Defending champion, Peter Bromby, is well placed to try and retain his title at the half-way stage of the Rolex Miami Olympic Class Regatta in Florida, USA.

After four of the eight scheduled races, the Bermudian Star-Class sailor is fourth out of 58 competitors on 48 points. So far, he has placed eighth, 12th, second and 26th; recording his last three results yesterday.

?The conditions varied a lot. The wind strength was up and down and also the (wind) direction was changing constantly. We had probably only one decent start today out of three races and we ended up second in that race.

?We had two bad starts today and we clawed our way back in each of them. In the last race we made it back in 26th. For the people that started near us on the starting line, most of them didn?t make it back. So we consider ourselves fairly fortunate,? said Bromby, who has Martin Siese as crew.

American Mark Reynolds leads the Star Class with 29 points, while Swede Freddy Loof is second on 39 and Australia?s Colin Beashel, third on 43.

While confident about his chances of winning, Bromby acknowledged that he has not yet sailed his best and that ?we?ve got a lot of room for improvement?.

?We need four top-five finishes now and then we would have a chance. We?re only in the first half (of racing).

?There?s still lots going and still probably about 15 boats that can win it. So we?ve just got to hang in there,? said the 39-year-old who will also be looking to benefit from his one drop in the series.

Meanwhile, Paula Lewin?s fortunes in the Yngling were not as inspiring as she would have hoped. The Olympics-bound sailor followed up her 11th place on the first day with a 14th, 12th, 17th and tenth yesterday. She is now 14th overall out of 16 competitors with 64 points. New Zealander Sharon Ferris leads that class with 14 points.

The third Bermudian in the regatta, Brett Wright, also found himself up against it in the Lasers.

He is currently 33rd out of 63 in that class with 163 points, with placings of 28th, 29th, 33rd, 35th and 38th.