The fourth qualifier in the electrifying America’s Cup e-Series Regatta produced, once again, a desperately close battle at the top with Rocky BDA making a late surge up the rankings to secure his spot at the Grand Final in Barcelona on September 28 and a shot at the €50,000 prize pot on offer.d a trip-of-a-lifetime to Barcelona for the Grand e-Series Final.

RockyBDA’s route to success was a classic come-from-behind, perfectly timed regatta win after a last race nail-biter with any one of three e-Series sailors in with a shout of scooping the top spot on the podium.

Early leader, Ruish, who last week had an unfortunate technical problem with his internet connection and got disconnected in the final race, was the front-runner. Scoring bullets in race one and three, Ruish enjoyed a comfortable nine-point lead going into the final two races whilst RockyBDA sat in a lowly fourth. However the tables were about to turn.

Race four was a thriller, and saw newcomer Marremeister from Sweden score a vital win to go top of the standings but with just 10 points separating the top three, it all came down to race five with all the marbles on the line and any number of different combinations that could seal the overall win.

As it happened, all of the top three sailors were outside of the podium places in the final race with the e-Series sailors almost match-racing each other down the fleet. RockyBDA managed to secure a late fourth place ahead of Ruish in sixth and Marremeister in seventh and on count-back was safe in the top spot.

For RockyBDA it was pure elation and for sure he will be a serious contender in the America's Cup e-Series Grand Final in Barcelona. An outstanding sailor, he campaigned for a spot at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in the Finn Class, which he just missed out on for Bermuda, and now lives in Australia where he emigrated to, some seven years ago.

Currently RockyBDA is a grinder on a TP52 in Sydney and the captain of SSL Team Bermuda in the Star Sailors League, but a back-injury, that forced him out of sailing for a short while, saw him re-take up gaming in his spare time having previously enjkoyed games such as GranTurismo. Picking up the AC e-Series Regatta Game just six weeks ago and using a steering wheel to control the AC40 unlike previous qualified players like Peterzon and BenBengFRA who use a controller, RockyBDA has stormed to success.

We very much look forward to welcoming him to Barcelona – and no doubt he is now something of a gaming legend in the eyes of his five-year-old son!

Congratulations RockyBDA – you smashed it!