Just a week after some of the world's best match racers left these shores, more top sailors are set to arrive on the Island in preparation for another major yachting event.

The Bacardi Rum Tornado World Championships, which will be staged in Grassy Bay off Royal Naval Dockyard, may not start for more than three weeks, but current title holder Roland Gabler, from Germany, is among those who will be arriving on Monday to train for the competition.

Gabler's early arrival signals his intention to make a strong defence of the crown he won in Mooloolaba, Queensland, last year.

But he will be up against the stiffest of opposition which numbers among its 71 two-man crews Spanish Olympic champions Ferdinand Leon and Jose Luis Ballester and Atlanta bronze medallist Lars Grael, from Brazil.

Bermuda last hosted the tournament in 1986 when it was held two miles offshore but organisers are promising a much more spectator-friendly event this time.

Alan Burland, chairman of the organising committee, said: "These are spectacular boats, capable of doing between 25 and 30mph if the wind is right.

For the first time, spectators will be able to see them close-up. Last time, they were just white dots on the horizon.'' The event will take the form of a series of 10 races, with a low scoring format whereby in each flight the winning crew will score one point and the crew that comes last 71.

The overall winner will be the crew with the lowest score after all races are completed. Each team is allowed to discard its worst performance.

An innovation this year will be a daily sprint time trial across the face of the cruise ship berth following the main races. Boats are expected to be able to complete the 500-foot course between 12 and 15 seconds.

On the final day, the world's top five sailors will compete in a series of `blasts' to determine the best sprinter.

A number of local skippers will be taking part, among them Glen Astwood, who crewed for Briton Andy Green at last week's Bermuda Gold Cup. But Burland thinks they will struggle to make much of an impression.

"It will be hard for them to do well,'' he said. "They will be up against national champions from a number of very active countries.'' The Tornado class in Bermuda went into temporary limbo two years ago when the US Navy left its base at the Southampton Annex, where the locals used to keep their boats. "The Bermudian government decided it wanted the site vacated so we had to leave,'' Burland added. "But this competition will give us a real boost and we will re-establish the class once it is over.'' The event runs from November 9-15.