week to take part in one of the world's most competitive regattas.

The pair, who sail in the Optimist Dinghy category, will be taking part in the South American Championships in Peru.

The meeting is being used to give the boys experience of a top class field prior to Bermuda's appearance at the World Team Championships in Xinghdao, China in July.

The Island team will compete against 225 sailors from more than 50 countries at the site which is being proposed as the 2008 Olympic sailing venue.

Before they fly out to Peru, however, they, along with 10 other local sailors, will be taking part in the final round of the World Team qualifiers on the Great Sound tomorrow.

Only five sailors can qualify for the Worlds and the top four in the standings are now virtually guaranteed to be going.

After 17 races Doughty leads the way on 32 points, followed by Jonathan Kempe and Jesse Kirkland on 43.

Edward Thompson is fourth on 53 points, while Husayn Brown is fifth on 76.

"That last boy has grown so much that his weight becomes a factor. He is vulnerable. The others pretty much have it sealed but that fifth spot is still up for grabs,'' said spokesman Malcolm Kirkland.

Doughty and Kirkland, meanwhile, are being taken to Peru at the behest of Argentine coach, Pablo Weber, who helped the Bermuda team prepare for last year's Worlds in Spain.

"They will be doing 12 races and will be sailing in fleet races against Argentinians, Brazilians, Peruvians and Venezuelans,'' Kirkland senior said.

"James and Jesse have been coming along well and coach was pretty adamant about trying to get them to go down there and he was willing to take them on his own.'' Like most pursuits in Bermuda, because of the Island's size the level of competition is not there for those who excel in their chosen field.

"The problem with Bermudian sailors is that historically we just don't have the experience of big fleets, 150 of the best sailors. We might have four, or a fleet of 15 with four or five really pushing it,'' Kirkland said. "So it's critical for their development to get off the rock and go where the competition is.'' Kirkland said he hoped the experience would help when they took to the water in China.

"Last year they were the 24th out of 46 who fielded and they improved hugely from the year before,'' he said. "My son improved about 150 positions and finished 39th and James Doughty was 82nd.''