2010 News

Diogo Pereira Wins RenRe Junior Gold Cup

Diogo Pereira, 14, of Portugal won theThe Renaissance Re Junior Gold Cup by eight points

Ben Ainslie and Diogo Pereira

over Odei van Aanholt of the Netherland Antilles, 30 to 38. Pereira had a strong regatta throughout the week. The four-day international Opti class regatta wrapped up Sunday after the twelfth and final race sailed on the Argo Group Gold Gup course in front of a huge spectator fleet on Hamilton harbor.Fourteen-year old Bermuda sailor Sam Stan nabbed third place.

The Renaissance Re Junior Gold Cup is one of the key events for young Optimist sailors in Bermuda and for those international teams who receive an invitation to come to Bermuda from overseas it is the first time they have ever been away from home. Some of the international sailors are shy but such is not the case for this years outstanding sailor and overall winner Pereira who also won the hearts of many Bermudians with his sailing skills and confidence. Pereira, who jokingly refers to himself as "the special one" as a reference to one of Portugal's great athletes, led the 31-strong Optimist fleet for most of the event with enough points to win the Renaissance Re Junior Gold Cup.

"I am very excited to win and very excited to be here," said Pereira. He gestured about his strategies after the race with hamburger in hand while waiting for the autograph of Argo Group Gold Cup winner Ben Ainslie. "When I went out on the race course today, I just kept telling myself I cannot be nervous. I have to focus on the race and that is what I did." After finishing Sunday's race, Pereira and his coach draped the Portuguese flag across the sail of his Optimist and sailed a victory lap.

For this year's group of Junior Gold Cup sailors, there is always a series of firsts. For these young individuals, it was the first time they had ever been in an international regatta, the first time sailing in a race in front of a field of spectators and the first time - perhaps - overcoming fears to finish a race.

"Sailing is a complex game and it is my job as their coach to help them understand that they need to perform at this level," said Paul Doughty, an ISAF senior instructor and the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club's development coach. "It is a performance and how well you are playing. Everyone needs some coaching and we are basically building them into good racing sailors." Three Bermuda sailors were in the top 10 overall in an event that featured 31 sailors from 14 countries overall. Sam Stan finished in third place, Antonio Bailey in eighth place and Rory Caslin who finished 10th.

"The Bermuda sailors were great and I was particularly impressed by Rory Caslin who kind of came out of nowhere and took the regatta by storm with top finishes throughout including second place in today's final race," said regatta chairman Somers Cooper. "The weather for this regatta was perfect with 12 to 18 knots on the Great Sound and our sailors did well with Sam Stan qualifying for the Optimist Worlds in December. It is serious racing out there on the water, but also when the kids get off the water they have already begun building friendships with kids from around the world and these friendships last a lifetime." -- Laurie Fullerton

Diogo Pereira regains the lead in RenRe Junior Gold Cup

A grueling 6 race day in excellent sailing conditions left a lot of young sailors tired but also oct11_renrejunior_s saw a great battle emerge for the top spot.

Portuguese sailor Diogo Pereira regained the top spot finishing the day with a slim one point lead over Netherlands Antilles' Odile van Aanholt. Bermuda's Sam Stan sits eleven points back in 3rd. Rounding out the top five is Chris Williford from the USA in fourth and Great Britain's Scott Wallis in 5th. Winds in the Great Sound were steady from the North at 11-16 knots.

Pereira and van Aanholt were neck and neck most of the day. Diogo sailed consistently well, scoring four top 3 finishes while Odile won two of the 6 races. Both had an unusually poor race in the 5th race of the day but both sailors used the race as their second discard of the regatta.

A showdown match race is set for the finale on Sunday which will take place on the Argo Gold Cup course in Hamilton Harbour. The other competitors will almost be non existent in the two sailors' minds as Pereira will try to protect his lead while van Aanholt will attempt to use her experience from sailing in last year's regatta to put her ahead of the Portuguese sailor.

