WITH two Olympic class regattas completed this season and two championship crowns to her name, life is sweet for Cowes-based Shirley Robertson and her crew of Sarah Ayton and Inga Leask.

They've just stormed to victory in the 34th Princess Sofia Trophy, the key to their success being consistency and the addition of Ian Walker, double Olympic silver medalist and GBR Challenge skipper, as their coach.

All of the medal haulers from the Sydney Olympics were in Palma for the Grade two and three Olympic qualifier on April 13-18. Other heavy duty names included Ben Ainslie, Iain Percy and Steve Mitchell, Ian Barker and Simon Hiscocks from Britain, as well as other international medalists.

Five days of testing conditions on the bay of Palma saw Team GBR and other Brit contenders produce three first and three second-placed podium positions between them.

As racing unfolded Robertson and her Yngling crew were notching up some good results - no doubt springboarding from their excellent win at the Barcelona regatta the week before.

After day three the leading British crew were in third place following two thirds and an eighth. "Our mainsail came down after the start in two races today," Robertson mentioned while appraising their results.

Speaking about Ian Walker taking on the mantle as her crew's coach, Shirley conceded the catalyst to their increased altitude on the leaderboard has been his addition. "I was trying to find consistency in a coach and Ian was interested in getting involved in the Olympics again. Ian has brought a wealth of experience to our campaign with his 470, Star and America's Cup experience."

On day four the Volvo Team GBR Yngling entry claimed a fourth and fifth.

Robertson, Ayton and Leask took out 12 boats on one of the runs. In their second race of the day they sailed cleanly on the lay-line and again took out a fair number of boats. They were sailing tactically.

Their main competition was deep down in the fleet. The Brit team got up into second and held on to its position. It was Robertson's best day for consistency. On the final day they were leading by two points going into the final race. They stayed with Melanie Dennison of Australia, who was leading, and they clung on to second place.

A 19 in the final race secured Robertson/Ayton/Leask first place overall with a six-point lead over the Danish team. "This week puts us in serious contention within the fleet for next year," added Robertson, "our focus is the end of the year and the worlds in Cadiz. We know what we are capable of."

By day two of the regatta strong winds meant breakages were hampering top competitors' performances out on the bay of Palma.

In the 24-boat Star class, Iain Percy and Steve Mitchell secured their second bullet of the regatta. Sailing a boat that had arrived in town only one week prior to the start, the pair were concentrating on tuning it up.

A few teething problems with gear failure throughout the week dogged their path to their usual top slot. However, they clocked up a good four wins to hold on to second overall.

As Tornado sailor Adam May succinctly put it: "The rest of the Brits are jealous that Percy and Mitchell are having a bad day and have come second."

"We're not worried," commented a relaxed Percy after racing. "Xavier Rohart from France is having problems this week and is usually in the top three or four. There are some minor problems with getting the boat set, plus a few breakages, but we're not concerned."

Looking ahead Percy concluded: "We train, we sit down and dissect our progress each month with Syd our coach, assess and update our goals, work on the boat and then our bodies."

The 80-strong 49er class was split into two groups for three days of qualifying rounds before the usual gold and silver fleet play-offs. Light conditions allowed for just one race on day one.

Chris Draper and 49er silver medalist Simon Hiscocks held their ISAF ranking of two by holding on to fourth place.

Locks Heath's Paul Brotherton and Mark Asquith from Stubbington were not quite able to hold on to their tail. They managed an 11th.

"We know what we've got to do," admitted Brotherton. "We did well in Barcelona last week so we know what we are capable of, but had problems with our setting today and couldn't get into the groove."

As the week developed, Brotherton and Asquith pulled out some top results. The final day and hence result came down to a protest which left them 3.6 points shy of third place. However, they beat closest British rivals Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks.

ISAF ranked number seven, Alister Richardson and Peter Greenhalgh, failed to make the gold fleet and finished fourth in the silver.

The sexy asymmetric spinnaker-suited Tornado saw recent pairings snapping at the heels of old hats Hugh Styles and Adam May.

Olympic silver medalist Ian Barker and Dan Newman looked hopeful and Leigh McMillan and crewman Mark Bulkeley, who had both put in a lot of serious training through the winter, fancied their chances at toppling the pair.

As Britain basked in a heat wave, the European island of Mallorca continued to suffer the brunt of a cold front loaded with rain and a breeze which took its time to fill but which built to a whipping 25-knots.

Leigh McMillan, from Cowes, and Southampton's Mark Bulkeley, substantiating their air of confidence at the beginning of the championship, scored a first in the opening race of day two.

With 56 boats in the Tornado class the competition was generally tough, but after five days Lee-on-the-Solent's Hugh Styles and Adam May scored silver. The depth of Styles and May's experience showed through, holding off nippers Leigh and Mark to finish in second place overall - while the youngsters attained a respectable sixth.

Over on the Finn course, Volvo Team GBR member Ben Ainslie was leading after two days. Day four saw his advantage reduced and an incident in which he hit the mark on the final day lost him valuable time, dropping him to second overall.

Ainslie's Laser tune-up partner from Sydney, Hampshire's Paul Goodison, was holding on to first early on in the week. Places changed throughout the week. The Laser Worlds bronze medalist closed the regatta with a second overall.

Gold went to Team GBR Mistral sailor Nick Dempsey from Weymouth who sailed an excellent series, scoring four first places, with only two results outside the top five, to win by three points from worlds bronze medalist Julien Bontemps of France. Teammate Dom Tidey finished 11th overall.

Meanwhile, the dark horse in the Yngling fleet is the 1980s Olympic sailor Cathy Foster. After 12 years of coaching, the first lady of the Olympics has returned to take up the reigns of her own campaign once again. A helming invitation on a Yngling last year with her now bow woman Jane Norris obviously stoked the embers of her sailing passion. With a ten-year-old boat her team set about mastering the art of this little-known keelboat. They came third in their first regatta and finished mid-fleet in Palma.