The arrival of Hurricane Florence ruined a lot of people's weekends.

And it also brought a premature end to what was otherwise a new and unique event on the Bermuda sporting calendar.

In glorious sunshine ? and temperatures maybe even a little too hot for some of the European competitors ? the opening two days of the World Under-19 Beach Volleyball Championships were a joy to behold.

With a six-figure injection of cash from the Bermuda Department of Tourism and lots of hard work from Bermuda Volleyball Association, a new type of event was brought to the Island and tourists and locals alike seemed more than happy to sit around and watch athletic teenagers leap around on the pink sand.

The level of play was impressively high and the tournament was run with an efficiency that was befitting of an event that crowns a world champion.

But what should have been four days of competition was condensed into three, frenetic days with more than 50 matches squeezed into the Friday schedule ? which was played out over 11 hours.

Finals day was as much a feat of engineering as it was a sports event, with a JCB digging as hard as any back-court player to keep the onrushing full moon and hurricane-backed high tides from spreading sea water all over centre court.

A mixture of pouring rain and the pressing need to panic buy and board up windows ensured the finals day crowd was only around a third of the expected 1,500 capacity and the atmosphere was similarly diluted.

Only a miracle of organisation ensured the matches on Saturday went ahead although collapsing advertising inflatables, a temporarily-faulty scoreboard and a protracted argument over a referee's decision in the women's final plagued the tournament's last day.

Prize presentations were all but scrapped courtside and a heavy shower during the women's third-place game removed all but the most hardy spectators, but the show still just about went on.

Sports Tourism Manager Adam Barboza described the event "as a dipping of the toe" in the waters of hosting beach events in Bermuda and ? Florence and some cosmetic problems aside ? it was a successful experiment.

There was much talk behind the scenes of future pro-tour or pro-exhibition events as well as a possible incursion into the world of beach soccer, with international organisers leaving the Island, whenever the airport re-opens, with positive views of Bermuda.

Even though the event was heavily condensed, rushed and spoilt by inclement weather, the basic principle that the Island is the perfect place to host beach events ? the views across Horseshoe were described by one Spanish commentator as "easily the most beautiful" he had ever seen ? held true.

The athletes enjoyed it, the spectators enjoyed the athletes and everyone wants to see beach sports back in Bermuda again ? although perhaps not during hurricane season.