The local sailors sailed well with Sam Stan carding two first place finishes for the day. Stan is firmly on the podium in third place. The second Bermudian is Antonio Bailey in 8th place. Third is Rory Caslin in 12th, followed by Ellie Wollmann in 15th and Chase Cooper in 16th. The RenRe Jr Gold Cup will also be used as Bermuda's World Championship qualifier. The top five local sailors will be invited to join the team for the IODA World Championships in Malaysia in December.

Complete results available at www.bermudagoldcup.com/renre-jr-gold-cup-mainmenu-57/2010-results.html

A Perfect Day on Hamilton Harbour

Perfect sailing conditions enabled the 2010 RenRe Jr. Gold Cup organizers to easily complete oct9_2010_junior_s 4 races today with time to spare. Northerly winds ranging from 14 - 18 knots made for quick races and the Race Committee ended up lengthening the course 3 times over the course of the day. They have subsequently amended the Sailing Instructions to allow more that 4 races per day to make up some of the races which were lost on the first day.

Odile van Aahnholt from the Netherlands Antilles (Curacao) was the shining star of the day with a fantastic four races scoring 1, 7, 1, 2 for the day. The "Dutch Pixie" sits in the lead with a slim 1 point margin over Diogo Pereira from Portugal. Christopher Williford from the USA is in third, 3 points off the leader while Rasmus Rosengren from Sweden is fourth. Local Favorite Sam Stan rounds out the top 5 and the podium is wide open with all of the top 10 able to utilize Saturday's enhanced 6 race schedule to make their move.

The local sailors challenged the visitors in the 31 boat fleet with some great sailing. The top 5 are Sam Stan in 5th, Antonio Bailey in 8th, Rory Caslin in 12th, Ellie Wollmann in 15th and Chase Cooper in 16th. Bermuda's sailors are using this regatta as their trials for choosing the 2010 World Championship Team so they are all fighting hard.

Saturday's forecast has the wind from the North at 10 - 15 knots which should bring another fine day of racing.

Complete results are available at http://www.bermudagoldcup.com/renre-jr-gold-cup-mainmenu-57/2010-results.html

Challenging First Day for RenRe Junior Gold Cup

The first day of the Jr Gold Cup was challenging for the race organizers as the the wind came and went along with the rain showers.

The first attempt at a race was foiled during the last windward beat as the wind disappeared to a point where it no longer became a fair contest.

After a bit of waiting (and swimming) another race was started around 1pm with 6 - 8 knot winds from the SE. After a general recall the black flag was raised to keep sailors behind the line for a clean start. The favoured pin end of the start line created a fair bit of traffic and USA's Duncan Williford found himself over the line early. He retired at the windward mark in first place once he was informed of his infringement.

At the completion of Race 1, Portugal's Diogo Pereira was victorious while Rasmus Rosengren from Sweden was second. Frederik Rask from Demark was third, closely followed by Bermuda's Ceci Wollmann who sailed a fantastic final beat. Rounding out the top five was Chris Williford from the USA. Local sailors Sam Stan, Rory Caslin and Chase Cooper all had top ten finishes and were 6, 7 and 9 respectively.

A second race was attempted but abandoned after the wind disappeared for the remainder of the afternoon.

Racing continues today through Sunday.

Full Results at argogroupgoldcup.com/images/stories/renredocs/juniorday1.pdf

North American Twins Pre-Race Top Rankers in Bermuda’s Renre Junior Gold Cup

The North American champion and runner-up and two other national champions head the group invited to sail against Bermuda’s best Optimist Dinghy sailors. See the Skipper Bios section.

Hamilton, Bermuda (September 29, 2010): A pair of US twins, Chris and Duncan Williford, look like the pre-regatta choices of the Optimist Dinghy sailors to beat in the 2010 Renaissance Reinsurance Junior Gold Cup. With four days of racing in this international invitational Opti regatta, three days are scheduled for Bermuda’s Great Sound October 7th through October 9th. The regatta finishes on October 10th in Hamilton Harbour during an intermission in the finals of the Argo Group Gold Cup.

