How strong a medal contender is Peter Bromby in these Pan-Am Games? Ask Bermuda's sailing manager Chuck Millican and he'll tell you he'll be bitterly disappointed if Bromby and crew Lee White, Blythe Walker and Dennis Correia don't at least make the final four.

Sailing in the J24 class, the only event here to be decided by match racing, Bromby is expected to put his extensive international experience to good use.

Few in the 12-boat fleet, according to Millican, should be able to match Bromby's boat speed when the first of 11 preliminary elimination races get underway off Mar del Plata's Club Nautica early this morning.

Confidence indeed. But Millican is adamant that the Bermudian's match racing expertise lifts him a notch above all but a handful of his Games rivals.

"There are probably four to five teams here who are pretty competent,'' noted Millican. "But there's a lot who are here just for the ride.

"We were out there yesterday with a couple of teams and it was obvious they were really naive in match racing. Good sailors all of them -- but not in the same class as Peter in this kind of racing.

"The strong countries are Bermuda, Virgin Islands, USA and Canada. They have a huge advantage and I think those are the four you'll find in the semi-finals.

"The winner of the elimination series gets to choose who he sails against in the semi-finals, and that's going to be a big advantage. It doesn't necessarily guarantee a place in the final, but it's just shy of that.'' Of Bromby's disappointing 25th place finish in the Bacardi Cup Star class regatta in Florida over the weekend -- one of his worst finishes in international events during the last year -- Millican says little significance should be attached to that result.

"Peter was on a training schedule to get his weight and his crew's weight down in order to weigh in for this event and therefore he sacrificed a lot of weight in the Bacardi Cup which was crucial,'' explained the manager. "It's not surprising he didn't do as well as he wanted.

"Weight is very important in the J24s. They have a limit here, a maximum for all the boats and we were 18 to 20 pounds over that limit two weeks ago.

Yesterday we weighed in eight pounds under, so they've done a great job of getting their weight down, but it did mean sacrificing their performance in Florida.'' As for the rest of Bermuda's sailing team, Millican says he also has high hopes.

"We've all been working hard over the last couple of years and brought ourselves up to a level where we can compete on even terms with most of these countries,'' he insists.

"As for medal hopes? I'd like to say everybody. But in realistic terms -- well, certainly Peter has a very solid shot at a medal. And I think the Europe Dinghy (Paula Lewin) could actually be our best shot.

"Stevie Dickinson (Snipes) is going very well and today we'll find out just where he stands. If he can hang in with the South Americans he'll be OK. We know with the North Americans he's very competitive.

"Certainly Malcolm Smith (Laser), having won the Sunfish Worlds, should be in contention. But as he said himself, it's a different story here. He'll be hard pressed if it's breezy. But I think he'll be a medal contender if it's 10 knots or under.

"Elizabeth Walker (Laser Radial) the same thing. The Argentinian girl is very good. She finished second in the Mid Winters two weeks ago and Elizabeth finished fourth. But Elizabeth had two finishes in the top three in light air and the Argentinian the same in heavy air. So her chances rest strictly on the weather conditions.'' Walker, herself, agrees with that assessment. "I have to hope for calmer weather, especially because of my weight,'' she says. "I'm about 20 pounds too light.

"The conditions here, at least today, are not what we're familiar with in Bermuda. I've never sailed in big seas like this, but it'll be fun if nothing else.'' Meanwhile, the administrative headaches that have plagued all those involved with sailing in the build-up to these Games, continued yesterday.

A meeting last night was called at which it was hoped most of the glitches could finally be ironed out.

Millican said he was particularly upset that certain rules had been abused.

"We were told beforehand we couldn't bring boats here early to check out the water, currents etc. But when we arrived we found other countries had their own boats here. So we are really behind a bit.

"Whether we should have been down here two or thee weeks ago to find out what was happening, I don't know. But I know the US didn't bring a boat because they were told the same as us. It's made life a little difficult.'' FLAG WAVE -- Sailor Malcolm Smith carries the Bermuda flag during opening ceremonies of the Pan-American Games in Argentina on Saturday night. Bermuda's sailors practise are in the spotlight today.