Plagued by bad weather as well as a circulating flu virus, no action was possible yesterday at the Bermuda Junior International Optimist Sailing Regatta, leaving Brazilian national champion Marco Grael one point clear of Argentina?s Victoria Travascio going into the final round of racing today.

The weather has been a constant thorn in the side of regatta organisers, with seven of the smaller competitors forbidden to take to the water because of fears over their safety.

?Some of the sailors are just too young and too small to handle the rough conditions,? said local coach Paul Doughty.

?It was pretty terrible out there. We were expecting the wind to track further north and then I think it would have been possible ? but it was not to be. It is a bit frustrating because we would have liked to have got everybody involved for the entire time and get them exposure to this level of competition.

?They will probably get a go on Monday and we?ll tell them just to go out, have a good time and not worry about the scores.?

On Saturday, in conditions that Doughty described as ?much improved?, Grael maintained his narrow lead over Travascio by finishing first, fifth and second respectively over the first three races.

And although a disastrous start scuppered his chances of success in the final race of the day, under tournament regulations every sailor is allowed to ?drop? one result over every five completed races ? a right which the young Brazilian was quick to exercise.

?Marco had one bad race but apart from that he has been very good,? said Doughty.

?He is sailing brilliantly and has proven very smart in the conditions.?

As expected, two-time world champion Filip Matika has swept up the rankings from seventh to third with impressively consistent finishes of second, second, first and fourth.

Doughty was clearly impressed with the ?gifted? Croatian.

?If you want to see a kid that is committed to his sport you could not do much better than Filip,? he said.

?He has an incredibly intense approach to what he is doing and is absolutely dedicated. That, at the end of the day, is why he is a two-time world champion and he is showing all the local boys just how committed you have to be in order to be the best.?

Doughty had made clear even before the regatta started that he was more concerned about his young charges learning and developing whilst taking on a world class foreign contingent, rather than their final placings.

Nevertheless, in analysing the performance of Bermuda?s leading junior sailors on Saturday, his comments were undoubtedly tinged with disappointment.

?There was not much wind on Saturday and I have to admit I did expect some of our better sailors to excel a little bit more,? he said.

?But I suppose we have to bear in mind that the very top guys are here and they are way further up the ladder than our local sailors at the moment.?

Leading the Bermudian challenge are Cameron Pimentel, Ryan Saraiva and Sean Bouchard, who sit in 11th, 12th and 13th place respectively. Doughty reserved most of his praise for Pimentel, whom he said had been ?inspired? during the last three races on Saturday.

?Having not done so well on the first day, he suddenly found his form at just the right time and looks to have settled into a bit of a groove,? he commented.

However, with four races to go today and only four points separating first from fourth, the coach was reluctant to predict a winner.

?It is very tight at the top and if the breeze stays, anything can happen,? he said.

?The forecast is predicting a change and if the wind does go north east at ten to 15 knots, you will find lighter sailors coming into their own and the bigger kids will start to struggle a bit. If the wind lightens and the seas stay choppy then the lighter kids will definitely have an advantage.?