his vessel after falling through the forward hatch and breaking his leg in pre-start manoeuvres for the last two Onion Patch races yesterday.

In a courageous real-life enactment of the saying "physician heal thyself'' the former paramedic instructed the remainder of his crewmates in how to deal with his injuries before ordering them to focus on the main work of the morning -- winning the series.

Hough, who was left below deck in a bunk with only a packet of extra-strength Tylenol for company, had to wait until the end of the first race in the Great Sound to be picked up by a RYBC boat and taken to Darrell's Wharf where he was put in an ambulance.

The remaining sailors did him proud as Ugly Duckling , a Swann 44 skippered by Bill Kardash, finished as top individual yacht to take the Henry B du Pont trophy.

Hough, from Chester, Maryland, was last night in the King Edward VIIth Memorial Hospital suffering from a serious fracture and bruised ribs. His condition was said to be satisfactory.

Race director Talbot Wilson was one of those who helped transfer Hough to dry land. He said: "There was material on board that could be shaped into a splint and he showed his crewmates how to do it. After the race we pulled alongside and he edged along the edge of the boat and we lifted him on to a rolled up sail on our boat. It wasn't easy because he's a big guy.'' The Onion Patch series consists of five races, two held as part of the New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta, the Newport-Bermuda, and yesterday's pair in the Great Sound as part of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Anniversary Regatta.

A total of 38 boats took part yesterday, racing either individually or as teams of three for the Onion Patch trophy itself.

Bright Star , Wonder and Morning Glory , together representing New York Yacht Club 2, took that.

The initial two races, staged off Newport on June 13 and 14, were hit by appalling conditions. But the weather was altogether kinder yesterday with bright sunshine and breezes of eight knots for the first race and 12 knots for the second.

Meanwhile, the stragglers in the Newport-Bermuda race were still making slow progress towards the finish line.

UNLUCKY BREAK -- Ugly Duckling crew member William Hough is helped to a waiting ambulance after being injured before the start of yesterday's racing in the Great Sound.