to reach the finals of the Nations Cup as qualifying concluded in Savannah, Georgia, on Saturday.

Leading around the first windward mark Lewin and her crew initially had problems setting the spinnaker up on her J24 craft allowing the Canadian foursome led by Karen Johnson to surge ahead.

Still the margin was not insurmountable and Lewin remained in contention until the traveller, which controls the mainsail, broke, thus ending her challenge.

Lewin flew a green flag indicating her predicament, but these pleas were rejected by race officials.

Earlier, Lewin and her crew of Leatrice Roman, Peta Lewin and Susan Gardiner had won the first of the best-of-three final series only to lose the second by a boatlength.

"We were very disappointed,'' said Peta, after arriving back on the Island yesterday. "We wouldn't have minded losing because of good sailing, racing or tactics, but it was just that we lost because of a breakdown in equipment.

"At the jibe we were pretty sure we could catch them as we had done so before in the first race.'' Still Peta was happy to have been able to take part in the event, which was the first excursion into match racing -- Paula had previous experience from the Santa Maria Cup.

While Peta and the rest of the crew got a chance to relax and reflect on the past week, Paula flew to Europe to prepare for the Women's World Championships in Denmark where she will sail the Europe Dinghy.

Meanwhile, with a spot already booked for Holland, Peter Bromby went down 2-0 in his final series against Peter Holmgren of the US Virgin Islands with penalties to start both races proving a hindrance.