upper echelon and the rest of the fleet closed considerably after yesterday's racing in Mangrove Bay.

Favourite -- and current leader -- to take the cup, Challenger faltered badly at a time when she was in position to put the title out of reach with favourable placings ... and in her back yard to boot.

However, a fourth, second and a sinking was all skipper Paul Fisher and his hardy crew could manage, which caused an eight-and-one-quarter point lead entering yesterday to shrink to a mere six, with just two races remaining.

What is certain is that Contest will not repeat as champion. The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club representative was mathematicaly eliminated from the runnings, needing to make up more than 16 points in two races.

Overly cautious tactics may have contributed to the leader's downfall as Fisher and his men looked ill at ease under conditions that saw winds out of the south gusting upward of 20 knots.

"We were just trying to stay afloat,'' said Fisher, relaxing at Sandys Boat Club following a tortuous day on the water. "We didn't sail well -- especially in the first race -- and were a bit conservative.

"We still stand as good a chance as anybody of winning (the Coronation Cup.

It's not guaranteed to anybody until the end of the last day.

"I think Peter (Bromby) is a very good sailor and is capable of pulling things off ... whoever has a bad race will lose out.'' Bromby missed Sunday's racing because he is at the Nations Cup finals in Holland, but he left Echo's reins in the more-than-capable hands of fellow west-ender Martin Siese.

Siese, like Fisher, also found himself submerged, taking the plunge in race two as he and the crew on board the deep green, syndicate craft nose-dived while rounding the leeward stake boat.

However, they arose from the depths to seize the final race, holding off a stern challenge from Port Royal .

It was a day of firsts. Challenger sank for the only time this season, but more notable was the fact that Port Royal emerged with her first victory when Tim Patton sailed impeccably -- despite protests to the contrary by Fisher -- during the second outing, leading from start to finish.

Fisher complained about the line Patton had taken heading to leeward, claiming that the bright yellow boat was impeding his progress, but the latter stood unperturbed.

"It was more a matter of survival than sailing,'' said Patton, known more for his exploits among the local Etchells fleet. "The guys really dug in after that first race.'' Patton though, had little explanation for race one, when he and his crew found themselves flailing about after sinking without finishing one leg of the first race -- a make-up race for the Gilbert Bowl, which was postponed earlier in the year.

Elizabeth did find a solution to the scenario and her skipper showed great intestinal fortitude, being the only boat to consistently fly their spinnaker when encountering the leeward leg.

Willie White made it look easy in guiding the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club to the top position the initial time out as he made light work of the opposition.

Echo placed second in race one, followed by Contest , and Challenger as the rest received unmerciful dunkings.

Race two read Port Royal , Challenger , Contest , Elizabeth with the rest sinking.

Meanwhile, the final outing saw Echo regroup to place first trailed by Elizabeth , Port Royal and Bloodhound . The remainder failed to finish.

ELIMINATED -- 1992 Coronation Cup champion Contest was ousted from title contention after racing in Mangrove Bay yesterday.