Comet king Rudy Bailey and crew Fred Bulford stretched their unbeaten streak to five races over the weekend after withstanding a late challenge from West End Sail Boat Club stablemates Gladwin Lambert and Greg Proctor near the finish line to lift the Flag Pole to Flag Pole Regatta in St.George’s Harbour.

After leading the fleet over most of the course from the start line in Hamilton Harbour, Bailey appeared comfortably poised to release rival Stevie Dickinson’s grip on the title.

Lambert, however, nearly stole Bailey’s thunder when he fractionally grabbed the lead to make things interesting in light air conditions heading through St.George’s Town Cut after making up considerable ground on a reach just off Fort St.Catherine.

“He (Lambert) wasn’t nowhere near me and as I went through the Cut I led him by about 75 yards. But he just ran me down with his personal puff of wind. The wind was very light and Gladwin got this one puff of wind that pushed him about half a boat length in front of me,” a triumphant Bailey said.

“We are good friends and all that, but I wasn’t going to just roll over and surrender the race. I didn’t sail this long and hard to lose by a couple yards from the finish line. So I positioned myself underneath him and accelerated and was able to keep him a couple of boat lengths behind me.”

For the second year straight Lambert had to settle for runners-up honours while three-time defending champion Stevie Dickinson came third.

“I’m so close so many times, but I just need something extra to be able to get victory over these guys (Bailey and Dickinson),” Lambert lamented. “I closed in on Bailey and we were side by side going through the Cut.

“I don’t want to say that he is lucky — but he is lucky. He got about an inch under me and then my sail fell in which was funny because the same thing happened to him earlier in the Cut.

“But then he got going again and was able to get about three boat lengths on me and just held it until the end.”

Apart from Lambert’s spirited challenge near the finish, Bailey had things all his way. The veteran skipper led from the start and protected his lead tacking from Two Rock Passage to Hog Fish Beacon.

“I just wanted to get a clean start,” he added.

Bailey was then able to open a sizeable lead hiking down the North Shore in 15 to 18 knot breezes doing something he does best. “Very few people want to have a drag race with me,” he smiled. “We just set the sails about two thirds out and lit the after burners.”

Bailey’s perennial rival Dickinson tried his best to stay in contention, but eventually fell off the pace.

“I knew that with the light weight Stevie had in his boat he would have to work very hard to hang with us. I knew it was going to be a long afternoon for him,” Bailey said.

“I could see that Stevie had nothing left and Gladwin just blasted right along through him. But I have to give him credit because he hung in there for a quite a while.

“But it’s nice to win this race again — it’s just another chapter on my resume and all a part of my sailing preparations.

“To win this regatta you have to have everything clicking. And today (Sunday) we were clicking on all four cylinders. Boat speed was very good and despite being a bit rough and windy, it was a pretty comfortable ride.”

Dickinson, the current Edward Cross Cup champion, later conceded that the gamble to go with a lighter crew (M’Kai Hodsoll) might have cost him the regatta.

“I just didn’t have the weight to hold the boat. I was about 15 to 20 pounds lighter than he (Bailey) was and so I couldn’t hold him. He sailed a good race, I will give him that. But we can always get better,” Dickinson declared.

[bul] The 2007 Bermuda Fitted Dinghy season kicks off on Thursday in St.George’s Harbour where the Heritage Trophy, Anniversary Cup and Leon D.Fox Cup will again be competed for among representatives from Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (Contest III), Sandys Boat Club (Challenger), Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club (Elizabeth) and St.George’s Dinghy and Sailing Club (Victory IV).