Next to boxer Clarence Hill's bronze in Montreal 24 years ago, Peter Bromby and Lee White's fourth place finish in sailing's Star Class will rank as Bermuda's best-ever Olympic result.

And while skipper Bromby would dearly have loved to have added a Games medal to his already considerable collection of sailing silverware, there was no hiding his delight or sense of relief after Saturday's dramatic final race.

A brilliant fourth just behind gold medallists USA and silver medallists Great Britain -- he was running third until the dying stages -- wrapped up fourth overall, and that was all Bromby needed to silence one of his sailing buddies back home.

"You know the best thing about this result?'' grinned Bromby. "I won't have to listen to Conrad Soares any more.'' "I'm looking forward to seeing him. This should keep him quiet.'' Soares along with crew Penny Simmons and skipper Kirk Cooper previously held bragging rights as the Island's best Olympic sailors, having won a Dragon Class race at the Tokyo Games in 1964 where they eventually finished fifth.

"He never lets me forget that every time I see him,'' added Bromby. "So now I don't have to listen to him any more and from that point of view this is a pretty good result.'' In a more serious vein, the 36-year-old admitted it was the frustration of having failed to challenge at previous Olympics, knowing that he had beaten many of his rivals in other regattas, that motivated his latest success.

"Like I've said, we've had a couple of not so pleasing results at the Games before and unfortunately it only comes around every four years, so we've had to wait patiently.

"Now I think Lee and I have kind of got the monkey off our back in the sense that we've never had a good result at the Games.

"I've said all along that we were capable of challenging for a medal. But this was the first result that might make some believers in me.

"Lee and I are tremendously pleased, we've worked hard for a long time. And to be quite honest this time around it wasn't just Lee and I, we had two guys around us, John and Mothy (coaches John MacCausland and Steve Jarvin) who have been just superb. I couldn't have asked for two better guys to help us.'' Crew White, who had announced his Olympic retirement after a 13th place finish in Atlanta four years ago but was persuaded by Bromby to reconsider, now believes that was one of the best decisions he ever made.

"We're extremely happy,'' he said. "If coming here somebody had said you can have fourth, we'd have taken it, considering our world rankng and performances over the last year.

"We sailed extremely well all week and finished on a high note, which was important.

"This is definitely one of the most competitive fleets around. All 16 boats had to qualify through world championships, so they're the best Star sailors in the world.

"We had a little bit of a letdown in races seven through 10, but we hung in there and fourth place overall is nothing to be ashamed of.'' Sailing team manager Timmy Patton said Bromby and White's result had taken the sport to a new level.

"We've had some great performances in the past at these Games, notably Kirk Cooper, and Alan Burland and Chris Nash (fifth in 1984 in Tornados) but I believe this is our best finish.

"We're very, very proud and pleased for Peter and Lee and the sport of sailing in Bermuda.

"These guys were up against just the very best in the world and we're just enormously impressed that they were able to play on the same field with the best in the world.

"They sailed a brilliant last race. That sort of sailing all week would have got them a certain medal.

"There was a huge amount of pressure on them. Five or six boats could have finished in fourth place overall after today's race, so it was a huge accomplishment. All of Bermuda should be terribly proud.'' Like Bromby, Patton also heaped praised on the team's two overseas coaches.

"One of the reasons we've done so well is that we've had tremendous support on the ground here and on the water with John MacCausland, who was a tremendously fine Star sailor himself, and Mothy who has helped us hugely with local knowledge,'' added Patton.

"And we've had other friends around the place helping to fix the boat when it was broken. That's just made the whole thing a lot more comfortable for the crew so that they didn't have to worry about those things.

"It's been a marvellous team effort.'' Peter Bromby: close to medal