Watch out Freda Foreman and Laila Ali, there's two new kids on the block - and they mean business.

Competing among the J-24 fleet during yesterday's International Race Week, female skippers Judy Bullmore and Nadine Franczyck got into a tangle of their own.

The two competitors were involved a sensational crash during the first race which effectively brought Franczyck's Race Week to a premature end.

Luckily, while the American's boat was badly battered, neither crew suffered injury.

"We were quite near the back of the fleet coming to the leeward mark," Bullmore recalled. "And there was another boat on the outside of us. We tacked and were on the inside of them and there was another boat coming on the outside. So as we were both coming around the leeward mark bearing down to put the spinnaker up, the mains out, jenny's up . . . you have very little vision from the helm. So before you knew it there was this huge bang and a white boat appeared out from under the bow."

Franczyck's boat was rammed on the aft port side by Bullmore as she attempted to complete a penalty turn for, coincidentally, an earlier misadventure. The boat suffered a severe eight to 12 inch gash from the impact.

"Nobody was hurt which was the main thing," added Bullmore.

Meanwhile, shaken but not totally stirred, Franczyck and crew were still able to limp to the docks at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club.

She too, gave her account of yesterday's mishap.

"The black boat came down really deep around the mark when they put their spinnaker up," she said. "And I came up to finish the turn (penalty) and they came down very deep because they had two boats above them that they wanted to get clear from. And we collided."

For Franczyck, this was certainly not the way she intended concluding Race Week.

"It was not good," she lamented. "It's always disappointing to be involved in an incident especially when the boats collide. But since I was wrong, I felt that it was my duty to drop out."

Despite the letdown, the sailor, a veteran of three International Race Weeks, said that she hoped to be back again next year to compete.