It was Winds 1, Yachts 0 yesterday as Bermudian Tim Lynch's J24, Erin, took a death roll and sank on the last leg of race five of the Bermuda International Invitational Race Week regatta.

Erin was flying downwind under spinnaker in 30 knots of wind on the Great Sound. She took a knockdown and stuck her mast in the water. The cockpit and cabin flooded almost immediately.

No one was injured and Lynch and his crew, Barry Surbuchen, Steven Musicant, Natalie Luthi and Tiffany Wardman, were picked up quickly by chase boats on the course.

Several racing boats diverted to render assistance as well.

Efforts to raise Erin from about 50 feet of water were continuing yesterday.

In other sailing action yesterday, veteran Eugene (Penny) Simmons, his crew Sacha Simmons, Steven King, Steve Mohr and D'Arcey Betschart, moved one step closer to winning the seven-race IOD 'A' Series

They also lead in the overall competition for the Vrengen Gold Cup Trophy.

Simmons sailed Bounty (IOD 10) to a first and third and now has seven points. He leads the Peckham/Carver team by three points. Tony Huston and Patrick Cooper are tied in third with 22 each.

In the J24s, Colorado's Scott Snyder sailed two more excellent races. He has a perfect slate of first place finishes so far this week.

He has scored 1,1,1,1,1 for five points, four with his dropped race.

Peter Rich of the Severn Sailing Association in Annapolis, Maryland, climbed into second place with 11 points. Bermuda's Trevor Boyce fell to seventh place after taking two RAFs due to rule infractions in both races. Sean McDermott moved into third place with 13 points.

One of Bermuda's rising young sailors, Rockal Evans, slipped into the front in the Laser Class. He took a third, a second and a first for 15 points after dropping his worst finish. Brett Wright moved into second with 16 points and Malcolm Smith stands third with 18.

In the Etchells Class, Bermudian Martin Vezina held on to first place with a 1,3 for the day, He has nine points. Malcolm Graham-Taylor and Tim Patton are both one point back with 10 points each.

The J105 class again enjoyed the high winds. Allan Williams, skipper of Not Mine for the day, got a 1,3 and is now in a tie with Chuck Millican in Elusive, both with eight points. James MacDonald, still in third place, now has 13 points.

No races are scheduled for today with Race Week continuing tomorrow, starting at 11.00 a.m.

Breezy conditions are expected to continue but nothing like the 30-knot winds yesterday. Forecasters said winds would moderate to 15-20 knots for both Thursday and Friday.