boats at the North American Championships in Toronto, Canada, on Sunday as he continued his quest for a berth at next year's Olympic Games.

Berkeley was forced to retire from the fifth and final race of the series with a broken rudder and thereby lost his chance to move up the standings.

But despite the lowly finish, he was encouraged by his progress after taking part in two Canadian regattas that featured many of the world's leading Finn sailors.

"I'm definitely improving,'' said Berkeley, who will enjoy a few days relaxing before returning home on Thursday. "I think my chances (of qualifying for Olympics) are good, but I need to get things sorted out and keep on competing overseas as much as possible. I need to stay in touch with the competition.'' To that end Berkeley will be taking part in a pre-Olympic regatta in October in Savannah, Georgia, site of the Olympic sailing competition, and is hopeful of gaining additional sponsorship to be able to enter other competitions in North America.