Rudy Bailey captured a bronze medal competing at the North American Comet Championship in Oxford, Maryland last weekend.

The West End Sail Boat Club stalwart finished third among a competitive fleet of 12 boats ? the lowest number of participants in many years.

Bailey trailed the leaders by two points heading into the third race of the five-race regatta, held in variable weather conditions. However, costly errors in light air towards the finish saw the Bermudian skipper fall off the pace.

"I was actually in second place going towards the finish, but due to the inexperience of my crew (recruited on his arrival in Maryland) I went from second to sixth," Bailey lamented. "And without a doubt this is where I lost the regatta."

Despite recovering to complete the regatta on a strong note with back-to-back third place finishes in the final two races, allowing him to drop his worst finish (sixth), Bailey had to settle for third place when American rival Mark Hess pipped him for second in a tiebreak.

The Bermudian's best finish was in the regatta's opening race in which he placed second among a fleet comprised of six former North American Comet champions.

The husband and wife team of Dick and Judy Harmon from Ohio won last weekend's racing.

"I'm happy and proud of what I achieved under the circumstances. Overall I thought I did everything that was humanly possible and sailed hard," added Bailey, who improved upon last year's disappointing eighth-place finish at the annual regatta.

Bailey had warmed up for the North American event by seizing line honours in the Marsha L Lambert Regatta in the Great Sound just prior to jetting off to the US.