Zach Berkowitz sailed away with the International 14 World Championship yesterday as racing finally resumed after a five day break caused by high winds, writes Colin Thompson.

Berkowitz, who won the first two races last weekend, picked up where he left off to secure victory in the first two yesterday.

He then opted to sit out the final race of the regatta with the championship already secured and set his sights on defending his crown in the next World Championships to be held in Japan 2003.

England's Zeb Elliot and defending world champion Kristopher Bundy rounded off the podium finishers.

"I have the best crew in the world, there's no question about it. Trevor (Baylis) has a complete sailing ability like noone else here. His vision in sail development, rigging, calling tactics, picking the good starts and most of all putting up with me puts him in a league of his own," said Berkowitz.

"This was a team effort, we had an awful lot of brain power in motion. We used three different sail makers and assisted in the development of our jibs and mains along with the sail makers."

Berkowitz said the pair had been together for the past 11 years now and their experience showed in Bermuda.

"As usual Trevor picked the starts perfectly and we led for the entire race. Fortunately, we didn't have to sail the final race," he said. "We trained hard for this and covered all the bases and we didn't lose the regatta - we had the potential to lose it like everyone else but we managed to keep it together. The biggest component of our victory was the tremendous effort we received from our team - and my wife's patience."

Second-placed Elliot paid tribute to the winners.

"It was always going to be difficult to beat Zach and Trevor, they were exceptional," he said. "There was no letting up, which became pretty obvious halfway through the second race. But we are generally pleased with the result and to have finished comfortably."

Defending champion Bundy was unavailable for comment after the race, however, crewman Jamie Hanseler was satisfied with the day's racing and the overall outcome of the regatta.

"We had great sailing with lots of good luck when we needed it and seemed to always pull it together. Conditions were excellent and Zach did a great job. It was good, fair competition out there today,"said Hanseler.