Carola Cooper made her name in Bermuda as part of a world class dinghy racing crew ? but now she is taking on the challenge of ocean sailing.

Ms Cooper, the former sailing director of the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club and a member of top Bermuda sailor Paula Lewin?s crew before she was controversially dropped before the 2004 Athens Olympics, is now attaining her Ocean Yachtmaster Certificate in Australia.

The certificate would allow her to captain ocean yachts anywhere in the world.

?I have always wanted to do it,? she said. ?It was just a question of when, and I was between jobs so I thought it was a good idea to do it now.

?I love the water and have a lot of respect for it and wanted to learn more about ocean sailing as opposed to just racing.?

Miss Cooper said she is taking the course with an organisation called Flying Fish, which hosts the 22-week course in the UK and then in Australia.

In spite of all her experience, Ms Cooper says she is still learning ? especially the difficult challenges of celestial navigation and chart work.

?Sailing is all about time on the water, but I would have to say sailing skill-wise I haven?t learned a whole lot ? except that I may have developed a few bad habits over the years,? she said.

?Everything is done on a boat in a specific way for safety so it is good that I?m learning everything from the start. But as to the chart work and navigation I have never done any of it, so it?s great fun and i?m learning a lot.

?The course that I?m doing is 22 weeks, but you can do a combination of courses. I selected the longest yacht master course because I wanted to gain as much experience as possible with experienced coaches.?

Miss Cooper added: ?Flying Fish is an awesome school. There are others out there, but this one is definitely superior.

?They also do courses in dinghies, windsurfing, surfing and skiing. You can also combine different sports.

?The other great thing about this company is that they have a job bank for students so they help you to find a job after you are done and they are very keen on protecting their name so they prepare you very well for the marine industry.

?For people interested in a gap year, this is an excellent way to incorporate travelling and learning a new skill which could be a career if desired.?

Asked about the difference in sailing conditions between Cowes on the Isle of Wight in the UK, and Australia, she said.

?In Cowes it was cold, very cold and it snowed a lot, but here in Australia the weather is perfect.

?I prefer sailing in shorts rather than seven layers like in the UK! But the weather is starting to change as we are in fall, but we are going up to the Whitsundays (islands) in a couple of weeks and it will be warmer up there.

?Also we have had a couple of hurricanes, which they call Tropical Cyclones, but they have been up north although they send down huge swells.

?One week we were out on the coast and the swells were four metres (about 13 feet) high and all the beaches were closed. So we sailed in Pittwater Harbour and did drills all day until the swells died down then we continued up the coast.?

There are 16 people on her course, none of whom she knew before.

?There are two girls and 14 guys,? she said. ?The age range is from 18 to 45 years. There is one American, one Canadian, one Italian, two Australians, me, and all the rest are British.

?We get split up into three boats, which are 40 feet in length.?

Asked what she hoped to do after the course, she said: ?I haven?t decided what I want to do, but this course sets me up to do pretty much anything in the marine industry.

?I really love teaching so maybe I will continue with that.?

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