Peter Bromby had the wind literally taken out of his sails as his chances of retaining the Rolex Miami Olympic Class Regatta evaporated in Florida, USA yesterday.

The defending champion had to settle for finishing in his overnight position of ninth out of 58 competitors in the Star Class as the final day?s sailing on Biscayne Bay was abandoned because of the lack of wind.

That left the 39-year-old Bermudian on 59 points from six races but, interestingly, just eight points adrift of third-place finisher Fredrik Loof of Sweden on 51. American Mark Reynolds won the battle of the Stars with the low score of 37 points.

Regarding yesterday?s cancellation, Bromby admitted it was disappointing not to get a shot at climbing back up the standings, after sliding from fourth place on Wednesday down to ninth after two races on Thursday.

?Everybody had some bad races so we still could have won the regatta if we had gotten two races in today (yesterday),? he noted.

As for his results on Thursday ? 12th followed by 25th ? the Olympics-bound sailor described the former as ?a monumental comeback?, adding that ?we were a tad unlucky and ended up 25th? in the second race.

Overall, he termed his performance ?mediocre? compared to how he had been sailing previously. Still, he wasn?t too perturbed.

?I don?t think we sailed that bad really and I?m not that disappointed with the results. Certainly, we would have liked to have finished higher but it wasn?t really a shocker.

?We knew coming in (to today) that we were capable of finishing ninth as well as we were capable of winning,? pointed out Bromby, who was partnered by Martin Siese in the regatta.

Given his Olympic quest, the Island?s top skipper stressed that ? as great as it is to win such events ? the greater cause comes first.

?This is all preparation for the Games. We?ve won this (Rolex regatta) before so it?s not the end of the world. It?s not like we?ve never won it.?

He revealed his team had made some significant, technical strides in ensuring they were ready for the challenge in Athens this summer.

?We?re pleased from that point of view. We?ve made some inroads and we?re learning more and more about the masts all the time. We?re having a really good look at them and, going forward from here, it?s very positive.

?So this (regatta) has served its purpose in terms of us learning more about the rigs and that?s where we?re trying to make gains between now and the Games.

?At the same time, we?re keeping an eye on the competition and what they?re up to.?

Bromby?s next assignment will be to defend his Bacardi Cup title from March 6-12, also in Miami, Florida. Lee White will be his crew on that occasion.

Meanwhile, Paula Lewin?s Yngling aspirations ended with a frustrating showing of 15th out of 16, with 91 points. She and her crew of twin sister, Peta, and Christine Patton only managed two top-ten finishes in nine races. New Zealander Sharon Ferris won that class with 30 points.

In the Lasers, Brett Wright placed 37th out of 63 skippers with 254 points from nine races.