impressive second place in the Santa Maria Cup -- despite having a substitute crew member on board without any match racing experience.

Lewin, number five skipper in the International Sailing Federation world rankings, recruited Joann Jones as a replacement for injured regular Lisa Neasham in her crew of four.

Neasham had pulled out two weeks ago because of a back injury and Lewin asked American Jones to team up with fellow crew members Peta Lewin and Leatrice Roman just for the one event at the Eastport Yacht Club.

"Joann had never match-raced before, but she did a great job,'' said Roman yesterday.

"We were really glad to be right up there in the standings in our first regatta of the season.'' Lewin was looking to repeat her victory of 1998 in the Santa Maria Cup and the crew advanced through the round-robin stage of the competition without difficulty.

Racing started last Wednesday and Lewin won 16 and lost six of her round-robin races to reach the finals.

Yesterday, the Bermudians and their American helper lost 2-0 in the best-of-three final against the world number two match racer Betsy Alison, a three-time US women's national sailing champion.

Alison has been a friend and rival of Lewin for several years and the Bermudian's defeat yesterday was a repeat of her loss to Alison in the final of the last regatta of last year, the Osprey Cup, in St. Petersburg, Florida.

"It was very light air with temperatures in the 80s and 90s,'' added Roman.

"There was just enough breeze to sail.'' The other 11 skippers in the top flight included the world number one Shirley Robertson of Britain, Klaartje Zuiderbaan of Holland, American Dru Slattery and Swede Mallin Kallstrom, all of whom finished in the top 10 at last year's Women's World Match Racing Championships.

Roman said Neasham would return to the crew when she was fit again. The crew intend to stick together for several years in a bid to medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

Lewin was 14th in the Europe dinghy class at the Atlanta Olympics four years ago, but opted not to go to Sydney for financial reasons.

This year, Lewin and her crew are building up to the worlds, which start in late November, in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Paula Lewin: impressive showing at her first overseas regatta of the season.