HE has sailed in four Olympics and following his disappointment in Athens this past summer many could be forgiven if they thought that Bermuda's premier sailor, Peter Bromby, would call it quits.

However the 40-year-old, who became involved with the sport at seven years old more by accident than design, is planning on being in China come the 2008 Olympics. In fact he believes he has "two more Olympics left in me".

But first he has to take care of business which will require a break from the sport for about a year.

"I plan on taking 2005 off and then in January of 2006 I will start planning to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics," said Bromby this week.

"I am just about to break ground on a house and I cannot see myself competing full time next year as well as overseeing the building of a house. I don't think I could do either one justice. I also have some new guys working for me (in his trucking business) so I have to stay pretty close to home while I get everything up to speed."

Bromby may do the occasional international outing next year depending on how well things are going. "I might charter a boat for the Bacardi Cup (in Miami) if I like the way things are going with the house. I will basically be going down there and having a little bit of fun."

But he also knows how important it is for him to stay in touch with the class and sailors. "I want to keep and eye on what everybody's up to. I want to know what changes are happening and what new equipment is being used. It is important to know about that or you get left behind."

He also plans on sailing in the local Etchell class next year.

Bromby owned two Star boats which he is in the process of selling. And to demonstrate how serious he is about going for a spot on the 2008 Olympic team, he said: "When the cheques come in from selling the boats, I will put a deposit on a new Star."

He knows that a year off in this highly competitive class will be a set back. "I will have to work extra hard when I start up again because all these guys are sailing and competing full time. But the good thing is that I will not be coming back completely blind. I know the boat and I know about where all the regattas are." Bromby had a terrible start to the Athens Olympics when major equipment on his Star broke in the first race. In the end he managed to climb back into the top 10 finishing in eighth place. Before the Games he felt he had a strong chance to grab a medal, especially after finishing in fourth place at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

Asked if his trusty crewmembers, Lee White and Martin Siese, will also return for the Beijing Olympic campaign in January of 2006, Bromby said: "They are both going through the thought process that I am going through now. An Olympic campaign is a lot of work ? far more than anyone realises. I have been doing this since the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 ? actually for three years before that which was when I started the Barcelona campaign. This is going on for 16 years now ? it is a way of life. I am finding myself being amazed at how grounded I am right now. Before I barely had my clothes unpacked from my suitcase before I was off to another regatta. Now I have been home since the Athens Games ? I haven't been anywhere. And to be honest I haven't really missed it. Campaigning is hard ? it's all business. Someday I would like to have someone come along with us and see exactly what we do. We fly into the place ? hitch the boat up to the van and drive for miles and miles catching a little sleep on the way. Get to the regatta, unhitch the boat and start putting it together. Get some sleep and the next day start sailing. At the end of the regatta, knock down the boat, attend the prizegiving and then drive to the next event. It is not necessarily a fun thing. It is very demanding."

If Bromby gets to the 2008 Olympics he would like to be joined by some of the younger sailors who have profited from the junior sailing programme in Bermuda.

"For years our junior sailing programme was more of a baby sitting service. But since about 1990 we have changed that and our programme is on the cutting edge. You have some very good youngsters now and hopefully we will start to see them coming into the senior ranks which is a bit thin in Bermuda. Hopefully all the work which has been put into the junior programme will start to pay off. We have some world class junior sailors in Bermuda now. But there is a big step up to becoming a world class senior sailor. It remains to be seen how these youngsters will fare coming into the senior ranks but we are counting on them."

The Optimist dinghy programme in Bermuda, and around the world, has made a big difference in swelling the junior ranks, said Bromby.

"The problem is what do you do beyond the Optimist. The Laser is usually too much for those coming out of the Optimist and then you have the Byte class but that is not supported by all the clubs which the Optimist is.

"The Byte is basically a junior Laser ? it is an intermediate step. The step from Opti to the Laser is a huge step. The other problem with the Opti is that 50 percent of the kids will physically outgrow the boat before they have the mental capacity to win a world championship."

Bromby is also hoping that more Bermuda youngsters will take advantage of getting a sailing scholarship at US universities.

"Our juniors are very good. You only have to go out and watch them race in the Great Sound. They are cut from a different cloth. But they still have a long way to go when they step up to the senior ranks. One of the things the youngsters need to be made aware of is the difference of competing as a junior and competing as a senior ? it is chalk and cheese. But they have to start somewhere and they certainly show a lot of promise.

"Compared to when I was young, they are far ahead. The head start these youngsters have now is a lot. I got into sailing not be design but more by fluke. There was no programme to teach us to sail as such at our club (Sandys Boat Club) ? there was White's Island. But, while not knocking it, White's Island was just as much about social activities as about sailing. It was there to make sure you had fun and the sailing was just part of it.

"We grew up using a Sunfish as transportation and to go fishing with. As a nine-year-old we used to go out all day. Nowadays your parents would probably be locked up for abandoning their children! We would be a couple of miles off Dockyard in a Sunfish!"

And when he first started competing Bromby was usually found trailing the fleet.

"We used to race on Sundays ? about 18 to 20 Sunfishes in Mangrove Bay. I was seven years old and I used to finish last every weekend. But as time went on I got better and I got bigger physically and by the time I was 13 I was beating the adults.

"The kids today now have a structured programme. They have after-school practise, national coaches, physical work. It is way ahead and it should be because the rest of the world are doing that too. We are on the cutting edges with juniors now."

Bromby himself was one of those to get the junior programme to take a more professional approach.

"Although I haven't been involved with the programme for quite some time, back in the early 1990s myself and Paul Fisher and a few others started helping out the kids a few evenings a week (at Sandys Boat Club). And although we had no money and were using beaten-up boats we started winning a lot ? beating the boys in town (RBYC and RHADC). I think we exposed their junior programmes ? programmes which had a lot of money thrown at them. To be honest I think we embarrassed them a bit. It was a wake-up call for them and to give them credit they woke up and now have world class junior programmes ? the envy of the sailing world."

One aspect of the junior programme Bromby would like to see improved is to get more girls involved.

"There are not as many as there should be ? in particular in the Optimist which is a natural for them. Girls are lighter generally and mentally they are more developed at that age from boys.

"I would hope that what Paula (Lewin) has done would inspire them. And Paula actually got into sailing a little later in life. These girls now can start young. It would be great to see them starting at seven years old."

And even if the youngsters don't turn out to be world class like Bromby and Lewin they will still benefit.

"There is no one selling crack out in the Great Sound," said Bromby adding, "even if they don't win the race, they win in life with sailing."