Passion is simply defined in the Oxford dictionary as strong emotion.

And it is just such instinctive feeling that drives sailing's Andy Green on his quest to become the best at his craft.

Thrust into the world of boating at the tender age of five by his father, Green -- now 26 -- has since embarked on water-swept odyssey that has seen the Englishman travel the world over, while competing against the best skippers sailing has to offer.

A year ago saw the golden-locked skipper with boyish countenance achieve a high point in winning the Colorcraft Gold Cup in the waters of Hamilton Harbour after a thrilling finale against Magnus Holmberg that ended 3-2 in favour of Green. The win brought along with it a bundle of cash, the honour of lifting the cherished gleaming gold trophy, and the priceless satisfaction of personal achievement.

"My view of life is that if you can follow your passion in life -- whatever it might be -- and make a living too, it's the best way to live,'' said Green during a morning press conference at Royal Bermuda Yacht Club.

"I've been sailing all my life. I've been involved in it since I was five years-old, sailing with my dad, and I've been lucky enough to manage my way into a career in sailing, which is my absolute passion.

"I say to anyone, `If you have a passion, follow it', because there are all sorts of ways of making a living out of your passion...and it often makes you a much better worker if you're passionate about it.'' Few would argue against the effort Green has put in, with evidence displayed not only in last year's triumph in Bermuda, but also by his subsequent success on the match racing circuit.

A fifth at this year's World Match Racing Championships in Split, Croatia, further affirmed his status as a rising star, and with two further victories at regattas in Canada and Sweden during the last three weeks suggest he is on ominous form ahead of what he described as the `biggie'.

"That's quite a trophy to get and we'll be doing our best to defend the trophy this year in front of some awesome competition,'' said Green, who will compete at the Knickerbocker Cup in New York and another regatta in Spain as tune-ups for the local event.

"It was quite an event a year ago and we didn't know we were going to win until the final run of the last race...it was definitely an emotional experience.

"Colorcraft, the title sponsors, have supported us fantastically over the last year and a half.

And certainly winning the Colorcraft Gold Cup was a major point in our life and our year last year.'' The pressure dial has though been turned up, with the likes of America's Cup champion skipper Russell Coutts, who Green described as the match racer of the decade, along with a veritable `who's who' of sailing set to arrive, each harbouring hopes of seizing the `Holy Grail' from the youngster.

"Russell Coutts, Dennis Conner, Dean Barker, Magnus Holmberg, Peter Gilmour, it doesn't really get much better than that.. .and those are only the seeded skippers,'' commented Green. "And with the unseeded skippers including the likes of Chris Dickson it's going to make it a very tough event.

"I'm aware of these things. We've always sailed well when we're under pressure, and we've always sailed well when up against the very best people.'' Green, ranked 23rd in the world, will be one of eight seeded skippers for the Colorcraft Gold Cup, with 14 unseeded crew leaders also confirmed and two more to be determined from the results of the Gosling's Black Seal Cup next weekend.

Bermuda's two teams competing at the J24 World Championships were finding the going rough, literally, in Newport Rhode Island, with Shelagh Tasker and John Corless both floundering near the bottom of the fleet.

Corless, encountered particular trouble during Tuesday's outing, which had extreme conditions as a feature. Corless failed to finish the third race due to a blown mainsail, as did several others.

The reigning National Champion thus sat in 70th place out of 73 boats following 62, 66 and the dreaded DNF.

Meanwhile, Tasker, on the basis of 54, 68 and 55 placements was in 65th position.

Green machine: Skipper Andy Green (centre) and crew in action during last year's Gold Cup final.