Championships in St. Petersburg, Florida, with two races to go after sailing to his best finish yesterday.

Bromby and crew Lee White corrected their broken mast problems from Tuesday and bounced back to place second in race four of the six-race regatta, which features one throw-out. They are now 14th overall.

There was less wind, eight to 10 knots, than on previous days for the five-leg race on a windward to leeward course.

"Upwind, we didn't doo too well,'' explained Bromby. "We were 16th at the first weather mark and then second on the run. On the next time upwind we moved into the lead and led at the second leeward mark before we were overtaken on the last beat by Ron Sandstrom.'' The heavy winds have accounted for nine broken masts, about 20 percent of the fleet. "There were no broken masts today, thanks to the light wind,'' Bromby pointed out.

"There have been more broken masts than in any regatta I can remember.'' Vince Bruno of San Diego continues to lead the regatta with John Kostecki second and medallists from the Barcelona Olympics, Ross McDonald and Mark Reynolds, third and fourth respectively.

Considering the quality of the fleet, Bromby said he would be satisfied with a top-10 finish. In the four races so far, Bromby placed ninth and 11th before a broken mast in Tuesday's second race forced him to pull out.

There are 37 boats competing in the Star class.