Sailor Sara Lane Wright's European quest saw her improve on past performances when she took part in the prestigous Princess Sofia Regatta in Spain.

Lane Wright finished 24th, a significant improvement on last year when she placed in the top 40 percent of the fleet.

The event, at Palma de Majorca, is one of the most important regattas on the European circuit. This year 100 sailors from 15 different countries competed in the Europe Class.

Many countries use the European circuit to select sailors for their national teams and so the quality and quantity of the field in Spain was particularly high.

The competition was so fierce that Olympic bronze medallist Serena Amato from Argentina was only able to take 10th place and Spanish sailor Neus Garriga-Turon, fourth in Sydney and a strong local favourite, had to settle for sixth.

Lane Wright showed good speed upwind, arriving at the weather mark in six out of the eight races among the top five of the fleet.

On the final day, with the fleet divided into their respective gold and silver classes in winds of 15 knots, Lane Wright reached the windward mark in second place with a big lead over the rest of the fleet.

However, the Islander continues to experience difficulties sailing off-wind and that was reflected in her final position.

Lane Wright's next event will be in Hyeres, France, during French Olympic Week.

Bermuda's Jesse Kirkland finished in an excellent 12th position at the end of the Optimist Dinghy South American Championships in Peru.

Kirkland and fellow Bermudian James Doughty were using the competition in readiness for the forthcoming World Team Championships in China in July.

In Asia, Bermuda will compete against 225 sailors from more than 50 countries at the venue which is being proposed as the 2008 Olympic sailing site.

In Peru, Kirkland astounded those back home when he moved into a tie for fourth place in what was a world class field.

In the 12 races, he finished second twice and had three third places.

His lowest placing was a 16th and his consistency led to him placing just outside the top 10 with a total of 67 points.

Doughty, meanwhile, finished 94th. His highest placing was 11th while his others ranged between 21st and 41st.

Sime Fantela of Croatia took the championship with two events to spare and a perfect 10 points from 10 races.

Luz Bernardo of Brazil placed second with another Croatian, Igor Marenic, third.