Dalton Bergan may be short on match racing experience, however the talent shown by the Colorcraft Gold Cup neophyte is unmistakable.

Such were the discoveries of five unseeded skippers that found themselves at the losing end of qualifying matches against the 22-year-old prodigy, hailing from Seattle, Washington.

Competing in only his second match racing regatta, Bergan cruised through to the championship round with wins over the likes of more seasoned helmsmen Jes Gram-Hansen, John Cutler, Chris Larson, Neville Wittey and Glenn Astwood, to set up an intriguing battle against fellow American Ed Baird.

And while admitting to being somewhat intimidated by the presence of sailing's biggest names, that has not stopped him from announcing his own intentions of a title challenge.

"Definitely myself and crew are somewhat intimidated by being here with all the top sailors that everyone has read about during the past decade,'' said the boyish-looking Bergan. "We're kind of a no-name sailing against all these big hotshots who have been doing this a while.

"If we can stay calm, cool, collected and not act intimidated we'll be there.'' Since being introduced to the sport by his parents, Bergan's rise has been like that of a downwind passage, swift and furious.

His resume includes junior national titles in five different classes, the Sears Cup (US Junior Championships) in J-22s, the Mallory Cup (US Men's Keelboat Championships) in 26-foot Thunderbirds, as well as captaining the University of Southern California sailing team.

He has also been targeted to skipper the Seattle America's Cup Challenge for 2003, launched by the Seattle Corinthian Yacht Club.

"My parents were sailors, they signed me up for sail school one summer and I've been sailing ever since, since I was 11 or so,'' explained Bergan, who is in Bermuda along with his crew of Ben Mumford, Clay Bartel and Ben Glass.

"I'm 22 now, so it's been the better part of a decade and then some.'' Asked what drives him to continue sailing, Bergan offered a playful shrug and a wide, somewhat playful grin, saying: "Certainly the general competition. I really enjoy sailing itself and trying to master the elements that are beyond our control and things like that.

"There are a lot of aspects to sailing that are really interesting. It's physical and mental, boat speed and tactics and strategies make it a complex sport.

"No matter how good you get there's always room to get better. There's always more classes and types of racing to master and things like that.'' Armed with a degree in mechanical engineering, Bergan likes to tinker, but is careful not to take too scientific an approach.

And coming from the west coast his style incorporates that of a laid back surfer dude and pin-point technician.

Such flexibility has served him well thus far under the match racing set-up, where role reversal is the only constant. Bergan admitted the format to be a great change from fleet racing, but a divergence he enjoys.

"It's an interesting format, certainly a whole different style of sailing I haven't seen much of, and a whole lot of yelling, screaming, adrenaline pumping and things like that,'' he said.

Beyond the Gold Cup Bergan has his sights set on the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and the America's Cup, although both situations are somewhat in the air, with class designations yet to be determined for the Games and funding still an issue for the Cup.

"I'd like to go to the America's Cup and also like to compete in 49ers, which are like a Skiff, a really fast boat.'' "I'd like to make it to the Olympics in that, although they haven't actually picked the classes yet for Athens, so that's a little iffy.'' Unquestioned is that a bright future yet remains for this burgeoning sailing superstar.

Seattle Supersonics: Dalton Bergan and his crew await their next challenge at the Colorcraft Gold Cup. From left, Dalton Bergan, Ben Mumford, Clay Bartel and Ben Glass.