It was 14th time lucky for Robert DeCosta whose first Round the Island Powerboat victory was achieved in the nastiest of conditions.

The Powerboat Association commodore swept home to roars from the 350 or so sun-baked spectators at Ferry Reach yesterday to mark a long-awaited and popular victory.

A choppy South Shore slowed his overall and Class D victory to 49 minutes and seven seconds on a day in which only six boats crossed the finish line in racing times.

Ten foot swells to the south and mechanical problems claimed five victims from the original field of 11, with DeCosta damaging his propeller blade and snapping an engine cable on his way to the win.

?I have to admit there was a time when I was thinking I might just give up,? said a beaming DeCosta as he unzipped himself from his wetsuit alongside Kindley Field Road yesterday after a crash-free day of competition in the annual event, postponed from last week after inclement weather.

?It was nasty out there, real nasty. That was the nastiest I have seen it in all my years. They said three to five foot swells, but they didn?t mention the tens.

?It was pretty messy out there. It was bad from Church Bay to Devonshire Bay, but from Devonshire Bay to Fort St. Catherine it was just real nasty.

?I think we nosedived six or seven times and when you get slapped in the face with water that often it makes you think maybe you should quit.

?But I am glad we kept going. That?s 14 times for me now, and, at last, my first win.?

And DeCosta?s victory was not only a personal triumph, but also a triumph for the bat boats.

The pre-race talk was that bad conditions would favour the S class boats, such as that driven by Deric Seymour with Andy Stoneham which came in second, but it was the bat of DeCosta that won.

?They were all talking saying the bat boat had no chance, but this win gives me and my style of boat bragging rights,? added DeCosta, who, along with co-driver Chris Wells, threw arms into the air as the 23-foot boat crossed the finish line 50ft ahead of Seymour and Stoneham.

?I won and I am safe ? that makes me very happy. And because I didn?t get hurt, my wife says I can race again next year.?

Seymour and Stoneham finished second in a total race time of 39 minutes and 53 seconds for the 46-mile circumnavigation.

Although the days of 10,000 turning out to watch 35 F-1 boats are over, the 11-boat race still drew plenty of spectators and despite the awkward conditions on the ?back straight? of South Shore there was no repeat of the tragedy of 2002 when New Zealander Stuart Smith was killed.

Also in the S-class, last year?s champion Ricky Sousa and Edward Roque came third in 43.03 while the B-class was won by Chris Roque and Mark Richardson in one hour 11 minutes and 50 seconds.

There were no race time finishes in the A or C classes.

In the jet-ski race, held earlier in the day, Scott Barns? Yamaha was the modified class leader and overall winner in 35 minutes and four seconds while Dorann Simons finished first in the stock class in 38 minutes and 29 seconds and third overall.

Twenty-five crash boats were out on the course and although a number of boats needed towing help, including the odd one on North Shore, the race was considered a resounding, albeit on a smaller scale, success, and well worth the extra week?s wait.