FOUR-time Olympic sailor Peter Bromby and crew Lee White are getting back that winning confidence ahead their big push next year to qualify for the 2008 Olympics in China.

After the Athens Olympics in 2004, White decided to step down after crewing for Bromby for many years. In his place came Bill McNiven and although Bromby has said he really appreciated McNiven stepping up to the plate, the results didn't go their way. And then White came back into the fold this past summer when the two of them travelled to a pre-Olympic competition ¿ the Good Luck Beijing Sinopec International Regatta ¿ in China.

The coordination so important to the Star class was obviously a bit rusty and the pair finished in 14th place overall.

Last September the pair competed in the European Star Championships in Italy and finished in 11th place overall out of the huge fleet.

Then earlier this month they sharpened their teamwork and won the Schoonmaker Cup, the first Star regatta of the Miami winter sailing season.

Bromby and White will be returning to Miami, a place they have always done well, early next year to sail in various regattas before the all-important World Championships which will be also staged in Miami in April.

There they will be going for the four spots available for the Beijing Olympics.

Bromby said this week: "When Lee and myself first sailed together again in China we struggled quite honestly. It was the first time the two of us had been back in the boat together since Athens. When we went to the European Championships in Italy we were running in the top five almost to end of the regatta but then had two bad races at the end and finished in 11th place out of the 90-odd boat fleet.

"In Miami a couple of weeks ago the fleet was not nearly as competitive (as that at the European Championships) but what it did have was six out of the eight contenders that you realistically expect to be vying for the four remaining Olympic spots. This was the first of a series of six regattas down there in Miami which will be coming to a head in April with the World Championships."

Come the first week in January Bromby and White will head back to their "hunting ground" in Miami for a regatta which will be the prelude to the Rolex Championships.

"The Rolex regatta is a Grade One regatta and will involve all the Olympic classes. It is where the best guys will be and Miami also happens to be Star central. Some people may wonder why we keep going back to Miami but you have to realise that in the middle of winter there are not that many places where a lot of sailing is going on. What you will see is a big turnout in what ordinarily would be 30-boat fleets. Come this January there will be 70-boat fleets. It will be the who's who of the Star world. You will have the ones who have already qualified for the Olympics and are pushing to give them the best chance at the Worlds in April and then you will have the ones who are going for those four remaining Olympic spots."

Winning the Schoonmaker Cup earlier this month was "refreshing" said Bromby.

"We went down a week early to get some training in and we did a bunch of practise races and we really were making a mockery of the other guys racing against us. It is so refreshing to see how we have progressed. Even forgetting the performance, it was the chemistry between us that was progressing faster than what I thought it would. I am definitely looking forward to the next six months.