Long Distance Comet Race record holder Stevie Dickinson threw down the gauntlet yesterday and challenged bitter rival Rudy Bailey to put his money where his mouth is.

The two perennial rivals from opposite ends of the Island have dominated the local comet fleet over the past two decades and are again heavily favoured to claim top honours in next week?s 61st Annual Long Distance Race from St.George?s Harbour to the Great Sound.

And much will be at stake.

Two-time defending champion Bailey is poised to become the first skipper behind the late Alton Millett to win three consecutive Edward Cross Cups on two separate occasions.

Dickinson, who has yet to achieve a hat-trick of titles, surpassed Millett?s record for the most wins (11) in 2000 and has to date 13 victories as a skipper and one as a crew (2001).

Dickinson is also the youngest skipper ever to have won the prestigious regatta, having done so in 1976 as a 16-year-old onboard .

In 1986 and 1994 Bailey denied Dickinson from winning three straight Long Distance titles and earlier this week the West End Sail Boat skipper fired a shot across his rival?s bow, claiming that he would never be able to win three races on the trot.

?What he (Bailey) says to me means nothing and what I have achieved in the class, I did it before he did and it?s going to take him a long time to catch me,? Dickinson said.

?He?s trying to achieve everything I?ve done in this class, and he hasn?t caught me up yet. But enough is enough because the way he talks is as though he?s the greatest. But there?s a lot of fellows he will have to beat on Monday, including me.?

Over the years Bailey has been known to throw out comments to intimidate his rivals ? a tactic Dickinson dismissed as being ?arrogant?.

?It?s not a mental thing for him . . . it?s just arrogance really,? he said. ?The way he talks sometimes sounds very stupid and this stuff about three sailors and Gladwin (Lambert) to win the race is only going to put pressure on someone from his own club. Now why would anybody want to put pressure on their own club mate??

As for the hat-trick, Dickinson replied: ?The year he got his last hat-trick (1988) I didn?t sail that race and I don?t need to do a hat-trick . . . I?ve already broken the record (11 wins).

?I don?t mind his little mind games but you have to give and take. So don?t walk around like you are the hero of the whole class yet when a regatta like Flag Pole to Flag Pole comes around you are afraid to come and take some licks.?

Like Bailey, Dickinson will wait until the last minute to decide his crew, something weather conditions will ultimately dictate.

He added: ?I really enjoy sailing the race and being as competitive as I can. And as far as the outcome of the race is concerned . . . if I win, then so be it. But if I don?t, then I?ll try again next year. And I wish everybody good luck.?