the Bermuda Offshore Cruising Association last Sunday.

Also sailing the course was Frequent Flyer , a recently-purchased trimaran owned by Jay Kempe.

The relatively cool temperatures and blustery winds may have dampened the enthusiasm of some, but the conditions ensured plenty of activity on board and little time for complaints about the cold.

The course took the fleet out into the Great Sound, south to Grace buoy located off the Naval Annex, north through Dundonald Channel along North Shore to a buoy off Shelly Bay before returning to Grace and back to Hamilton Harbour. It was a distance of 21.5 nautical miles.

The wind was generally from the north around 15-20 knots, gusting to 25 and increasing to a little over 30 knots in a rain squall towards the end.

The race got off to an interesting start with strong winds blasting between the buildings of Hamilton and making conditions extremely tricky.

Once in the Great Sound, however, the wind, while maintaining its velocity, was a little more consistent and made for some enjoyable racing.

High Energy (Penny Simmons) got off to a good start and led the way, followed by Circe (Francis Carter) and Tsunami (Buddy Rego). Wildcat , recently acquired by Martin Loftus, sailed well under difficult conditions but was unable to get the performance which has been a ccustomed under its previous owner, Peter Shrubb.

Crew Cut (Mark Finnegan) appeared to encounter a few problems during the race with a man up the mast for part of the first windward leg sorting out apparant rigging problems. He was then unfortunate to shred his spinnaker while returning along North Shore.

Tonka (Paul Hubbard) sailed a solid race with few mishaps and finished fourth over the line, but winning class one on corrected time with Tsunami second and Circe third.

In class two, High Energy finished some 10 minutes ahead of the next boat and won on corrected time, with Tonka taking second place and Circe in third.

In class three, Delphinus (Neil Couper) crossed the line first, followed by Reckless (Greg Vasic), but Swift of Paget , with Tom Wadson at the helm, took full advantage of the strong winds and was able to stay in close contention with the higher performance boats before emerging as the winner on corrected time.

In cruising class there were two entries with Free Falling (Ed Faries) leading the way and winning on corrected time over Sweetness (Tom Carr).

Faced with time constraints in arranging sponsorships, handicapping systems and publicity, the West End Development Corporation and the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club have postponed the introduction of an annual Dockyard to Dockyard cruising race between Antigua and Bermuda until May, 1996.

"The sheer complexity of organising an ocean race between two Islands and ensuring that everything was carried out to the highest standards of safety and professionalism proved too great for the six month preparation period that we afforded ourselves,'' race committee co-chairman Colin Pearman said.