At the halfway mark of the 2002 Bacardi Rum International Race Week, several of the Island's leading skippers remain on course for top honours.

Bermuda's Peter Bromby (Etchells), John Thompson (105s) and Chuck Millican (505s) all lead their respective classes and will be looking to apply the finishing touches when racing resumes tomorrow after today's rest day.

After providing competitors with ideal weather conditions over the first two days, Mother Nature did an about turn yesterday, leaving sailors and officials alike quite literally chasing the breeze.

Having charted the race course at 210 degrees, which saw sailors race upwind in a south-south-westerly direction, organisers had to make some drastic changes. By the time racing had concluded, incredibly the compass read 320 north-west!

However, during the interim, sailors provided the sparse armada of spectator boats on hand with another fine exhibition of seamanship, competition and fun - at least on the Alpha course where there were no protests of any sort.

On the Bravo course there were as many protests in the Laser and Comet fleets as there were whitecaps on the Great Sound.

The Etchells fleet was the first to see action and when they returned downwind with spinnakers fully bulging in the breeze, Bromby and his crew, comprised of Martin Siese and Brian Hillier, were jibing for line honours.

By the time they reached the second weather mark, Bromby still held a slight lead as he went on to take the first race.

But victory didn't come cheaply as the Olympian tore his spinnaker in the process and held up the start of the second race while he and his crew frantically repaired the damage.

Before racing could resume, officials had to make the first of two course alterations.

Despite the long delay, when race two finally started, Bromby had it all his own way as he took a commanding advantage.

"We are in pretty good shape now," said Bromby afterwards. "We've still got two more races on Thursday and the breeze should be up, which would sure be a help. You saw the breeze go lighter today and you could also see how the fleet was spread out a lot more. If we get the breeze back on Thursday, then I think that it will work in our favour."

Meanwhile, in the 105s, Bromby's compatriot John Thompson still holds a marginal lead over local sailing duo Derek Ratteray and Glenn Astwood, who sailed to two victories yesterday to close the gap at the top and make things a bit more interesting.

"Well, we knew that we had to do something and not let him (Thompson) run away like he did on Sunday," said Astwood. "So we had a good day. We sailed well, the crew were fantastic and we couldn't have asked for more."

American sailor Charlie Van Voorhuis clinched the International One Design (IOD) A Series Trophy yesterday, but still has a lot of ground to make up in the overall series where compatriot Bruce Dyson has a comfortable four point lead.

In Snipe action, American Eric Reinke still tops the leaderboard as Bermudian and defending champion Stevie Dickinson's woes continued yesterday. He finished in fourth place and is now eight points adrift of the leader.

Bermudian Chuck Millican holds a three point lead in the 505 fleet.

In the J-24s, Canadian Jim Burns holds a slim one point lead over Bermudian Jon Corless heading into the final two days of racing, and like many of his countrymen who have made the short journey across the Atlantic for this year's event, is relishing the pleasant weather conditions.

"This is our third time in Bermuda and we are absolutely delighted to be here," said Burns. "We just missed finishing in the top three the last two times and we are quite determined to make sure that we do finish in the top three this time. Winning it would be very sweet indeed."

In Lasers, Bermudian Malcolm Smith continues to lead the way, after another dominating performance yesterday en route to two firsts, while in the Comet fleet the day's final results were subject to protest.