off with four titles and remaining in contention for at least one other.

Peter Commette, James Jacob, Alan Scharfe and John Alofsin all reaped the fruits of consistently good sailing -- along with a bit of luck -- and were last night celebrating jobs well done.

After turning down two prior invitations, Commette finally arrived to steal away the Snipes prize after enduring several exhausting battles with local expert Stevie Dickinson.

Commette made full use of his expertise at the starting line, constantly forcing the rest of the fleet into a game of `catch-up'. His one mistake came in the last race when he was disqualified for a premature start, but by this time the championship had already been settled.

Dickinson wound up second overall, followed by Birger Jansen.

"It really feels great to win,'' said Commette, while savouring his triumph.

"I've been doing a lot of experimenting with rigs and sails and at this regatta I had hoped to draw on this experimentation to see if I would be fast.

I'm very pleased that it seemed to have worked.

"It's been fun with good, tough competition...and that's what I sail for.'' Jacob, a former entrant in the Snipes Class, moved over to the Lasers and found the waters there even more enjoyable.

Trailing Bermudian Adam Barboza entering the day, Jacob knuckled down to the task, snatching race five and placing second in the sixth to overhaul the leader.

A sudden drop in wind speed for the latter race had a severe effect on Barboza, as he plummeted to seventh -- he was third in the previous race -- and fell to third overall, with Peter Johnstone moving to second.

Scharfe Likewise took advantage of his competition's shortcomings in the light breezes to emerge on top of the Sunfish Class.

Overnight leader Harry League foundered during the last race, losing boat speed and paid the ultimate price.

Bermuda though brought forth the goods among the Comets, which produced perhaps the most exciting finish of all, with long-time veteran Rudy Bailey out-duelling another year-round campaigner, Howard Lee.

Separated by a mere fraction of a point as they set off on the final run, Lee and Bailey engaged in a riveting contest that had the former lead Bailey through the first four legs, only to have Bailey surge ahead on the final two and call on all his guile and ability to cross the finish less than a boat-length ahead.

Meanwhile, Alofsin rapped up his first International Race Week as a skipper -- he won last year crewing for Peter Eastman -- recording two fourths on the day, thus fending off main challengers Brit Hughes (second overall) and Doug Clark (third).

"We were lucky to have won (the title) in the first race (of the day), which allowed us to just enjoy ourselves in the second,'' said Alofsin. "It was hard with three or four boats extremely close. We had to stay ahead of Brit and were fortunate to do so.'' Another local, Tim Patton, appears to have sewn up the highly regarded Etchells 22 Class on the basis of three straight victories and hinted that he may decide not compete in today's race, the last of seven.

"We're going to have a look at the conditions tomorrow and if it looks like a nice day we'll go for a sail,'' said Patton. "If not then we won't. We don't want to jeopardise the positions of the other boats, because the quarter point in first place makes a difference in that.'' William Shore enhanced his chances for overall International One Design (IOD) honours notching a win and a runner-up spot in the second and third `B' Series races.

Britain also enjoyed success through Giles Peckham, who won race three.

VICTORY BOUND -- American John Alofsin (Erin) and his crew are seen on their way to an overall victory in the J24 Class during yesterday's International Race Week competition.