Veteran sailor Tim Patton proved again age is just a number as he and crew Paul Fisher and William Thompson claimed top honours at the 2008 Canadian Olympic Regatta Kingston (CORK) in Kingston, Ontario.

Competing against multiple Olympic medallist Hans Fohg and six-time Canadian Etchells National champion Allan Libel, Patton and crew proved more than equal to the task as they posted seven top three finishes including three bullets on the way to clinching the coveted title with a day of racing to spare.

Patton, who placed 34th at this year's Etchells World Championships in Chicago, attributed his most recent success to "flawless" crew work and his many years of experience at the helm.

"The great thing is that here I am at the age of 54 and I am still able to compete, which is the great thing about the sport of sailing. You do it for a lifetime," the affable skipper said.

"We have youngsters in Bermuda now competing on the world stage and that will go on for a long, long time which again is the great thing about sailing."

Patton started the regatta strongly with successive third place finishes in light air conditions on the first day and maintained his consistency throughout on the way to victory, which was eventually sealed with back-to-back bullets on the penultimate day of the four-day event.

"We were obviously pleased to have won the regatta but I was a bit surprised we were able to take those guys on," Patton added. "But this is a game that you keep on playing and get better and better at it as time goes by.

"Crew work was flawless; these guys are world class sailors. Paul has sailed before with Peter Bromby in the Olympics while William has competed several times this year at world class level overseas."

Patton has now shifted his focus to next spring's World Championships Down Under where he hopes to improve upon his previous performance at the world class regatta.