It's been a week since Bermuda International Invitational Race Week concluded. Yet for joyous skipper Peter Backeberg, the celebrations continue.

The Royal Gazette advertising and features editor enjoyed a memorable regatta, which culminated on a high note as he claimed runner's up honors in the J-24 fleet on his Race Week debut as a helmsman.

Backeberg was second only to eventual winner Trevor Boyce, who led the regatta from start to finish.

"We didn't have particularly high expectations for the week as our spinnaker trimmer dropped out at the last minute and it was my first Race Week as skipper," he said. "But what we did say from the get go was we needed to be consistent to try and stay in every race.

"I remember seeing Stuart Jardine (2007 Race Week J-24 winner) win this regatta, despite only winning one race. So consistency is what we focused on, and it paid off. We never got worse than a fifth (out of 12 boats) and wrapped up second- place pretty comfortably.

"That said, it was pretty apparent we were racing for second after about day two because New Wave (Boyce) was just flying and they dominated the regatta all week."

Backeberg also hailed his crew (John Nicholls, Russell Dey, Joe DeSilva and Tanya Theriault) who each played integral roles to help make this year's Race Week a truly special one for their skipper.

"In sailing the skipper gets a lot of the attention but it's really all about the team," he added. "Our tactician (Nicholls) called a great regatta and kept us in every race - even when we had bad starts. Having Russell back on the foredeck meant we nailed just about every rounding and no lay-line was too short.

"Joe, who stepped in at the last minute, learned very quickly and he and Tanya did a fantastic job getting the kite up and down in some pretty windy conditions."

Canadian crew member Theriault is the assistant news editor at The Royal Gazette, a veteran of two Race Week regattas and now a survivor of last Thursday's heavy 25 to 30 gusts that hammered the race fleet in the Great Sound.

"We had great consistent results last week - even in the face of Thursday's hairy conditions - and a lot of fun," she said. "No one went overboard and only one crew member bled on board. Happily, it was not me, although my knee is now the size of a grapefruit."

Jeff Arnst, Royal Gazette E-Business manager, wasn't as successful as his work colleagues sailing in the International One Design (IOD) fleet. Yet he still had a major say in determining the eventual 'B' Series title as he unselfishly withdrew from the final race to enable eventual winner Jan Petter Roed to sail in his boat after the latter's IOD was damaged in a collision the day before.

Like Backeberg, it was also Arnst's first time competing in Race Week at the helm of a boat.

"I really had a great time and learned a lot," he said.

"I had a few good races and didn't hit anybody on the course."