teeth in guiding her to consecutive victories at yesterday's races hosted by the Sandys Boat Club in Mangrove Bay.

Under splendid conditions, with reasonable wind and blazing sunshine as well as having a sizeable spectator fleet on hand, the competitors did not disappoint, producing a thrilling series of races that left onlookers' appetite for excitement more than satisfied.

In each race Echo was made to battle from behind during the latter stages to eclipse all others at the finish. Particularly intriguing was the second race as Contest III appeared to have things all but sewn up, sailing around the last leeward mark with a comfortable lead while Echo looked to have blown any chance of winning after enduring spinnaker problems. For their efforts, the Somerset syndicate captured both the 50th Anniversary and BMM Trophies, but still it was Contest that was able to reap most benefits and inch ever closer to hoisting the Coronation Cup as the best overall.

On the strength of third (protest pending) and second-place finishes, skipper Hughie Watlington widened the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club craft's lead over Paul Fisher and Challenger II to five-and-three-quarter points with only four races left to decide the championship. Contest have 66 points compared to 601 for Challenger while Echo are third on 471 .

Challenger surprisingly was a virtual non-factor on the day, threatening only briefly during the early stages of each race before falling off the pace.

The day began innocently enough with all six boats getting off to an ordinary start. But drama would soon unfold as Victory IV , chasing her first win of the season, was adjudged to have made contact rounding the first windward mark, forcing her disqualification and then there was contact between Elizabeth and Challenger that drew a protest from the latter.

Following the pull-out by Victory , the lead shuffled between Contest , Elizabeth and Challenger before Siese was able to make use of his superior knowledge of the west-end wind shifts to cross the line first. Meanwhile, Elizabeth raised some eyebrows in finishing second, her best placing thus far.

Contest wound up third followed by Challenger and Bloodhound , skippered by Jordy Walker in place of Bill McNiven.

Amid complaints from Elizabeth -- apparently not used to starting alongside the leaders -- race two also began cleanly and saw Contest seize the early initiative.

Travelling five abreast and with spinnakers lofted heading up the leeward leg the scene was a picture of beauty with only Bloodhound lost in the splendour of an all-out battle.

The jostling at the turn was all the more amazing in that no one collided despite all being within arms reach of each other and neither willing to surrender ground.

Contest emerged the best for wear and until that fateful final leg no one would have bet against their chances. However, Siese proved that luck was riding with the underdog. Challenger again trailed home Contest as Elizabeth slipped to fourth. Victory and Bloodhound rounded out the list of finishers.

Afterwards Siese said he was pleased with his boat's performance yesterday and indeed throughout the year, but he conceded that the overall championship is probably out of their reach, especially with an 183 points deficit facing them and only four races pending.