Mark Watson ended the Etchells World Championship on a strong note in Newport, Rhode Island, on Saturday.

He placed 39th and 37th in the final two races and after discarding his worst score of 91st finished an impressive 36th in an overall fleet of 95-boats.

Watson’s best showing at the regatta arrived in the second race which he finished seventh aboard Tiberon.

He was 19th on the leaderboard after four races but lost precious ground a day after suffering gash to his head after being struck by the boom that required stitches.

Finishing twenty-three places below Watson was Royal Bermuda Yacht Club stablemate Tim Patton in 59th.

Patton posted finishes of 40th and 55th in the final two races aboard Thrash.

The experienced sailor’s best showing arrived in the sixth race which he placed 18th.

Another local sailor, Jesse Kirkland, formed part of the crew aboard American Jane II that placed eleventh with three top ten finishes, including a third in the penultimate race.

This year saw a new Etchells world champion crowned as Bill Hardesty, of USA, won by a comfortable margin on Line Honors.

Crewing for Hardesty was past Argo Group Gold Cup winner and reigning Alpari World Match Race Tour champion Taylor Canfield.

Meanwhile, the final results of the 49th Newport Bermuda Race are now official.

Taking top honours in the St David’s Lighthouse Division was Michael Cone’s Hinckley B40, Actea, on corrected time.

The Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division was won on corrected time by George Sakellaris’ Reichel Pugh mini-maxi, Shockwave, that also seized line honours in an elapsed time of sixty-three hours, four minutes and eleven seconds.

Shawn Dahlen’s Beneteau 423, Attitude, won the Cruiser Division on corrected time while the Double-Handed Division title went to Jonathan Green’s Beneteau 351, Jeroboam, also on corrected time.

There were three local entries in the 635-mile race.

Nasty Medicine, helmed by Dr Stephen Sherwin, finished first in Class 6 and 25th in the St David’s Lighthouse Division while Brian Hillier’s J-125, Crossfire was fifth in Class 9 and also fifth in the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division.

Spirit of Bermuda, a triple masted sloop, was literally in a class of her own as the sole entry in the Spirit of Tradition Division.

All but eleven of the 164 yachts that started completed the race.