the Omega Gold Cup yesterday and saw two skippers lap up this luxury and enjoy perfect outings in the first round of qualifying.

Great Britain's Stuart Childerley and John Cutler of New Zealand emerged as the unbeaten duo, with Childerley scoring a 3-0 sweep in Group One, while Cutler and his band of Kiwis stormed to a 4-0 record to lead Group Two.

Childerley, the 1992 Finn Class European champion and winner at this year's Warsash Olympic Qualifying Series, counted the United States' Steve Flam as well as Larry Lemieux and Scott Morgan, both of Canada, as his day one victims.

Meanwhile, included on Cutler's list of scalps was New Zealand's Chris Dickson, the man tipped by many to win it all. In a thrilling finish, Cutler won by a scant two seconds over his compatriot, for whom he used to design tactics as a member of the crew.

Others surrendering in the face of Cutler's determination were Lorenz Muller (Switzerland), Aussie Neville Wittey and Bermuda's Blythe Walker.

Cutler, the winning tactician for Dickson's 1988, '89 and '91 World Championships of Match Race Sailing, appeared in fine form throughout, a good sign as he prepares to helm the 1995 Nippon Challenge for the upcoming America's Cup.

Many eyes, though, were locked on Dickson, as the former three-time world number one took to the water for his first match-racing regatta in two years.

Dickson did not disappoint, his 3-1 record proving that he remains one of the top skippers in the discipline. And this coming after Dickson, in yesterday's New York Times, had complained off being a bit "stale'' after his extended hiatus.

"It's a little like having to remember how to crawl before I walk, before I jog, before I run,'' Dickson was quoted as saying. "I would presume that match racing has changed a lot. It's a formula, one that we kept moving and modifying.'' However, after the opening narrow loss to Cutler, Dickson broke into a near sprint and showed flashes of the brilliance that has had him painted as the master of the torrents.

Bermuda's Adam Barboza, a virtual match-racing neophyte, experienced first hand the tactical genius possessed by the Kiwi, losing by 33 seconds to the man he noted as one of his sailing idols.

And today another local, Walker, gets the chance to match wits with Dickson as the first round moves toward its conclusion with Group Two attempting to get in three flights during this morning's session, while Group One will try for four in the afternoon.

Barboza and Walker both stand at 2-2 in a two-way tie for the fourth qualifying spot -- of the eight members contained in each group four qualify for the championship round -- just behind Dickson and Wittey (3-1).

Childerley leads Group One, but there remains an intense battle for the next three spots with Bermudian Peter Bromby and three others, Flam, Andy Beadsworth (Great Britain) and David Bedford (Great Britain), locked together at 2-1.

Bromby, who reached the quarter-finals in 1992 won his first race over Lemieux, before being beaten by a mere four seconds by Flam, but came back to extinguish the challenge of David Whelan, winning by 46 seconds.