Peter Bromby failed to win any of his three races in Hamilton Harbour.

It was a major disappointment for Bromby, competing in the first round of the seven-race qualifier series.

The reigning IOD world champion must win at least three of his four races in today's round robin to qualify for the prestigious match racing championship.

But Walker and crew Scott Simmons, Micky Tatem and Todd Irving sailed to victory in two of their three races.

Competing in his fourth Omega Gold Cup, it was ironic that the group Walker was placed in had been considered less favourable than Bromby's.

Walker faced his toughest three opponents in the round robin. And in an upset beat Sweden's Magnus Holmberg -- ranked ninth in the world. He was also successful against top Swiss Tornado sailor Lorenz Muller.

However, he lost to Canada's Nigel Cochrane, a first-time Gold Cup competitor whom he met in the 1992 Summer Olympics when they raced against each other in the 470 class.

Expressing disappointment afterwards, Walker said: "We should've won the race. But there were just freaky wind shifts out there and we got on the wrong side.'' Walker, delighted with his overall performance, is hoping to win at least three out of his four races today to secure his place in the championship rounds.

"Two would be `iffy', but we'll definitely be in with three or more,'' he said.

Walker's defeat of Holmberg in Group One's first flight was among the day's most exciting races.

After getting off to a good start in the four-leg race, Walker briefly lost his lead due to some tricky manoeuvring on Holmberg's part. But to the delight of spectators on the water and at the Regatta Centre at Albuoy's Point, Walker managed to slip back into the lead. Bromby and crew Dennis Correia, Penny Simmons and Lee White suffered a day of bad starts, penalties and spinnaker snags when Group Two racing got under way around 3 p.m.

Bromby blamed the poor sailing weather for his losses. Though sunny, the winds barely blew above five knots and shifted continuously.

"It was tough conditions out there -- the winds were really freaky,'' he said, adding he was upset over the last penalty the international jury of judges called him on.

"Every day is a fishing day, but not a catching day -- we didn't even get a bite,'' he said at a skippers' Press conference last night. "But we look forward to going out there (today) and hopefully rectifying the situation.'' He was hoping to see four straight wins to secure his place in the championship rounds.

In Flight One, Bromby was paired with Canada's Scott Morgan, a newcomer to the Gold Cup.

Bromby failed to gain the advantage at the start, but lucked out when he fell into a wind puff, which pushed him ahead considerably.

However, Morgan gained ground on the second leg and ended up winning by three or more boat-lengths.

Bromby saw a poor start in Flight Two against Frenchman Thierry Peponnet, a two-time Olympic medallist. Though he managed to gain ground on the first leg, Bromby suffered a major setback when he realised the spinnaker had gone up upside down.

While Peponnet forged ahead, Bromby and crew had to take down the spinnaker and turn it around.

In Flight Three, it may have been local knowledge that allowed Bromby to take advantage of an incoming container ship. He sailed left, alongside the vessel and in its shadow, emerging ahead of his opponent, Dutchman Bram Kochx.

But Bromby's luck soon ran out when he incurred a penalty turn for luffing Kochx past head to wind.

And when Kochx accidentally rounded the wrong mark, which was farther away from the correct one, Bermuda's top sailor was still unable to catch him, encountering more spinnaker problems and falling into bad wind alongside another pair of competitors.

Bromby left it until the final leg downwind to do his 270-degree penalty turn, having hoped for more breeze on that leg and anticipating a smaller circle.

But he could not have had worse luck -- or timing, running afoul of Kochx again while doing the penalty turn less than a minute from the finish line.

Three-time Gold Cup competitor Markus Wieser of Germany emerged as the top skipper in Group One with three straight wins.

Walker faces Wieser today in the last of his four races.

In Group Two, which includes Bromby, the top skippers were Japan's Robert Fry and US Olympic silver medallist Jim Brady, who also each enjoyed three wins.

The championship rounds are expected to begin Wednesday when the four top teams from the round robins meet the eight seeded teams.

TENSE MOMENT -- Blythe Walker, who stole the show in Omega Gold Cup qualifier racing yesterday, fights to gain the lead on top Tornado sailor Lorenz Muller, whom he eventually beat after the Swiss had to do a penalty turn.