Champion powerboat racer Westmore Stoneham hit the rocks yesterday.

For Stoneham, 34, was sentenced to seven-and-a-half-years in prison for possessing more than $65,000 worth of cocaine with intent to supply.

Before Mr. Justice Ward handed down his sentence both defendants expressed remorse and apologised for their actions.

"For my part I have total remorse for it,'' Stoneham said, adding that he did not wish to drag the proceedings on any further by speaking longer. The race driver won the Round the Island powerboat race a few times -- the last being in 1994.

Stoneham, of Middle Road, Southampton, on Wednesday pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of a controlled drug intended for supply.

The married father-of-two appeared with Stacie Christine Thomas, of Newark, New Jersey, who also pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of a controlled drug intended for supply.

Thomas told the court: "I had no knowledge that I was committing the offence.

I've never been in trouble before and from this experience I will never be in trouble again.'' But Mr. Justice Ward told the pair that although he took into account their remorse and cooperation -- especially Thomas' -- their guilty plea "did not come early enough''.

Thomas received a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence for her part in the operation.

Crown Counsel Khamisi Tokunbo said Thomas arrived in Bermuda on a Continental flight from the US on August 26, 1995.

Thomas was approached by Customs officers and a bag she was carrying was searched.

Officers examined a container of baby power and discovered two plastic bags containing the cocaine, Mr. Tokunbo said.

Thomas told Police that she was delivering the toiletries for an American man who had purchased her ticket.

Mr. Tokunbo said Thomas was to deliver the toiletries to an unknown woman, collect $7,000 cash and return the money to the American man.

Thomas admitted to Police that she suspected that her local contact was selling drugs because she thought $7,000 was a lot of money.

Mr. Tokunbo told the court that Thomas agreed to take part in a sting operation that night at a pre-planned location arranged by the American man.

Stoneham arrived at the Grotto Bay Hotel in Hamilton Parish shortly after midnight on August 27 and collected the toiletries.

Stoneham gave Thomas an envelope containing $7,000 of his own money -- 70 $100 US notes -- and left the hotel.

Upon spotting the Police, Stoneham dropped the bag containing the drugs and said: "I knew it, I knew it.'' Mr. Tokunbo said Stoneham admitted his involvement to Police. Stomeham claimed that he received a call in August 1995 from an American man he had met some two months earlier.

The man asked him to pick up a package for him and Stoneham said he agreed to do so even though he "knew it had to be something illegal. I knew it had to be drugs''.

Stoneham said the man told him to give the drug courier $7,000 and accept the packages.

He added that the American man also told him which room at the Grotto Bay Hotel he would find the courier in.

Stoneham was to receive an undisclosed amount of money "for helping the man out''.

Mr. Tokunbo said the 237 grams of cocaine was sufficient to produce 15,444 decks -- each containing 11 milligrams -- or 530 half-gram wraps.

He estimated the street value to be $66,250.

Investigating officer Det. Con. Alickson Severin told Chief Justice Austin Ward that both defendants cooperated with Police with their investigation.

Stoneham's lawyer Archibald Warner said his client's role in the entire operation was to just to hold the packages for the owner.

Lawyer Marc Telemaque cited Thomas' "invaluable'' cooperation in the case and claimed she was entitled to a reduced sentence.

Mr. Justice Ward ordered that the $7,000 seized in the sting operation be forfitted.