exciting opening day of the fitted dinghy racing season was greeted by a large flotilla of spectator boats in St. George's Harbour on Wednesday.

Port Royal's seasoned crew appeared keen to assert themselves early as the boat to beat again this year. But while experience would be the key in Wednesday's stiff breeze, Martin Mello and his Contest crew also showed they had learned a lot during their rookie season last year.

Governor Thorold Masefield was on hand to present Port Royal with the Heritage Trophy after their convincing win in the opening race. However, the rest of the day belonged to Contest's young upstarts as they handily triumphed in the second and third races after an ignominious performance in the first.

Port Royal's persistence and boat handling initially threatened a clean sweep as Willy White and his crew reeled in the competition one at a time.

Victory , who led for much of race, managed to keep it close, despite being forced to sail in a big knock after filling with water after a shaky leeward mark rounding. But their luck would run out during the next leeward leg, when a large gust splintered their mast in dramatic fashion.

Only Elizabeth , helmed by veteran Alan Powell, would go on to cross the finish line behind Port Royal . Challenger was forced to retire due to a large crack at the top of her mast, while Contest sank. As the breeze began to build, that sinking feeling must have returned to Martin Mello at the start of the second race. Contest , which had showed courage by deciding to stay with their large number three rigs, sank at the starting barge along with Challenger after becoming entangled with other boats.

The fleet was recalled and after bailing out the boats, the second race again got underway. Contest then showed her true mettle, in some degree due to the goading of veteran crew member Christian Luthi, who was called out of retirement for the day.

After pulling away from the fleet, Contest simply could not be caught. The race, however, was full of exciting moments. Port Royal's tenacious crew attempted a daring move to move into second place and overtake Victory at the weather stake boat. While Port Royal had established an inside overlap, it seems that White had misjudged the scope of the stakeboat's anchor line. Both boats pirouetted wildly, before Port Royal's keel became disentangled. It appears that a protest will now be filed against Victory by Port Royal , arguing she did not give her enough room to round the mark. Hitting anything on the course amounts to an automatic disqualification under fitted dinghy rules.

As the breeze began to drop, it became apparent that Contest's decision to keep more sail aloft would pay huge dividends in the third and final race.

Adding to Willy White's headache's must have been the signs that Contest's crew had found their groove and correctly tuned the rig to the conditions.

Heroics alone, however, would not be enough to help Challenger . Veteran skipper Martin Siese and his hastily assembled crew could not meet the bell in the third round due to breakdowns.

Port Royal led for half of the race, but in the second beat to weather found herself completely powerless to stop Contest from sailing completely around her bow. White was forced to tack away in humiliation.

White and his crew may have had a feeling of deja vu. On the last race of the season in St George's Harbour three years ago, Port Royal narrowly led Contest when Andreas Lewin and his crew did the same thing. Contest won the race and subsequently the Coronation Cup.

No quarter given: Fitted dinghy racing gets underway in St. George's harbour.