Defending Bermuda International Invitational Race Week Comet champion Stevie Dickinson has been left high and dry.

Instead of defending his crown in next week?s regatta, Dickinson will be a mere spectator after the local comet fleet declined to participate in the absence of rival overseas skippers.

The local comet fleet faced a similar dilemma two years ago when racing was scrapped after overseas rivals did not take an interest in visiting the Island?s shores.

Dickinson also decided against competing in the Snipe class, citing a ?heavy workload? as the primary reason for temporarily putting his passion for sailing on hold.

?I started to fix up my Snipe but I just don?t have the time because I have so much work to do and the comets aren?t sailing this year,? he told .

?But it?s not a real problem, and naturally I intend to come out firing when the time comes.?

Dickinson will again have his work cut out for him as he prepares to defend multiple crowns over the summer months and bids to wrestle the coveted Long Distance title from arch-rival Rudy Bailey.

Confirming the smaller class would not be represented in next week?s sailing spectacle was Gladwin Lambert, president of Comet Class Yacht Racing Association (CCYRA) of Bermuda.

?We weren?t able to get any overseas sailors to come down,? he began to explain.

?We sent out correspondence as far back as last December but without any luck. Communications wasn?t a problem. . . sailors just refused to come down to Bermuda for Race Week.

?The bottom line is that nobody seemed interested to come down to compete this year.?

According to Race Week rules and regulations, it is mandatory that all classes consist of a minimum of four overseas skippers to be allowed to participate in the annual regatta.

Host for the regatta, Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC), were even ?willing to bend the rules? to permit the local comet fleet to go ahead and compete minus overseas rivals, Lambert disclosed.

That gesture of goodwill, however, was declined by the local comet fleet.

Lambert explained: ?Royal Bermuda Yacht Club did have some flexibility and were willing to bend the rules, but the local fleet did not want to pay the required $200 to race without any overseas sailors when they could sail on their own and pay nothing.?

Lambert described having to again sit out Race Week as ?disappointing?.

?The comet class has become so strong and we had enough Bermudians interested in taking part in Race Week, but it?s just disappointing every time this sort of thing happens,? he lamented.

?We don?t want to be hassling the yacht club (RBYC) and I feel they bend backwards for us trying to keep us in there.

?And they were going to allow us to race without any overseas sailors but we chose not to.?

Meanwhile, it was revealed yesterday the 505 class had suffered the same fate as the comet fleet.

Now, the Bravo race course, situated off Spanish Point Boat Club, will play host to the Laser and Snipe classes.

?They had a hard time getting international entries,? confirmed a RBYC spokesperson.

?They just couldn?t get anybody to compete.

?It?s unfortunate but we are still going to have a good turnout.

?We have 215 competitors and over 50 boats and so it should be good.?

Bermuda International Invitational Race Week commences this Sunday in the Great Sound.