FOR those young Bermudians just starting out sailing in the Optimist class, this year's winning America's Cup skipper Ed Baird wants them to know that the sky is the limit. And he always sticks with his philosophy of "it is possible to do tomorrow better than what you did today".

Baird himself started out in the Optimist as a young kid in his native St. Petersburg, Florida.

And from there he went on to become the Laser World Champion in his early 20s and a few years after that the Soling World Champion and then the J-24 World Champion before reaching the pinnacle of his sport ¿ skippering the winning America's Cup boat in Valencia, Spain this past summer.

Baird was chosen to helm Alinghi, the defender of the 33rd America's Cup this year where he came out on top in the final beating New Zealand in Spain.

And next month he will find out whether he has won the coveted title of ISAF World Sailor of the Year for 2007 ¿ and it will not come as a surprise in sailing circles if he takes that award as well.

Baird, who has sailed and visited Bermuda numerous times, was back this week competing in the King Edward VII Gold Cup in Hamilton Harbour.

He said of his early years in the sport: "I started out in what was then technically called the Clear Water Pram ¿ it was the grandfather of the Optimist which is the perfect boat (to start in). The Opti gives the kids the sensation of acceleration and they are sailing by themselves. They have to figure it all out and pay attention to the way the other boats are going ¿ it is really a good challenge. It is great for kids to be in a boat alone in the beginning because they get such a great sense of accomplishment when they go out and come back in and realise they did OK."

As with all sports, it is when kids get into their teens that it can be a problem of holding on to them and keeping their interest. Baird said: "It was harder then that it is now. Today there is a lot more opportunities than it was then for teenagers to be involved in the sport. One of the great things now is the advent of high school sailing. A lot of teams come together to practice and then they go out and race each other on the weekends.

"And also as a group there is a tremendous amount of socialising and that is what you need. Also, unlike when I was younger, there is now a lot more young ladies involved and that tends to hold the interest of the young men! There is the sailing and then they enjoy the overall social pleasure of it as well as the racing and before you know it you are hooked ¿ you have learned a lot and you end up being a lifelong sailor."

A few months ago Baird was in charge of a 17-man crew on Alinghi. This week he is skippering the four-man IOD at the Gold Cup. Of the difference he said: "As far as getting the boat around the course, sailing is sailing. But as far as accuracy and technique it is quite hard. It has been one year since I did one of these circuit events. It is a different thought process you have to use on the water and you have to make decisions quite quick (in the IOD). Things can change very quickly in the IOD. In the America's Cup there is always a time lag for a sail change or deciding on a manauover ¿ you have to make sure everyone is prepared for it and all the steps are taken. Here you just do it instantly.

"In the IOD you make more decisions as a skipper whereas in the Cup you have four or five people giving a lot of input of what is going on. It is just dividing the labour out more. But you also have a lot of manual tasks on board which requires a lot of people ¿ different people step in at different times to help with the decision making. Here (at the Gold Cup) it is all up to the four of us. We have to communicate well and get the job done."

While Baird spends his time at the big match racing events around the world, he also has a wealth of experience of sailing in huge fleets ¿ hence his world titles in the Laser, Soling and J-24 classes.

"There were 350 boats at the Laser Worlds," the 49-year-old said of that 1980 event when he was 22 years old. "Now (I race) one on one." But he said there is a crossover between the two different types of racing. In a big fleet Baird believes that the sailor must look at the various groups within that fleet and not concentrate on all the boats individually.

"Try and think about groups within the fleet as the boat you are match racing against and try to stay ahead of that group or try to catch up ¿ wherever you are on the racecourse. It narrows it down from the overwhelming concept of the huge fleet. Then of course when you are trying to win a race and another boat is as well then you are basically match racing. You just have to be cautious that you do not get so excited about match racing that you forget about the other guys."

Winning the World title in the J-24 class in the 1980s was a bit of a surprise for him. "We were using the J-24 as a way to train and practice for the Soling and we went and won the Worlds. That was out of the blue ¿ we actually were trying to prepare for a Soling regatta."

After that Baird got into bigger and bigger boats.

He also won the Rolex Yachtsman of the Year award in 1995 and is a three time World Match Racing Champion and has won five other world sailing championships. He holds victories in 18 major championships, including three wins in the Knickerbocker Cup and two in the Nippon Cup and is the only American ever to reach number one on the ISAF World Match Racing Rankings.

Ironically he has never won the Gold Cup ¿ something he hopes to do this year.

With the America's Cup boats seemingly getting more high tech each time out, Baird was asked whether there is a limit.

He said: "The sport is just pushing forward. I am always amazed ¿ it is like anything technology oriented, video games or any kind of vehicle. You think they cannot possibly think of anything more than this . . . and then they do. There is always a better way to make it, better and different materials. The Cup rules tend to limit you on those (new) things and then when they have been used enough in other places they are allowed."

And he also had words of praise for Bermudian Peter Shrubb who was only one of five umpires during the America's Cup final. "I know Peter well. He did a great job as we all tried to do with the Cup. We all try to do that with our teams and the umpire team is no different."