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Challenger puts issue beyond doubt early

season yesterday after the crew led by Paul Fisher sailed to victory in the first race.Fisher won the Coronation Cup back from the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club's Contest after racking up a total of 1073 points.

season yesterday after the crew led by Paul Fisher sailed to victory in the first race.

Fisher won the Coronation Cup back from the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club's Contest after racking up a total of 1073 points. He pins Challenger's success on a consistent and skilled crew.

Echo , which also sails out of Sandys Boat Club, lost to Challenger by just five points.

The dingy was skippered by Olympic sailor Peter Bromby for most of the season.

But regular skipper Martin Siese assured he would be back at the helm next season.

Said Bromby: " Echo did better when I wasn't there. But we were pleased with our performance -- second overall!'' Contest skipper Andreas Lewin, who handed over the helm to Roger Mello yesterday, agreed a familiar crew was a big help.

"Sailing with six requires a lot of coordination,'' he said.

The boat did not sail as well as last year because it had seen a change-over in crew, including the departure of veterans Hughie Watlington and Ron Stan, Mello said.

It also suffered a few race withdrawals due to "errors in judgement'' and some sinkings, he said. It also needed new sails, for which a fundraiser was being held.

The day's third race, the traditional end-of-season Jubilee Cup match between St. George's Dinghy Club's Victory and Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club's Elizabeth had to be cancelled due to lack of wind. It was rescheduled for next Sunday at 4 p.m. in Granaway Deep.

The seven dinghies had to wait 15 minutes in the waters of Granaway Deep for enough breeze to sail the first race.

Challenger maintained the lead throughout the race, clinching the Victory Trophy. Elizabeth managed second place, followed closely by Victory .

Skippered by Michael Oatley, Victory saw one of her best racing days this season, finishing second in the next race -- for the Fox Cup.

Port Royal also performed well with two fourth places, Tim Patton having recently taken over the helm from Paul White. It was her first season in the water.

The dinghies, however, proved no match for Echo . Bromby maintained the lead in the second race, though the White family's Port Royal squeezed ahead of it briefly on the second leg.

The flukey winds allowed the dinghies to reach straight for the mark for most of the race, making it by no means a true windward to leeward race.

It appeared to be two separate races when Echo , Victory and Contest moved an entire leg ahead of the rest of the fleet.

Elizabeth skippered by William White fell into last place when it made a wrong move rounding the stake boat, allowing Bloodhound to pass him.

Challenger surprisingly gave a poor performance in the second race, finishing only fifth.

See Sport Scoreboard for placings and final standings.

SECOND WIND -- Sandys Boat Club's Echo , after placing fifth in the first race, forges ahead to clinch the Leon Fox Cup in the second race of the day.

Hot on skipper Peter Bromby's heels are Victory and Contest .