have found a way to make the ideal connection.

Indeed east coast up tight and west coast laid back have combined to mesmerise and befuddle all who would challenge this unlikely pairing, one which ran away with the Snipes Class championship at this year's International Race Week Sponsored by Bacardi.

Szabo, the classic surfer dude who refuses to grow up, and Cronin, all business all the time, present quite an unusual recipe, but results do not lie and thus far the finished dish has been nothing less than delectable.

Five straight wins to begin the week -- they were second in the final race, rendered meaningless via the earlier results -- sent out an audible warning to the 31-member fleet. And with the North American Championships starting today the Szabo-Cronin tandem stands as the one for all to shoot for.

"Socially and tactically we're opposites,'' said Cronin, who owns her own graphic design business. "Socially I tend to be pretty serious and not a big drinker or big partier and he tends to be a bit more of the go-and-have-a-good-time (type) and I think I keep him a little more on the straight and narrow there. At the same time he lightens me up, so it's a give and take thing. Then tactically on the race course he really likes to play the centre while I prefer to test the edges.

"I have a nickname back home, which is the Queen of Leverage. I like to get up on people's hips and he likes to tack back to the centre, so we kind of talk about it and balance each other out there.'' Their backgrounds collide in that both were born into sailing families, however they deviate again, with Cronin affectionately describing how she used to go out on nice cruises with her family during her youth and later got into serious racing, while Szabo's early experiences represent something out of an action adventure movie.

"My dad sailed Star boats forever and from when I was three years-old I was dumped into a boat,'' said Szabo, a sail maker whose last name is Hungarian, but describes himself as `a mudbreed' with a little German, some Polish and some other stuff mixed in. "So I used to go sailing a lot and then at nine years-old you get a Laser and go out sailing.. .but forget about racing let's get 10 friends on board and go capsize the thing.

"You're around the water all the time and just keep sailing for fun and eventually decide `Okay, racing's fun too'.'' Certainly, the tacks taken may have been different, but results speak for themselves. These have not gone unnoticed with Szabo recently nominated for the Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Award and Cronin similarly for Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year.

They met during a regatta when both were in need -- Szabo in search of a crew, Cronin requiring a new skipper after parting ways with Henry Filter, who is also competing in Bermuda this week.

Continued on page 15 Unlikely pair team up to win Continued from page 13 Since that coming together the pair have conspired to arrive at events early in order to get in the necessary practice time for the sake of synchronising matters.

"George is one of the best,'' added Cronin, whose husband Paul is here as well. "We have a good time together, we laugh in the boat...we just have a lot of fun.'' Nevertheless, Szabo's happy-go-lucky personality has not hindered him from attaining great heights in his chosen sport, having won the last three Snipes Nationals, the last two North American Championships, two Lido-14 National Championships and competing at numerous other prestigious regattas involving Lidos, Thistles, Stars and Snipes.

"I've done a lot of what I set out to do'' said Szabo, whose wife Stacey is a sailor as well. "I guess the biggest point would be to just go out and have fun, when you start to get nervous you get a lot slower.'' Conversely Cronin has a ways to go towards satisfying her competitive appetite, with several women's regattas on her wish list.

"I'm going to steer at the Women's Nationals again and the Women's Worlds and again my crew lives in San Diego of all places.

"For this year my goal is to win the Women's Worlds and I've been working pretty hard toward that. I've been working with a trainer and trying to work on what I feel are my weaknesses in the boat.'' Winging it on the wind: Boats jostle for position in Race Week competition.