined forces with Canadian National Champion, Justin Vittecoq, the sole competitor from his country. The two sailors were coached by international Optimist coach, Pablo Weber.
Cooper, a recent winner of the Department of Youth and Sport's Youth Scholarship Award, was using the regatta for valuable training and top level experience as he prepares for the IODA North American Championships here in Bermuda in July and the IODA World Championships later that same month in Italy.
The regatta was won by Swiss sailor Damian Suri. Suri was in Bermuda last October competing in the RenRe Jr Gold Cup were he placed third overall.
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