according to race commentator Bob Fisher, but there was nothing cheap about Peter Bromby's performance as he assured himself of at least $3,500 in qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Omega Gold Cup by demolishing top Frenchman Marc Pajot 3-0 in their best-of-five series yesterday.

On a day of upsets, when three of the seeded skippers felt the full weight of the hammer, Bromby's star shone brightest -- a least to Bermudians. Even a penalty incurred at the start of the third flight could not slow Bromby, who made his penalty turn just before the finish line and still managed to beat the seventh seed by 20 seconds.

"I think everything went our way, we got a lot of luck with the wind shifts and they all fell right in place for us,'' said Bromby. "The guys were under some pretty heavy pressure, they kept their cool, kept me cool and everything went fine.'' Pajot, the skipper for the French syndicate in this year's America's Cup was gracious in defeat, commending the young Bermudian for a fine performance.

Said Pajot :"Yes it is a great disappointment for me, but a great victory for him. He knows the boat, is fast and made no mistakes.

"Today it was his race and I would just like to congratulate him and his crew for the good job they have done. I love the racing and the sport and would be happy to come back again.'' Joining Bromby on the list of surprise qualifiers were Jorg Diesch of Germany and Dutchman Roy Heiner. Diesch bested John Kolius, winning in four races 3-1, while Heiner routed Briton Chris Law 3-0.

In disposing of the 1988 Gold Cup champion, Diesch, a former Olympic gold medallist, duplicated the feat he pulled in 1990 when he bounced then fifth seed, Valdemar Bandolowski in a first-round shocker.

Such was the anguish of Kolius and his crew at what was a dismal failure, that they immediately began making plans for their departure from the Island.

"Our goal was to come here and beat the seeded ones,'' said Diesch, currently ranked 30th on the Omega World Match Race Sailing Rankings List. "We're very happy, but we have problems...we now have to race Chris Dickson (in the quarter-finals).'' After suffering from a bad case of nerves in losing his opening race by 34 seconds, Diesch rebounded to edge Kolius in races two and three by a combined total of 16 seconds. He completed his task in the fourth and deciding race, surging during the leeward runs and creating what proved an insurmountable gap.

Meanwhile, Heiner and Law hooked up in the tightest battle during the afternoon session, although like the rest the result was still 3-0.

Law surrendered race one without much of a fight, but looked like winning race two, which he led for the first four legs before erring in choosing a left line of attack on the last windward leg while Heiner made up ground going to the right, was first around the mark and held on to the finish.

Race three took on a similar appearance as the first with Heiner seizing command early and never relinquishing it.

Number one seed Dickson was in and out of the water early during the morning session as he had little difficulty against another Bermudian, Martin Siese.

Competing in his first match racing regatta, Siese proved no match for the man regarded in many quarters -- and most importantly in the rankings -- as the world's premier match racer, going down in three straight.

Other results had Kiwi Russell Coutts breezing past Peter Holmberg of the US Virgin Islands 3-0, defending champion Eddie Warden-Owen brushing off the challenge of Germany's Markus Wieser 3-0, Ed Baird successful against Magnus Holmberg 3-0, and Paul Cayard defeating Robert Fry 3-1.

FAMOUS VICTORY -- Bermuda's Peter Brobmy, left, thouroughly dominated French seventh seed Marc pajot en route to a 3-0 first-round win yesterday. He faces world champion Russell Coutts tomorrow.