National sailing coach Chuck Millican asked for consistency, and he appears to be getting it.

But it's not the kind he anticipated.

As the Olympic regatta on the increasingly unfriendly waters of Wassaw Sound continued to take a pounding from thunderstorms on day four yesterday the best Star class pair Peter Bromby and Lee White could muster was an 11th place finish to add to the tenth, two ninths and a 20th they registered earlier in the week. And Paula Lewin, in the Europe Dinghy, had to settle for a pair of 15ths, repeating her last-race finish on Wednesday.

Malcolm Smith in Lasers, meanwhile, continued to fight a losing battle in the the sloppy conditions, registering finishes of 42nd and 45th -- his worst so far -- in races five and six.

The result of yesterday's storm-interrupted racing, which saw the Stars complete only one of their two events, was that Bermuda's high hopes of a first Olympic sailing medal going into these Games are now virtually buried.

Bromby and White lie 11th overall on 39 points (net). That's 29 points adrift of leaders Torben Grael and Marcel Ferreira of Brazil, 28 behind Australians Colin Beashel and David Giles and 24 behind defending champions Mark Reynolds and Hal Haenel of the US, who currently occupy the bronze medal position.

Each skipper can throw out two results in the 11-race series, with the current net total reflecting one of those throw-aways -- in Bromby's case the 20th.

But with five races down and just six remaining, it would take an extraordinary recovery to resurrect his medal hopes.

Lewin, too, lost precious ground yesterday and is now placed 16th in her 28-strong fleet, almost certainly too far back to mount a serious challenge.

Smith, while by far the best Laser sailor in Bermuda, had never expected to be a medal contender in an illustrious fleet of 56. But he had harboured hopes of a top half finish, and even that now appears unlikely as he lies in 43rd place overall with five races remaining.

Yesterday's race five for all classes was sailed in winds of between 10 and 12 knots, but as has been the case all week the weather deteriorated by mid-afternoon with the breeze picking up and threatening clouds casting a dark shadow across the Sound.

While race six got underway for the Europes and Lasers, all other classes were called back to the day marina -- a huge floating barge 40 minutes away from race headquarters -- and their events postponed as torrential rain lashed the course.

Those still racing must have wished they too had been recalled as visibility was reduced to a matter of yards. American Courtenay Becker-Day, entering race six of the Europes in second place overall, capsized as she rounded the second mark. And race leader Margriet Matthijsse of the Netherlands, third overall, almost suffered a similar fate.

But both recovered well, Matthijsse registering her second `bullet' of the week and Becker-Dey finishing sixth to remain one of the medal favourites.

Lewin had got off to a wonderful start, crossing the line in fourth place as the wind gusted to 20 knots and six-foot swells tossed the fleet from side to side. But she quickly fell back into what has become an all too familiar mid-fleet position, to finish 15th for the third race in succession.

Bromby and White had been desperate for a fast start in their fifth race of the week, acknowledging that they were giving their key rivals an early and too generous advantage almost every time. But the problem persisted as Italy, Spain, US, Canada, Great Britain, Sweden and Brazil made the early running with Bermuda's pair never getting closer than tenth.

With each class having suffered at least two postponements this week, there was still no word from organisers last night on when or even whether all the races would be rescheduled. Today was set aside as a reserve day for the Lasers and Europes and they will head out for races seven and eight.

And with the Stars now three races behind schedule, they too should sail again today although officials wouldn't confirm as much last night.

Standings in the respective classes after yesterday's racing are now as follows: Bermuda at the Olympics YESTERDAY Sailing STAR CLASS: Peter Bromby/Lee White, race five, 11th; overall 11th.

LASER CLASS: Malcolm Smith, race five, 42nd; race six, 45th; overall 43rd.

EUROPE DINGHY: Paula Lewin, race five, 15th; race six, 15th; overall 16th.

TODAY Track and field MEN'S 100m: Devon Bean, heat 12, 12.55 p.m.; second-round, 7.35 p.m.

MEN'S 400m: Troy Douglas, 8.05 p.m.

TRIPLE JUMP: Brian Wellman, 7.10 Sailing STAR CLASS: Race six, 2 p.m.; race seven, 4 p.m (provisional).

LASER CLASS: Race seven, 2 p.m.; race eight, 4 p.m.

EUROPE DINGHY: Race seven, 2 p.m.; race eight, 4 p.m.

STAR 1 T.Grael/M.Ferreira, Brazil, (1-6-2-7-1) 10 points (net) 2 C.Beashel/D.Giles, Australia (11-1-1-1-8) 11 3 M.Reynolds/H.Haenel, US (3-2-5-5-5) 15 11 P.Bromby/L.White (9-20-9-10-11) 39 LASER 1 R.Scheidt, Brazil (2-9-3-6-1-3) 15 2 B.Ainslie, G. Britain, (27-4-7-2-2-1) 16 3 S.Warkalla, Germany (13-2-2-3-12-4) 23 43 M.Smith (40-31-41-32-42-45) 186 EUROPE 1 K.Roug, Denmark (2-1-3-2-1-2) 8 2 M.Matthijsse, Netherlands (PMS-2-1-10-2-1) 16 3 C.Becker-Dey, US (1-8-2-4-7-6) 20 16 P.Lewin (20-9-6-15-15-15) 60