The tournament, which saw an increase of 20 players on last year, was arranged in four ability-graded mixed divisions.

Conte beat Stephen Young 15-11, 15-12, 15-14 in Division A, while Barnes got by Daniele Bortoli 15-7, 15-13, 15-8 in Division B and Jetha downed Tony Bukhari 15-14, 15-14, 4-15, 15-10 in Division C.

Zuill took Division D honours when he stopped Chris Defoa 15-13, 12-15, 15-9, 15-5.

A points handicapping system was used to give all competitors an equal chance of winning their division.

Conte dashed the title hopes of Stephen Young in a what was a close encounter despite the 3-0 scoreline.

Playing off scratch, Young's risk taking tactics which saw him successfully dispatch club first-team players Murray Brewer and Tony Prentice in previous rounds with a favourable handicap position, was not as effective against the steady play of Conte.

The Division B battle between Barnes and junior international Bortoli saw experience win through in the end, while in the `C' final Jetha also faced a determined opponent in Bukhari before clinching victory in four games.

The nine points per game lead was a big help to Zuill who needed four games to claim victory over Defoa in Division D.

SAILING SLG Alexander Kirkland picked up three firsts and two seconds for 41.4 points during five Optimist Pram dinghy races held in 15-25 knot winds on Sunday in Hamilton Harbour.

Only the blue division, for more experienced sailors, competed as the strong winds kept novices in the yellow division back on shore.

The day was Kirkland's best so far in the current series and showed what he can do with a new boat. As well as winning the day's racing, he also leads the series with 12 points overall from two rounds of competition.

Kirkland took the series lead from Giles Spurling who could only manage a first, second and three thirds, while Eric Deichmann was fourth in every race.

A.J. Crane started her climb back up the fleet after missing the previous race day, as she had a first, two seconds and a third for 73 points.