The Williford twins have great records in the Optimist class. Chris, among a handful of podium performances, has won the North American Championship two years in a row, 2009 and 2010. He was 1st in the 2009 Orange Bowl and 1st in the 2010 Yacht Club Argentina Race Week. Duncan came 2nd in the 2010 North American Championship, 3rd in the 2009 Orange Bowl, 2nd in the 2010 Yacht Club Argentina race week, and 2nd in the 2010 ScotiaBank Regatta in St. Thomas. They were 2nd and 4th in the USA World Team trials. Chris was 2nd in the 2008 Junior Gold Cup.

Kiwi Olivia McKay will press the twins and is expected to be top girl. Olivia was top girl in the New Zealand Opti Championship and 3rd place overall. She was also 3rd in the 2008 Junior Gold Cup, right behind Chris Wiliford.

Other girls are Meredith Megarry, two-time Canadian National Champion, and Justina Pacheco from the Dominican who was fourth female at the North American Championship and 19th overall. She was also 11th at the ScotiaBank Regatta and 3rd female there. Another repeat competitor is 12-year-old Odile van Aanholt from the Netherland Antilles who was top girl and 6th overall at Kiel Golden Optimist regatta in Germany.

Recent Danish National Champion Frederik Rask, who has been on fire recently, will also be in the medal hunt. Frederik was 1st in the Lake Garda Meeting, defeating 646 EU competitors, 1st in the Polish Open Championships, 2nd in the Belgium International Opti Spring Regatta and 6th in the Dutch Youth Regatta.

The Renaissance Re Junior Gold Cup attracts a spectacular group of young international sailors to compete against Bermuda’s top Opti sailors. Bermuda National Champion Sam Stan should expect a top five finish here. Sam was 14th at the North American Championships, 19th at the German National Championship and 33rd at the South American Championships. The Wollmann girls, Ceci and Ellie have competed overseas this summer and produced top finishes at the Canadian National Championships of 8th and 12th respectively.

Almost all overseas Opti sailors have now confirmed their invitations. Of the fourteen confirmed sailors, thirteen are on their respective Worlds Team for the 2010 IODA World Championships in Malaysia in December. Six are their nation's champion with a ranking of #1 and seven participated in last year’s IODA (International Optimist Dinghy Association) Worlds. Four of them finished in the top third.

The skipper’s ages range from 11-15yrs with four of the international sailors being girls and we have twelve different nations from North America, Europe, Oceania and the Caribbean represented.

The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club is proud to host this incredibly talented group of young sailors in Bermuda and thank Renaissance Re for making it possible.

The Renaissance Re Junior Gold Cup web pages may be reached by clicking on the logo or through the RenRe Jr Gold Cup menu tab on the Argo Group Gold Cup home page www.argogroupgoldcup.com

About RenaissanceRe
RenaissanceRe is a leading provider of property catastrophe reinsurance and insurance worldwide. Founded in Bermuda in 1993, the Company has gained recognition for excellence in the industry through disciplined underwriting, capital management expertise, sophisticated risk modeling and responsive client service. RenaissanceRe is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ‘RNR’. For more information, please visit our website: www.renre.com

For Argo Group Gold Cup & RennaissanceRe Jr Gold Cup Media Contact:
Talbot Wilson, Talbot Wilson & Associates, Inc.
Phone: +1 (850)432-8170 Fax: +1 (850)432-8050 Mobile: +1 (850)217-7138
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For RenRe Junior Gold Cup contact:
P. Somers Cooper, Regatta Chairman
Phone: 441-295-3961 ext 268 Direct: 441-278-3432 Fax: 441-295-2961
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For RenaissanceRe Contact:
Giselle Baksh
Phone: 441- 239-4814 Mobile: 441- 525-7209
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For Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association contact:
Anthony Bailey, President
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