start yesterday in St. George's Harbour, producing three different winners and even more sinkings.

A bevy of spectator boats -- at least 100 -- added colour to the splendour of the season opener, even though on several occasions their eagerness to get a closer glimpse of the action raised the ire of the respective skippers.

A minute of silence was observed in respect to the weekend passing of well known businesswoman and avid dinghy racing supporter, Gwen Atchinson, prior to the start of the day's events.

But once racing began, under clear skies and a refreshing 10-15 knot breeze, it was Paul Fisher in the Sandys Boat Club craft Challenger II who struck the first chord when he captured the Heritage Trophy for the second straight year in winning the opening race.

Fisher seized the lead by the first mark and continually pulled away toward the finish, leaving no doubt as to his intentions.

Another west-end entry, Echo , with Peter Bromby at the helm, survived a scare at the second windward rounding where it collided with defending Coronation Cup champion Contest , to place second followed by Elizabeth II in third.

Port Royal II , skippered by Paul White and making its racing debut, placed fourth with Bloodhound bringing up the rear.

Contest would ultimately withdraw from the race, the first with new man Andreas Lewin as captain.

However this fate was preferable to that encountered by home boat Victory IV , which had its challenge ended in spectacular fashion when the boom snapped after rounding the leeward mark, causing Michael Oatley and his five-member crew to be hurled overboard.

Adversity continued to follow Jordy Walker and Bloodhound as his boat sank while docked alongside the starting vessel, delaying the commencement of race two for the Anniversary Cup.

Once under way it was Bloodhound yet again producing the amusement for spectators when they almost lost a crew member and came close to capsizing yet again.

Learning from his errors during the first outing, Lewin made full use of a good lift on the first windward beat to separate from the fleet, and from there cruised to an easy victory of almost two minutes.

Elizabeth became the day's third sinking after occupying the second spot for the first two legs and was joined by -- surprise -- Bloodhound , whose support crew was easily the busiest throughout the day.

Challenger followed up the previous first with a second-place effort, with Echo , Port Royal and Victory rounding out the list of finishers.

Victory , which appeared sluggish in all the previous races, finally lived up to its name and completed a fine start-to-finish triumph in the day's final race for the Masters Cup.

This proved the closest of all three contests as the east-end boat held off a spirited late charge by Contest , which closed to within two boatlengths heading into the final beat.

Shouts rang out for the underdog as Oatley and his crew completed an unexpected win.

Echo , Elizabeth , Challenger and Port Royal rounded out the fleet as Bloodhound again took the plunge.

FIRST BLOOD -- Paul Fisher and Challenger won yesterday's Heritage Trophy.