Paula Lewin's slender shoulders are carrying a heavy weight - the hopes of an entire island in the Investors Guaranty King Edwards VII Gold Cup.

Sweeping past one of the masters of the international sailing in yesterday's first round, she suddenly found herself the lone Bermudian in the quarter-finals as her compatriot Peter Bromby succumbed to one of the great Danes in the regatta.

Tomorrow, Lewin faces the other Danish top dog and defending champion, Jesper Radich, for a place in the semi-finals and she expects a "tough match".

Regardless of that outcome, she will savour the events of yesterday morning in Hamilton Harbour for a lifetime as she trounced former America's Cup winner Dennis Conner 3-0 to finish her day's work by 11.10 a.m.

Often toned down in her reactions, Bermuda's four-time Female Athlete of the Year could not restrain her excitement on this coup.

"He's a legend; a fabulous sailor. It's terrific to beat him. I am thrilled. I am so happy - my whole team is," she declared.

The 32-year-old noted that despite Conner being blanked the races were close and she and her crew were fortunate to have "a few calls go in our favour". Had things gone differently they might have been struggling, she acknowledged.

Conner (62) was full of praise for the woman who was part of his 2001 Gold Cup crew.

"I just got beaten by a better crew. I think Paula is terrific. I am a big fan of hers and if I had to lose I couldn't think of a nicer person to lose to," said the heavyset American.

In the afternoon session of competition, Bermuda did not fare as well with Bromby going down to Jes Gram-Hansen 3-1.

The latter won the first race and Bromby was able to even things up in the second race thanks to a penalty which his Danish opponent incurred because his crew contravened restrictions on their placement outside the boat.

However, Gram-Hansen was quick off the pin in the third and fourth races and never looked back. His handsome lead in the latter race was bolstered by a penalty on Bromby for tacking too close during the first lap and he lengthened his lead into the finish.

"I think the conditions played a part in it with the reef mainsail. That took some of our advantage away. We didn't adjust to it as well as we should have.

"Sailing-wise I should have got the boat going better than I did. He seemed to do a good job of getting that configuration going better than we did," said Bromby, alluding to the fact that mainsails were shortened because of gusts exceeding 20 knots.

"Usually we make out with a little more speed than the other guys. That's one of our weapons. Take that away and we become more average.

"He did a nice job on the starts. We only ever got off even, we never got an advantage at the start.

"We were lucky we got a penalty in the second race to get back 1-1 and, at that point, I thought things might change for us but they didn't work out."

Quipping that he will settle the score with his international peers when he "sees them in the Star class", the 39-year-old noted this match-racing experience is "a bonus" for him as he pursues an Olympic medal next year while it is a profession for many of the foreign sailors.

Gram-Hansen (32) was pleased to have got the better of the local sailor, noting "Peter is always dangerous in Bermuda so we take nothing for granted".

His crew, he disclosed, had been preparing in Scandinavia for this regatta and felt confident coming here. He noted that on the water they got the edge in a couple of tight situations which made the vital difference.

Last year's runner-up said it would be great to go one step better this year but the task will be difficult given the seasoned campaigners.

Looking ahead to her showdown against Radich, Lewin anticipated that her five days of racing in Gold Cup action will stand her in good stead as she maintains the same "one race at a time" formula that has got her this far.

As for the windy conditions, the two-time Bermuda International Women's Match Racing champion hopes for some interesting weather challenges to boost her quest.

"For us to go further, I'd love a different condition and a different wind direction.

"That mixes things up and creates opportunities and that's how I like to sail.

"If the wind stays in the same direction all the time it would be tougher because everybody would figure it out and there's less variation than if say tomorrow is light and (the wind coming) out of the east and the next day out of the south or the north," she explained.