Problems with a fuel pump forced race leader John Carreiro jr to a two-minute halt in the Round the Island Powerboat race yesterday but he still held on for a nail-biting victory.

Carreiro, who has twice taken part in the 46-mile circumnavigation of the Island as co-driver, was up front for the first time yesterday and gave the 400 waiting fans something to cheer about when he crossed the line first in 53 minutes and 46 seconds despite his mechanical troubles.

?It was pretty scary,? said Carreiro, before chugging the customary giant bottle of Heineken among screaming friends and family alongside Kindley Field Road.

?I could feel the fuel was going low and we broke down for probably two minutes. My co-driver Jeff Medeiros was in the back having to prime the pump manually and he was working really hard.

?He was squeezing it out and I was looking around for other boats and I couldn?t see anyone coming.

?I was scared someone would come up but we were obviously far enough ahead and held on for the win.

?It?s a great feeling although it was pretty close for us ? I didn?t know if we would even get started again after we stopped for what felt like such a long time.?

There were ten finishers from 12 starters yesterday, four more than last year when choppy conditions claimed nearly half the fleet.

The seas were calmer this year, although there were enough waves to give the victorious crews something to moan about.

?I have to say my butt really hurts,? said the Renault-sponsored Robert DeCosta, last year?s victor at the 14th attempt and yesterday?s second across the line, although still winner in class D.

?There were times when I thought my back was going to go through my head. It was no nowhere near as bad as last year but it was pretty choppy down South Shore. It wasn?t so much just big stuff, but lots of little patches ? it was very messy.

?And down North Shore there was plenty of traffic and there were a few times we went flying because of all the wakes around.

?It was a good race, not the result I was looking for but you can?t win it every year.?

The staggered start system ensured that line honours couldn?t be bought, as in previous years, by the biggest and fastest boats, with the S class vessel of Ricky Sousa and Eddie Roque finishing in the quickest time of 38 minutes 38 seconds, which was only enough for fourth overall.

The P class was won by JJ Soares and Brian Smith in 38:41, fifth overall, while there were no finishers in A, standard B or C classes.

On the Jet Skis, Chris Smith endured some hairy moments on his way to a second victory in five years, coming home in 33.04.

Smith, a 16-year veteran on the skis and the winner in 2000, said a combination of large spectator boats and the high-speed ferries created some ?crazy combined wakes? which made his passage around the Island a little combination.

Having reeled in Jonathan Comberbatch from his two-minute head start, Smith, 40, nearly came a cropper close to the finish line as tiredness hit hard and he nearly lost his ride.

?I went through what should have been a calm stretch so I stood up to gain speed, but when you do that, you lose some stability,? he said.

?And then a wave came out of nowhere and I started spinning sideways, I had to use all the energy I had left just to stay on.?