Bermuda's young sailors signed off in style at the 54th Optimist South American Championship, producing a series of sharp final-round finishes as the regatta drew to a close in Maldonado Bay, Uruguay.
Faced with a solitary race to settle the final standings, the Bermudian fleet capitalised on testing coastal waters to make decisive late strides up the international leaderboard.
Heath Meyers led the charge with a standout performance on the final day of racing. Meyers executed a brilliant tactical race across the bay to cross the line in fourth place, surging 12 places up the overall standings from an overnight 45th to conclude the championship in 33rd position with 106 net points.
Rex Henagulph and Jesse Savage finished locked on 130 net points apiece after solid concluding outings. Henagulph crossed the line 15th to climb two spots into 73rd overall, while Savage took 18th in the finale to wrap up his regatta in 74th, slipping just two places from his starting mark of 72nd.
Further down the fleet, Aaron Riker and Elaine Jones capped their campaigns with top-20 finishes in the final race. Riker placed 19th on the day to rise two places into 131st on 168 net points, closely followed by Jones, who took 20th in the race to finish 133rd overall on 169 net points, climbing one spot from 134th.
Alfie Jansma rounded out an encouraging regatta for Bermuda with an impressive charge of his own. Jansma sailed cleanly to take 12th in the concluding race, gaining six places from his overnight mark of 151st to finish 145th overall with 203 net points.
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