An unflappable performance over four stormy Sundays earned first place in the Bermuda Offshore Cruising Association?s winter series.

Skippered through most of the series by Allan Williams, the J105 won four out of five races in the racing division.

John Thompson?s was second overall, while Steve Sherwin?s placed third.

Jonathan Baxter?stopped the cruising division with three firsts and two seconds. David Roblin?s was second, while Mark Edmunds? finished third.

Winds were strong on each of the four race days, providing a few hair-raising broaches and plenty of torn spinnakers.

The fleet faced its strongest winds with gusts over 35 knots in the second race of the series. Two men were swept overboard in that race ?one from and the other from . Both were safely recovered, buta 40-foot Farr racer that requires a crew of around 16, later fouled its jib, broached out of control and ran aground at Five Star Island.

The boat eventually managed to get itself off the rocks without damage, but withdrew from the race.

Winds moderated somewhat for the third race in the series, which saw Kirk Cooper?s J125on the water for the first time this year. Cooper sailed to first place, despite crossing the start line early, forcing him to head back to the start again.finished second, having been closely pursued throughout the day by , while notched another win in the cruising class.

The series concluded last Sunday with two windward-leeward races around buoys in the Great Sound, with winds once again approaching 30 knots.had another good day, building up a substantial lead over her nearest rival, , in both races, despite blowing the head off one spinnaker. came third, followed by and , which found herself knocked on her side for more than a minute when struck by a powerful gust during her first spinnaker run.

In the cruising class, picked up a pair of firsts while had two seconds, and two thirds.