Yesterday's annual Round the Island powerboat race was marked by spills, thrills and disappointment as the team of Michael Lopes and Joseph Viera blew away the competition to take first-across-the-line honours in their A-class speed machine.

With the division victory already under their belts, the crew were keen to capture an overall win.

"I was looking back and didn't see any boats in sight and that's when we decided we were going for the whole race,'' Viera told The Royal Gazette .

"We were going for the chequered flag.'' Their sixteen-foot Phantom zoomed across the Ferry Reach finish line uncontested in a time of one hour, three minutes and 36 seconds.

And the team said the competition did not have a ghost of a chance after they cleared the bumpy Pompano area on the South shore.

"We couldn't see anything (near Pompano),'' said Lopes. "It was real windy.

Fort St. Catherine was bad too.'' And Lopes said: "Pack Rat was running better and faster than ever before.

"When I made the corner from oil docks, there wasn't anybody in sight so I just brought it home.'' Co-pilot Viera said the team had been cautiously optimistic before the start of the race, but quickly seized the opportunity for first place glory.

"There was a lot of competition, every one was supposed to be running the same speed,'' he explained. "But as soon as we hit town we saw we had the advantage, we had the faster boat.'' Fastest time honours, however, went to Kirt Roberts and Andrew Chapman in their boat Bullet.

Lopes, Viera first over the finish line: Round the Island Race From Page 23 The S-class powerhouse team covered the 60-nautical mile race in 42 minutes, 46 seconds, but they admitted conditions were not favourable for setting new records.

"It was a rough ride the whole way around,'' said mechanic and first-time racer Chapman.

"Roberts decided to open it right up, that was where it was tough. All around the oil docks was a real trip,'' he added.

The B-class team of Andrew Mitchell and Kevin Young had a short-lived race experience yesterday after flipping their 16-foot Ocean Express before clearing Ferry Reach.

Neither of the men were seriously injured in the spectacular accident, but were taken to hospital for observation.

And Suzanne Koren, yesterday's only female contender to take to the water -- Laura West and Craig Burt's boat suffered mechanical problems before the race -- also faced early disappointment.

Koren served as co-pilot with Chris Frankes in a 27-foot B-Fast Banana boat in the S-class. But engine failure forced the pair out of the race minutes after starting.

"I am disappointed,'' said Koren. "It was short and sweet.'' But Frankes promised that the team would back in two weeks and said choosing a female co-pilot was nothing unusual.

"She wanted to go,'' he said. "And she had the tact and skill, that's why she was in the boat.'' Howard Paynter and Cornell Woolridge captured B-class division honours with a time of 1.01.31. The C-class division victory went to Treadwell Nesbitt and Craig Nesbitt with a time of 53.07. And five-time winner Patrick Stamper took D-class honours with Ian Bridges and a time of 49.42.

In jet ski action, Shannon Caisey won the first-ever jet ski race from Ferry Reach to Five-Star Island and back in a time of 39.55.

He was followed by Darren Sousa (40.32) and Richard Pereech (42.50).

Of the ten participants registered for the inaugural race, eight started and five completed.