Championships could be the "wake-up call'' she needed.

After cruising into the quarter-finals at the event in Florida, the top Bermudian sailor proceeded to lose seven races on the trot and end the tournament down in eighth place.

In match racing you either win or lose and so it was no comfort to Lewin that in the majority of races she and her crew were leading their opponents, only to let it slip in the final stages.

That was certainly true on Saturday when the fates conspired against the Islander.

Not only was she leading with the winning post in sight only to lose the first in the best-of-three for seventh and eighth place to 18-year-old Australian Katie Spithill, but then the remaining two races were cancelled because of a lack of wind.

"Saturday's race summed up the whole regatta,'' said Lewin, back at her home in Paget. "We were winning the race and it was very light and she attacked from behind with lots of tack. We weren't tacking quite as well and she got by.'' After waiting around for a couple of hours for the wind to pick up Lewin said she wasn't too bothered when the organisers called the races off.

"At that point when you're fighting for seventh or eighth it's kind of diluted,'' she said.

One of the biggest plusses from the event had been the presence of Bermuda's Olympic Star Class sailor, Peter Bromby, Lewin said.

"To be honest I haven't had structured coaching since I left college. So having Peter there was excellent. I haven't learned so much in a long time and it makes you realise how much better we can be,'' she said.

"We never lost a race by much, but we still need to be that much better to secure the win. It was a bit of a wake-up call, I think.'' Reigning champion, Dorte Jensen, who ironically was beaten by Lewin in an earlier round-robin stage, went on to retain her title, with the order decided by the semi-final standings because of the weather.