Singapore?s Nicolas DeCruz and Elizabeth Yin completed a clean sweep of top honours on the fifth and final day of the Arch Byte CII World Championship 2006 in the Great Sound on Saturday.

In contrasting styles, both skippers did just enough to clinch their respective divisions in shifty eight to 12 knot seas.

DeCruz pipped Bermuda?s Malcolm Smith by a mere two points to win the men?s title while Yin ? despite being yellow flagged in the final race of the regatta ? finished a comfortable 30 points ahead of nearest rival Eleanor Gardner who led the overall fleet earlier in the regatta.

Defending women?s champion, Hana Blore of England, finished third while Bermuda?s William Hutchings finished strong to beat out Singapore?s Jonathan Chew for third place honours among the men.

?The last days of the regatta were very much to my liking because the winds were strong,? stated a victorious DeCruz. ?It was a bit of pressure on me because our coach doesn?t allow us to know our scores. So I really didn?t know the points or anything like that and I think my concentration was off a bit towards the end which cost me both races.?

Entering the final two races of the regatta with a six point lead over Smith, DeCruz surrendered valuable real estate to his rival who finished one (sixth) better then him in the first race to keep things close at the top.

However, any thoughts of a dramatic finale went up in smoke in the final race as both skippers were left stranded on the outside of a healthy shift on the first beat and ended up limping across the finish towards the back of the fleet.

?My strategy today was to survive and keep close with Malcolm,? DeCruz explained. ?But the wind was not strong enough and I think I made a few careless mistakes out there today.?

As for compatriot Yin, the smile on her face spoke volumes.

?It was quite tiring out there because I had to hike a lot in strong winds,? she said. ?But I?m happy to win this year after finishing second last year.

?And it has been fun, although the local sailors were strong in the light winds.

Smith, meanwhile, took things all in stride.

?I achieved my goal considering this was my first and probably last Byte Worlds,? the 46-year-old skipper told The Royal Gazette. ?To finish second to someone like Nicolas is quite an achievement because they have a huge Byte class in Singapore where they have like 135 boats competing in their nationals.

?So to be able to compete at this level against these sailors is quite an achievement. My goal today was to try and win the regatta and the first race I got a good start and immediately sought where Nicolas was so that I could stay with him.?

However, Smith lost vital ground to his rival at the end of a beat at the first windward mark after missing a shift.

?I couldn?t let Nicolas get too far ahead and we played the right tack at the end of the beat the left side paid off and two sailors got in between us and so I think we ended up sixth and seventh,? Smith added.

?Going into the last race I had another good start but got forced to the right and when that big left came in on the first beat of the second race, it was just too much and we both finished deep in the 20s ? which was good for him (DeCruz).

?But all in all it was a good regatta and the level of sailing was very high and my hat goes off to Nicolas who sailed a great regatta.?