to date in the recent Europe Dinghy World Championships in Brazil, but it wasn't enough to officially qualify her for Sydney 2000.

The event, held in the northeastern Brazilian city of Salvador, was the final qualifying event for the Olympics, which will be held in Australia later this year.

Thirty one countries were represented by 107 competitors in the class, with 15 countries vying for the final seven available positions.

The venue delivered some demanding conditions with winds light to medium for the duration of the event with a large northeasterly swell and a three to four knot tide running from the north west to complicate matters.

The first six races of the event were used to determine which sailors would sail in the Gold and Silver fleets in the final series of races. Wright narrowly missed qualifying for the Gold Fleet as she struggled with the tide and starting difficulties faced by all the competitors.

In one excellent start, she was fourth at the first mark only to be penalised by the judges for a rule infraction. After her penalty turns she still managed a 23rd place finish. More than 40 competitors were penalised in the event for various infractions.

When the finals series started, Wright came into her own taking a first place and fifth on the first day. The racing between the top ten was extremely tight with third to eight places being separated by only five points going into the last day.

Once again, Wright sailed consistently to enable her to finish in fifth place in the Silver Fleet.

The overall winner was Kristina Roug, of Denmark.

Brazilian resilience: Bermuda's Sara Lane Wright pictured in action during the recent Europe World Championships in the Brazilian city of Salvador.