Local youth Sunfish sailors Mackenzie Cooper and Benn Smith represented Bermuda at the 2011 Sunfish Youth North American Championships, hosted by the Barrington Yacht Club in Bartrington, RI.
The pair competed in the youth competition consisting of 15 boats and the skippers must not have turned 19 before Jan 1 2012.
The fleet experienced some strong winds on the first day of the regatta and moderate breeze on the second day.
After seven races Cooper finished second overall with four consecutive second place finishes an eighth place finish in race five, this was followed by a Did Not Finish in race six which was due to gear failure before coming back to win the final race of the regatta. Cooper was and was able to drop sixth race to finish with 17 points.
Benn Smith, son of former World and North American Champion Malcolm Smith did very well finishing with 61 points (6,12, 9,12,13,10,12) sailing against a much older field, finishing in eleventh place overall. Smith recorded two top ten finishes including a sixth and ninth place finish.
Smith is no stranger to heavy winds after winning the Comet Long Distance race last month crewing for skipper Rockal Evans in "survival conditions".
