Gale force winds in the region of 25 to 30 knots with gusts up to 40 knots were predicted, along with squally showers. But after an early morning heavy shower, the five boats who turned up were greeted by brighter skies.

The racing class consisted of Monterey (Les Crane), Tsunami (Buddy Rego) and Monkeyshines , while in the cruising class those taking part were Lullaby and Climax (Chuck Langton).

At the start of the racing class both Monkeyshines and Monterey were over early which gave Tsunami a clean start. The cruising class start also saw one boat over early, as Climax spun around to restart.

Heading towards the Crescent, Monkeyshines decided to hoist the chute with little room to manoeuvre inside the channel and reefs close by. It was a series of broaches and recoveries that kept her behind Tsunami , with Monterey playing it safe.

In the cruising class a close battle was beginning to unfold and by the time the boats reached Buoy 18, the two were side by side, continuing that way all the way to Elbow buoy.

On the beat back along North Shore, a tacking duel ensued between Tsunami and Monkeyshines with the two sailing home inshore while Monterey took the offshore route.

Eventually Monkeyshines pulled ahead to take the lead and held that position to the finish. Meanwhile, with Climax suffering some breakages, Lullaby took the lead to cross the finish line in front.

LADIES HOCKEY HOC Bluebirds and Orioles picked up wins in the B League of Bermuda Ladies Hockey Association action on the weekend, Bluebirds beating Swifts 1-0 and Orioles edging Cardinals 2-1.

Jane Mackie gave Bluebirds a flying start, scoring a goal within the first 30 seconds of the game. Bluebirds continued to dominate with a strong forward line and maintained that lead to the the final whistle.

Cardinals also took an early lead with a goal from Michelle Clarke but Orioles fought back with goals from Georgie Adlam and Liz Adderley.

Cardinals came close to equalising towards the end with a pass into the goal area from Jessica Sousa being blocked by the Orioles goalkeeper. In the other B match Canaries and Swallows played to a 0-0 draw in a hard-fought, close game between the top two teams in the division. Swallows dominated the majority of play but both teams failed to capitalise on plenty of goalscoring opportunities.

Canaries' Ali Cameron always looked dangerous on the break, but Sarah Cook played well in defence to keep the league's top goalscorer at bay.

BRIDGE BDG There was action aplenty on Monday at the 39th annual Bridge Tournament at the Southampton Princess as the highly competitive knockout teams event got underway.

A total of 66 teams competed in four flights with two world champions, Eric Rodwell and Bobby Wolfe of the United States, in the field. Of the 36 teams advancing to the next round, eight have Bermuda players. The event continues throughout the week.

A two-day competition, the Stratified Open Pairs, attracted 224 teams. After the first session, four Bermuda pairs were in the top 20 -- Vera Petty and Roman Smolski (third), Charles Vaucrossan and Tony Saunders (tied for fifth), Kevin Comeau and Laura Kleber (12th) and Sheena Rayner and Molly Taussig (20).

Leading the field were Kay Bundy and Alan Kock of Pullman, Washington and Luella Slaner and Joel Friedberg of Scarsdale, New York.

The annual HA & E Smith's Pairs was won by Bill Silbernagel and Flora Kramer of Bailey's Harbour, Wisconsin. The afternoon and evening contests for players with 100 masterpoints were won by Fay Robinson and Louise Mellor and Steve Cosham and Fern Inglefield of Bermuda.

SOCCER SOC Robin Hood beat North Village Rams 6-2 in the Commercial League on Saturday and not 5-2 as reported yesterday. Tim Perry scored twice while there was also a goal apiece from Nick Snelling, Alan Mooney and Barry Edean as well as an own goal from Richard Robinson.