Kirk Cooper has a dream that one day he will wrap his weathered palms around the cherished Lighthouse Trophy.

It's a ghost he has been chasing for some 40 years, one which has constantly found a way to slip through his grasp. And here in 2000 the spectre again eluded.

Still, Captain Kirk continues his search, hoping, praying, but most of all preparing as best he can a plan that will earn him the title Bermuda Race champion.

At an age when most are content to sit back and relax in that easy chair, maybe watch a few talk shows, Cooper's competitive fire refuses to allow him to take a back seat and ride quietly towards the sunset.

Now beyond 65 and retired from the accountancy firm he and David Lines began, Cooper could easily call it quits after a legendary sailing career. One that has included three visits to the Olympic Summer Games -- Tokyo 1964, Mexico City 1968, Munich 1972 -- victories at Antigua Race Week, the Marion race and numerous regattas.

Yet even with the sand in the hour-glass running short Cooper still believes he can do it, that he will find the perfect line, current, breeze that will take him to the winners circle.

"I've been at it long enough and you do want to win the big one,'' said Cooper, who carried the Bermuda flag into Olympic Stadium at the ill-fated Munich Games. "I don't know how much time I've got left to do that.

"Obviously everybody's after that big trophy and it takes a while for some to get there. Last year (1998) we finished second about three-and-a-half to four minutes out from the lead boat.

"We thought we'd be close this time, but it wasn't to be.'' After several tries using his own beloved Alphida , a 60-foot craft, Cooper changed tack in 1996, chartering the Swan 44 Temptress . Since then he has partnered owner Richard Shulman to wins in Class Five (1998) and Class Six (2000).

However, while saying how it would be nice to win the class, Cooper envisaged much more when the 12-member crew set off from Narragansett Bay off the coast of Rhode Island.

"That was my 20th Bermuda Race and it was a good one. It's always good to win your class, and to be first amongst your peers is a gratifying feeling,'' said Cooper.

"We have a good boat...but it takes a lot of luck. You may be able to manage winning your class by good sailing and so forth, but it takes a little bit of luck -- and you have to know when you get it and not get greedy -- and go with it.

"I'm not saying that we didn't have our share on this run, but it turned out to be a small boat race and they were like one to six or something like that.'' Cooper and Shulman started out well, covering close to 500 of the 635 miles to Bermuda in just 48 hours as they were spurred by 20-24 knot breezes.

However, like everyone else joy turned to agony as they wind fell out, creating a gigantic parking lot north of the Island, as the big boats were reduced to a crawl and the smaller ones began making up the stagger.