Peter Bromby began his Bacardi Cup quest in fine fashion yesterday, finishing sixth out of 112 vessels in the Florida, USA, regatta.

This start has given the Bermudian sailor a tremendous boost heading into the second of six races today at the Coral Reef Yacht Club in Miami.

"We're certainly happy. There's 112 boats here which is the biggest fleet we've ever had at the Bacardi Cup.

"Anytime we finish in the top ten in this kind of fleet it keeps the confidence coming. They are all pretty good (sailors) so we're happy with the result and hopefully we'll get another top ten tomorrow (today)," Bromby told The Royal Gazette last night.

Star-Class world champion Ian Percy of the UK won the first race with France's Xavier Rohard in second and Swede Freddie Loof, third. Bromby and his crew, Martin Siese, had been alongside Percy in the beginning of the race but fell back a bit before finishing strongly.

"We got a very good start on the first windward leg. We were alongside Percy actually but we lost a couple boats at the first mark."

The Bermudians were never too far from the front and maintained steady progress to make ground on about eight boats which had passed them earlier.

"We rounded the windward mark - for the last time - in ninth and overtook three boats on the final run to the finish," said Bromby.

Zander Kirkland was outside his goal of a top-15 finish at the Laser Midwinter's East regatta in Florida, but could still take credit for his performance in a fleet of 92 sailors.

Kirkland, who finished 22nd, was in 20th going into yesterday's final race after notching an 18th and two 23rds on Saturday in an event that also included Bermuda's Ben Wicks and Brett Wright.

The fleet was very competitive with a number of the world's top 50, and some from the top 20, taking part.

Kirkland had the misfortune of capsizing in the final race yesterday while in 20th place and finished 35th.

"This fleet was stacked, a lot more competitive than last year," he said from the US. "If I had been sailing more recently, I think I would have met my goal of top 15.

"I am getting closer (but) I have this bad habit. I play shifts well alone, but when I am next to the top guys, I tend to follow them. I have got to break that."

On Saturday, the conditions were tricky as usual and it was made even more difficult by the fact that the 92-boat fleet was stuck on a small course.

"I had two good starts and one bad one, the latter coming in the last race. After getting rolled off the line with the black flag up, I tacked onto port to clear my air. In a big 'duck' I clipped a boat on starboard and had to do a 720 (degree turn).

"After my 720 I was very near to the back of the fleet, but I persevered and got back into the race thanks to a few windshifts."

Kirkland's good speed helped him gain back the boats until he was in the top 25.

"At points today I had very good off-the-wind speed and that felt good, I just need to be able to do that all the time," he said. "In the first race I had a stellar start, but got stuck on the wrong side of the course. In the second race, I had another solid start, but got stuck on starboard tack for too long."

Wright, meanwhile, finished an excellent 19th yesterday for 37th overall, while Wicks finished 22nd for 41st.