By Patrick Bean While most of the attention at this year's Omega Gold Cup has centred on and around the bevy of international skippers and their crew, little has been mentioned of the planning and organising which goes into putting on such an event.

However, one who knows very well what it takes to ensure the successful running of an international spectacle of this magnitude is Ben Cesare, vice president of Sail Sports International.

Not that the odd problem does not arise, for Mother Nature can throw a spanner into even the best laid plans. But Cesare and his team of helpers, including company president Scott McLeod, ensure these are kept to a minimum.

Cesare, an accomplished sailor himself who recently won the National Championships of Match Racing and the Prince of Wales trophy racing in his home town, has been a prominent fixture around the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club this week and is easy to pick out...he's the one always with beads of sweat dripping from his forehead.

Still, this 30-year-old Connecticut native -- he now lives in New York -- greets everyone with a smile and doesn't hesitate to spare information to those not quite in tune with the goings on at the week long event. After all public relations is what this event -- and Cesare -- is all about.

And certainly the regatta has benefited from the inclusion of Cesare and Sail Sports International, with both contributing greatly to its rise in prominence from just another sailing tournament to where it is now regarded as one of, if not, the premier event on the match racing calendar.

"It's been fantastic (seeing the growth of the Omega Gold Cup),'' said Cesare, taking a drag from a cigarette during one of the few quiet moments at Albouy's Point. "When Scott started this thing in '89 he found the sponsors, which is the hard part, and got it going and it was pretty small then.

"But now it's huge and encompasses the whole Island. That's our goal, to make it more popular.

"And as for the skippers' side and the sailing world, it's really a source of pride, not only for RBYC, but for Sail Sports, because this is our cornerstone event and all the ideas that we and the club have come up with over the years have allowed us to get the best in the world here and they love the event.'' Cesare said that innovations, such as the on-water judging and not the delayed penalty system, also had helped in propelling the Gold Cup to its lofty standing.

But he noted that it was not their intention to add new wrinkles just for the sake of it and that their goals were long term in making sure the high status is maintained.

"We think it's going to be a long, long, long term thing,'' said Cesare, who made a point of mentioning wife Kim as one of his strongest supporters. "It's the US Open or Wimbledon of sailing, because it's the first event that tried all these innovations and we think it's going to stick around forever, that's our goal.'' And if Ben Cesare has anything to do with it, there's every chance it will.

BEN CESARE -- One of the leading figures behind the scenes at this week's Omega Gold Cup.