Time ran out for Bermuda's two Argo Group Gold Cup contenders on Hamilton harbour yesterday as both veteran skipper Blythe Walker and first-time competitor Lance Fraser were knocked out of competition after etching just one point on the scoreboard finishing 1-5 in their round robin matches overall.

While disappointed to be unable to move on to the quarter finals, 17-year-old Fraser and his TOP's Ltd. team including Gareth Williams, Rockal Evens, and Jorge Chiapparo leave the playing field after their Gold Cup debut secure that they did their very best against a roster of the world's best sailors including three-time Olympian Ben Ainslie of Great Britain and 2009 Match Racing Tour Winner Adam Minoprio of New Zealand.

"We feel we sailed better than our record shows and we did go out against the top sailors in the world over the past two days," said Fraser. "It's definitely been a huge opportunity and no one my age has ever done this. Our team bonded together well and we only really started sailing together last week. We felt we were really close in every race, winning one today."

Fraser's first race today was against Damien Iehl of France and while the hometown boys were in the hunt around the course they failed to close the gap on the French team. In race 2, they overcame a penalty incurred at the start to win the race against Jakub Pawluk of Poland.

"In the first race we did well in the pre-start and fought hard all the way up the course," Fraser said. "I made a mistake by going to the right and Iehl just picked the shifts well. In the second race, we did get a penalty at the pre-start that could have set us back but were able to extend our lead around the course and do the penalty turn at the finish line in time. It was really good to get the win."

In the final race against up and coming New Zealander Reuben Corbett, the team struggled at the pre-start giving Corbett a few precious boat lengths to work with. On the third leg of the final race, Fraser closed the gap to one boat length but Corbett again was able to play the shifts and keep ahead to take the win. "It was our 'almost' regatta,' said bow man Jorge Chiapparo after the race. "I feel we had a lot of fun, laughing, making jokes as a team and we were competitive against sailors like Adam Minoprio so we have shown that we all know the game and what to do. With more time together, we think the scoreboard would have been different."

"Perhaps what we really need to do now is join the World Match Racing Tour," added Fraser smiling. With the tours' next event set in Malaysia in late November, Fraser will likely be focusing on finishing high school but the presence of such a high calibre event in local waters does plant the seed for future dreams that for Fraser's team seem very attainable now.

Blythe Walker, 42, who was 18-years-old when he first raced in the Gold Cup here, has been a mentor to Fraser on the water in recent years. "With this event here, it's a great opportunity to mix it up with the good guys and test your mettle without incurring the cost of the tour," he said.

Walker and his RenaissanceRe team of Adam Barboza, Will Thompson, and Somers Kempe. Walker did not have his best event this week but did have one win today against American Dave Perry who was over the line early at the start giving Walker the advantage but it was too little, too late for the team.

"In our final race with Perry, we played the shifts and kept our lead and really started to get into the groove," Walker said. "But, this year, we really got beat by Hamilton harbour. We had some good breaks but a lot of trouble with the breeze. There was no 'local knowledge' with these variable wind conditions and the lead changes we experienced over two days were tough."