as they finished the Olympic regatta with a flourish yesterday.

In the final race of the Star Class series -- reduced from 11 to 10 events following a slew of postponements -- the Bermuda pair crossed the line in sixth place, three spots higher than any of their previous outings.

On a day when the wind across Wassaw Sound blew around 11 to 13 knots, Bromby and White got the kind of start they had failed to achieve throughout last week and translated it into the kind of finish which, on a consistent basis, would have put them in medal contention.

In the end they had to settle for 13th place in the 25-boat fleet, throwing out their worst finishes of 19th and 20th, for a net total of 81 points.

That left them 56 points adrift of gold medal winners Torben Grael and Marcelo Ferreira of Brazil, who wrapped up first place yesterday with a third- place finish. Their throw-outs of 9th and 7th left them with two firsts, two seconds, two sixths, a third and a fourth.

Silver went to yesterday's race winners, Hans Wallen and B.Lohse of Sweden (29), while Australians Colin Beashel and David Giles (32) hung on for the bronze despite failing to start the final race. Defending Olympic champions Mark Reynolds and Hal Haenel of the US placed eighth.

Bermuda's Paula Lewin also enjoyed her highest finish in race nine of the Europe dinghy class yesterday, crossing the line fifth ahead of all three sailors who currently occupy the medal positions.

But as was the case when she scored a top ten finish last week, Lewin couldn't follow up with another high placing.

Race ten saw her finish 17th and she now lies 13th overall in the 28-boat fleet with the final race scheduled for tomorrow.

Malcolm Smith's torment in the Laser Class continued as he registered a 43rd-place finish in race nine before improving to 34th in race ten to end the day 42nd in the fleet of 56.

Like Lewin, he will have today off before sailing the final race on Wednesday.

Regatta standings Star Class (final): 1 T.Grael/M.Ferreira, Brazil (1-6-2-7-1-4-9-2-6-3) 25; 2 H.Wallen/B.Lohse, Sweden (4-7-7-8-2-1-3-4-8-1) 29; 3 C.Beashel/D.Giles, Australia (11-1-1-1-8-3-2-7-9-DNS) 32; 1 13 P.Bromby/L.White, Bermuda (9-20-9-10-11-19-14-11-11-6) 81.

Laser Class: 1 R.Scheidt, Brazil (2-9-3-6-1-3-7-2-1-1) 19; 2 B.Ainslie, Great Britain (27-4-7-2-2-1-2-1-16-2) 21; 3 P.Moberg, Norway (1-7-9-1-9-10-1-21-3-5) 36; 1 42 M.Smith, Bermuda (40-31-41-32-42-45-46-40-43-34) 303.

Europe Dinghies: 1 K.Roug, Denmark (2-1-3-2-1-2-8-1-8-7) 19; 2 M.Matthise, Netherlands (DNS-2-1-10-2-1-1-4-12-5) 26; 3 C.Becker-Dey, USA (1-8-2-4-7-6-3-14-9-2) 33; 1 13 P.Lewin, Bermuda (20-9-6-15-15-14-14-8-5-17) 86.

Back in Atlanta, Bermuda's track officials said they were confident 400 metre semi-finalist Troy Douglas had passed a random drugs test to which he was subjected after Sunday night's race. Chef de Mission Phil Guishard said there had been no request for a second sample, a normal indicator that all was in order.