when the second race of the Bermuda Offshore Cruising Association's Summer Series was held on Sunday.

In class three, Free Falling (Ed Faries) led the way home followed by Reckless and Delphinus . In the cruising class No Regrets (Matthew Cairney) sailed a good race and led the way home ahead of Temptation (Claude Guay).

Fourteen boats drifted across the start line with a couple of knots of breeze in the second of the Summer Series races held by the Bermuda Offshore Cruising Association on Sunday.

The weathermen had forecast a southwest wind at 10 knots and a slightly optimistic course was set by the race committee, taking the fleet out of the harbour to a buoy off Pearl Island and then out of the Great Sound along North Shore to a buoy located off Shelly Bay.

After covering about two miles in two hours, however, a wise decision was made to shorten the course, making the turning mark the end of the Dundonald Channel and back in to Hamilton Harbour.

The spinnaker start was interesting as the wind direction could not be deciphered with any degree of certainty. Sails, which looked more like limp rags, were thrust from side to side and boats headed in all directions in an attempt to make the most of the frustratingly light conditions.

Some decided to follow the shoreline and go through Two Rock Passage while others opted for Head of the Lane and benefitted slightly in doing so.

Positions changed frequently as first one group and then the other would surge ahead, relatively speaking, in puffs which occasionally appeared from nowhere.

Tonka , sailed by Paul Hubbard, made a break from the fleet and headed for Head of the Lane only to be overhauled moments by Kirk Cooper's High Energy .

The two leaders then stopped dead while Delphinus (Neil Couper) and Pedestrian (Bill Riker) made a charge from behind.

Crew Cut (Marc Finnegan), not to be left out, suddenly found his own personal wind and sailed through the fleet to take a convincing lead. Positions changed frequently throughout the race as the light, shifty winds filled in and then dissipated within seconds.

Almost too late, the wind did fill in at around eight to 10 knots from the southeast which enabled the race to be completed and was a welcome relief after four hours in the sweltering heat.

Tempest (Arthur Whalley) in class three, alongwith KO2 (David Alexander) in cruising class, decided there wasn't enough excitement and retired due to the lack of wind.

The next event will be the St. George's weekend on the Saturday and Sunday after Cup Match when the fleet race down to St. George's Harbour on the Saturday and then sail off the east end on the Sunday.