Sara Lane Wright has competed at the Olympics and found success at some of the world's top regattas.

You'd think life would be sweet. The sailing fraternity in your homeland would be proud of your efforts, and sponsors would be falling over themselves to help you pursue your dreams.

Not so. While she does have many supporters from her husband and fellow sailor Brett to members of the public, Wright still feels she is fighting for acceptance in some circles.

Having just returned to the Island after grabbing a bronze medal in the Laser Radial World Championships in Spain, she said: "I think some people here don't know how to take what I do seriously. I know within the sailing community they don't look at me as being a talented sailor or as being the next up and coming top female sailor. I know they don't.

"I think it's because of their own hang-ups. It's very difficult because I haven't followed the normal pattern or path that they have in the past. I'm very radical and very committed to what I am doing, so I may never really fit into the sailing community here."

That said, Wright says she tries to put such matters to the back of her mind.

"I do this because it makes me happy. It is something that I want to do. I am doing it because it is something I enjoy," she said. "If I was doing it for other people then basically I would have stopped a long time ago. But I really do enjoy what I'm doing."

Of course, for all those that don't accept her there are plenty who do.

When Wright revealed she might not make it to Spain because of a lack of funds local companies and members of the public came to her rescue.

"Before the last trip, I think a lot of people were made aware I wasn't going to be able to go away because I didn't have the money. Some people came through and helped me and I'd just like to say `thank you' to them and also to the rest of Bermuda for their support," she said. "Apparently there was a talk show on the Island and people had been reading the paper and knew I didn't have the money to go away. They were phoning in commenting and just basically giving me their support - that meant the world to me, more than anything. It was really great to know I have the support out there."

That support will be needed if Wright is to achieve her next ambitions - medals at the CAC and Pan Am Games and another Olympic qualification.

"As long as you are determined and you want to do something I think you can. You just have to work hard at it and hopefully you'll get some support," she said. "My major problem has been that there isn't much funding in Bermuda. Well, I haven't been able to receive a lot of funding.

"Sailing needs funding. A brand new boat costs $4,000, a mast is $1,000. I am short of masts now because I lost one at one of my events. Sails are $600 a piece. Then there's coaching on top of that and that can be at least $200 a day. As an individual I have everything working against me."

In the hope that others will not have to struggle in the same way she has, Wright aims to set up her own sailing school in the future.

"My goal is to end up having three Europe dinghies here and I want to train a squad of girls - teaching them everything I have learned, sell them my equipment, help them with organising regattas and travelling with them if they want me to. I want to give back to sailing in Bermuda," she said.

"It's very difficult when you have to do it all by yourself. It's much better if you've got someone who knows all the regattas, knows a lot about the boat, and wants to spend the time helping other people.

"It's been very, very stressful doing it all myself so I am hoping that as long as I can carry on being successful myself, then I can turn around and offer something back."

Wright said she was targeting females because there were not many successors down the line.

"Females in sailing are still a minority in Bermuda. To date there is Paula Lewin and myself and I don't know of any other female sailors who are out there competing," she said. "It's not an easy sport to get involved in. We can train here in Bermuda and that's fine. But when you get older and you're the only person doing it it takes a lot out of you. You have to worry about how you are going to get to a regatta in a foreign country, where you are going to stay, you don't speak the language maybe, what's going to happen if you need help on the race course. There's so much to think about."

From a personal perspective, and with that in mind, Wright is grateful to have the friendship of her right hand man, Brett.

"He is very supportive but I'm also very supportive of him. If only one of us was doing it it would be very, very difficult. It works very well, hand in hand together," she said.