A different boat, a different race, but the revenge for Hap Fauth was no less sweet.

The 61-year-old brought his pride and joy, across the St. David?s Lighthouse in just over four days, claiming line honours in the centennial Newport to Bermuda Race and beating the comfortable pre-race Demonstration Division favourite

Last year, racing in his other boat Fauth was ?whipped? by in a Transatlantic Race and was delighted to beat off the 98ft rival ? and all the 263 other boats ? in the 635-mile dash for home this time around.

?It is sweet revenge,? said Fauth, who first completed this race as a 16-year-old.

?We didn?t think going into this race we would be able to finish first across the line, maybe first in our class, but not first overall. To beat a boat like means a lot because of what she did to us when we raced her before.

?But to win the centennial race is very special. It means a lot to us and I have to give the credit to this crew. It was all about navigation, patience, sticking to the plan, preparation and execution.?

It wasn?t smooth sailing for translated as a Beautiful Mind or Spirit?, ?because that?s what I have when I sail her? ? who completed the course in one of the slowest times in recent memory.

The boat was becalmed on a number of occasions during the route with the wind varying from zero knots up to around 12 at various stages of the race.

The event was won by taking a westerly approach to the course, taking advantage of a ?big, cold eddy? that was the difference between winning and losing.

The majority of the rest of the fleet ? including which had predicted crossing times as low as 33 hours in good conditions ? went east of the rhumb line and even though briefly took the lead in the closing 100 miles, Fauth?s JV 66 held on for the win.

But all could have been so different had an early obstacle not been better negotiated.

?Early on we found ourselves caught in a fish trap,? recalled Fauth after the traditional dark ?n? stormies had been brought aboard at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club early evening yesterday.

?This wasn?t just a lobster pot, this was a nasty fish trap. We had to send the skipper overboard to cut us out. If it wasn?t for that we wouldn?t have got very far at all.?which was bought in St. Tropez last year by Fauth after having previously been known as , was racing in the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division and was first over the line by 43 minutes, beating Samuel Byrne?s and John Thompson jr?s

Charles Brown?s the $8 million favourite, finished 71 minutes later to claim the Demonstration Division crown.

Although the line honours went to the corrected time victors will not be known until more boats are in and a whole host of other prizes across the 16 divisions and various classes will be decided by the end of today.

Other boats finished in dribs and drabs throughout the late afternoon and evening, with a large number expected to finish in the early hours of the night and later this morning. It is unlikely boats will still be negotiating the course this evening with everyone, except perhaps a couple of stragglers, likely to be in by mid-afternoon.

The race to be the first Bermudian boat home is likely to be a close run thing between owned by Robert Mulderig but under the control of Kirk Cooper in his 24th Newport-Bermuda Race, and Dr. Steve Sherwin?s with both expected to be home by midnight last night.

Colin Couper?s with Governor Sir John Vereker aboard, was expected to cross the finish line at 5 or 6 a.m. today.

The Onion Patch series will be raced locally towards the end of the week with a prize-giving, hosted by Princess Anne, taking place on Saturday evening.

Many of the sailors are expected to stay through the weekend, with several boats flying in relief crews to take vessels home or on to their next racing appointment.