yesterday when he placed 11th during the fifth race of the Etchells World Championship in Brisbane, Australia.

The end result was a titanic jump in the overall standings, as Patton went from 42nd to 29th, with the sixth and final race set for today.

Despite sailing in winds "blowing the spots off a dog'' Patton and his two-man crew of Brian Hillier of Bermuda and Aussie Nick Kingsmill were finally able to get their game-plan working to near perfection.

After suffering a number of bad starts throughout the week a good one greeted the trio on this occasion. Their lone flaw occurred during the second reaching leg when, while placed second, they went to the wrong mark and lost ground.

Patton, sailing in Morning Glory , recovered to move back into contention. He constantly gained ground during the legs to windward, but struggled downwind.

"The sea conditions here are just horrendous with high winds and very big waves, nothing you'll ever see in Bermuda...it's a confused sea,'' said Patton.

"My crew has done a fantastic job.'' He added that they were satisfied with the performance to date and would be seeking to overtake a few more opponents in today's finale.

America's Cup skipper John Bertrand won yesterday's race to move into a first place tie with compatriot Ian Brown. Colin Beashel is third, while American Dennis Connor lurks closely in fourth.