Bermuda Open and National Championships

This news belongs to

Bermuda Open & National Championship

Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club, Bermuda

HAMILTON, Bermuda (November 29, 2009)

Racing in the 2009 PricewaterhouseCooper Bermuda Optimist Open and National Championship concluded on Sunday with six races in perfect conditions on Bermuda's Great Sound, with brilliant blue skies and a steady 8 to 12 knot SW breeze. This was in sharp contrast to the conditions on Saturday, when only one race was completed as winds increased from 20 to 25 knots at the start to 30 to 35 knots at the finish with gusts to 45 knots.

Thirty two boats competed in the Championship Fleet, 17 Bermudians and 15 visiting American sailors. Bermudian Sam Stan finished just one point behind overall winner Roger Dorr, to be declared 2009 Bermuda Optimist National Champion. Antonio Bailey was 7th overall and second Bermudian, with Cecilia Wollmann 8th overall and third Bermudian. Adele Whitmeyer finished fourth overall and top female.

The event was hosted by the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club (RHADC) and was a component of the 2009 International Optimist Dinghy Association (IODA) South American Championship Trials, used to select the team to represent Bermuda in Uruguay in 2010. Bermuda’s sailors, who are aged between 8 and 15, come out of the local club programmes and also the Waterwise programme. The unique Waterwise programme introduces sailing and water skills to all Bermuda’s middle school students. This year 300 eleven year olds in Government Middle Schools learned to sail as part of their academic curriculum.

Matilda Nicholls, the youngest sailor

Kenza Wilkes ahead of Nicholas Seise and Matilda Nicholls

Green fleeters

The Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association thanks PricewaterhouseCoopers for sponsoring the Championship for the second consecutive year and for many years of support by the donation of auditing services. BODA also thanks Bermuda Container Line for donating the transport of the container of charter boats, and numerous other invaluable supporters.

| Results |

For more information about the PricewaterhouseCoopers 2009 Bermuda Optimist Open and National Championship visit BODA web site: www.BODA.bm