Hamilton, Bermuda ? Hap Fauth?s race yacht was the first to finish the Centennial Newport Bermuda race at 15:12:18 EDT today (Tuesday) after a fourth night of light winds frustrated many of their larger rivals including the 98ft line honors New Zealand favorite Maximus. spectacular performance upset all predictions and leaves Fauth and his crew from Newport a good chance of winning the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Trophy for the best time on handicap.

crew must now wait to see how the other competitors finish on correct time. As night fell, , the IMX 45 skippered by Richard Shulman from Barrington, RI, looked to have the best chance of winning the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Trophy.

While led for much of this epic 635 mile race, Fauth and his crew overcame considerable adversity in what has become one of the most frunstrating light air races in recent memory. Becalmed for entire watches, also became tangled in a fish trap, forcing crew member Rob Myles to dive overboard and cut the yacht lose. Fauth put their victory down to concentration, teamwork and good tactical decisions

?It took an awful lot of patience, sticking with our game plan to get here first,? Fauth said. ?There is luck in this as well as anything else. To be the first to finish is something that we did not think we would do. It is an honor to have achieved this during the centennial year of the race.?

win was a true horizon job, with 43 minutes dividing this Judel Vrolijk 66 footer from John Thompson?s Andrews 77 from New York. Massachusetts native Sam Byrne?s maxi came across the finish line third, a further minute astern.

Fauth?s stunning performance over Charles St Clair Brown's 98-foot super maxi , which finished 1hr 10 minutes 53 seconds behind , marks one of the bigger upsets in this ocean classic. ?We think the biggest pay-off came when much of the fleet went east through the Gulf Stream, and we chose to head west." said Fauth. "There was a big, cold eddie to deal with and we felt there was more wind west of it.". A favorable current clearly gave a much-needed boost over the competition. ?We found ourselves going 8 knots through the water and 12.5knots over the ground, and knew we had made the right decision.?

17 man-crew included America?s Cup veteran Scott Vogel and navigator Dirk Johnson who had sailed with Fauth in last year's transatlantic race.

?Everyone here is sailing as an amateur and there are no paid professionals on board. Everyone is here because they want to be here,? Johnson of Newport, RI said that ?They are dedicated and we made it happen.?

While becalmed a number of times throughout the race, Johnson says ?the hardest moment was the last hour before the finish when we were becalmed yet again. Prior to that, we used humor and patience to get through the toughest parts.?

At press time, the first 12 yachts had finished this epic race in a freshening breeze that will help the smaller boats, still racing, do well on corrected time. The first Bermudan entry home was the 83ft maxi (the former record holder ) chartered by Buddy Rego and Bill Riker, which crossed the line in 9th place.

- Laurie Fullerton

2006 Newport Bermuda Race finishers

1. Bella Mente (H Fauth - New York) 15:12:18 EDT

2. Alchemy (J Thompson - New York) 15:54:50

3. Captivity (S Byrne - Hamilton MA) 15:55:51

4. Maximus (C St Clair Brown - NZ) 16:23:11

5. Zaraffa (S Sheldon - Shelburne VT) 16:54:24

6 Titan 12 (T Hill - Puerto Rico) 17:13:28

7. Blue Yankee (B Towse - Stanford CT) 17:14:26

8. Kodiak II (L Ecclestone - Palm Beach FL) 17:36:03

9. Hercules (B Rego - Paget, Bermuda) 17:42:43

10. Mischievous (T Fitzgibbons - Greenwich CT) 18:32:36