Philip Correia and co-driver Jason Lopes roared to victory in a tight finish in the Round the Island powerboat race yesterday ? but they were helped by a mix up with the race?s staggered starting system.

Organiser Chris Roque, president of the Bermuda Power Boat Association (BPBA) publicly apologised for the error, which resulted in the D-class boats starting some four minutes earlier than scheduled.

Correia, in just his second year of racing, held off Ricky Sousa ? one of the Island?s top runners and cyclists ? by just ten seconds to gain line honours and victory in the D-class with a time of 46 minutes, six seconds.

Sousa, in his much bigger 280 horsepower S-class boat, set a new record for the circumnavigation of the island, clocking 34:32 to beat the old S-class record by 54 seconds. And he believed he was the true victor.

?Everybody wants to get line honours and we deserved it,? Sousa said. ?We broke the record.

?But I?m not too disappointed because I had two goals before the race ? to win the S-class and to break the record ? and we achieved them both.?

The construction company boss was disappointed that the only other S-class boat, Daric Seymour and Andrew Stoneham?s S-22, failed to start the race.

And Sousa paid tribute to mechanic Kareem Johnson, who tuned up the $140,000 boat?s 22.5-litre engine. ?We couldn?t have broken the record without Kareem?s help,? he said.

After coming ashore near the finish line at Ferry Reach, Correia and Lopes received the plaudits from a large group of friends and wellwishers and supped a traditional celebratory beer.

Correia, a 21-year-old truck driver, said: ?We?ve been running well in all the races this year and today we didn?t go quite as fast as we wanted, but we still ran well.

?It was a bit bumpy in places down the South Shore, but we pushed it pretty hard.?

The main opposition Correia was aware of during the race came from Joey DaSilva?s D-class boat, which was leading the race before it broke down.

Correia thanked multiple sponsors for their backing in allowing him to race his $75,000 boat. ?It?s an expensive hobby,? he added.

Winning co-driver Lopes, also 21, admitted there had been one hairy moment. ?We almost hit a reef on South Shore and it looked like we might lose control,? he said. ?You?ve got to run it hard if you want to win.?

Another record was not so much beaten as obliterated in the FB-class, in which both boats bettered the previous class best time.

Scott Barnes and co-driver Ryan Barnes clocked 49:08, knocking 4:38 off the previous record, to finish third overall. In fact, had Barnes enjoyed the correct advantage the staggered start was supposed to have given him, he would probably have beaten Sousa, as well as Correia.

Mark Richardson and co-driver finished second in the FB-class in 49:42.

Roque said the mix up came about as a result of the starter, who signals from a high vantage point on a hydraulic lift, getting a mixed message over the walkie-talkie from the race control centre.

?I feel I must apologise to all the competitors in the race for the incorrect starting times,? Roque said.

Ten boats started the race and six finished. The four non-finishers suffered mechanical breakdowns and there were no high-speed crashes and no injuries.

In the jet ski races, Keno Trott triumphed and just missed out on a record with his time of 30:35 and beat Chris Smith into second. Melissa Pereech won the Stock 1200 class in a time of 38:29.

?There has been a bit of lull in interest in the sport, but I think we?re going to bounce back,? Roque said. ?We had a good contingent of spectators out here today and after that close finish, hopefully it will boost interest.?