Since last Friday his performances hinted broadly that he was the man to beat and yesterday Peter Gilmour justified that billing, completing a Hamilton Harbour hat-trick as he won the King Edward VII Gold Cup yet again.

In a battle royal befitting the prestigious regatta, the Australian skipper resisted the stout challenge of New Zealand's Chris Dickson to celebrate a memorable 3-2 triumph and with it a $30,000 cheque.

"It's a wonderful, beautiful occasion and it doesn't get any better than this," declared the 43-year-old, finally able to exhale and share champagne with his crew of Yasuhiro Yaji, Mike Mottl and Kazuhiko Sofuku.

The outcome was fine end to a campaign in which Gilmour despatched six-time winner, the esteemed Russell Coutts, 3-1 in the quarter-finals and reigning champion, Jesper Radich of Denmark, 3-0 in the semi-finals. However, such success seemed a long-forgotten breeze compared to his showdown with Dickson.

For more than three hours sailing enthusiasts were riveted to the high intrigue unfolding on the waters beside the city dock. Just like the waves, momentum swayed one way and then the next as the nationals of the two neighbouring islands engaged in a dogged tug-of-war to determine the Gold Cup's destination.

Their initial exchanges, though, suggested this final might fall below the epic proportions of those past. First Dickson and then Gilmour crossed the start line prematurely in the first two races respectively, thereby gifting each other with a victory as the offending skipper was left hopelessly behind after compensating for his error.

That made it 1-1 and now the duel was on!

In race three, a penalty on Dickson during the first lap to the top mark - just off White's Island - eased the pressure on front-running Gilmour and the man who won the championship in 1995 and 1997 extended his lead to go to match point at 2-1 up.

Dickson was far from done though and, locking horns with Gilmour in the pre-start of the fourth race, he was able draw a penalty on his rival. This proved significant as a patient Dickson tucked in a comfortable distance behind Gilmour who never had enough of a lead to undertake the penalty turn without being overhauled but who was sufficiently ahead to be unable to lure Dickson into incurring one of his own.

On the run to the finish, a desperate Gilmour paid the price for forcing Dickson wide out towards Salt Kettle as umpires flagged him for going beyond the proper course. A second penalty meant he had to undertake his punishment immediately and, as a clearly irate Gilmour did his turn, Dickson happily powered home, making it 2-2.

The decisive fifth race maintained the heart-stopping tension.

A red flag at the start saw Gilmour doing a penalty turn straightaway without conceding much advantage to Dickson. The latter then made the critical mistake of tacking too close on the first leg to the top mark and, with that penalty against him, the heat was on and the wily Gilmour refused to let up.

He kept within striking range and, as Dickson's problems were compounded on the final leg with spinnaker woes, Gilmour - his own spinnaker pregnant with air - rolled past to seize top honours.

"It wasn't until about six boat lengths from the finish that we thought we were going to win. That really goes to show the quality of both the crews. It was very, very close and intense racing.

"Certainly the umpires had quite an influence on the outcome but I thought we were sailing reasonably well and we are delighted to get away with a win," said Gilmour.

Admittedly a bit ruffled after the fourth race, he disclosed that his crew got him refocused and determined to channel his exasperation positively.

"It is difficult and you have to believe in yourself and tell yourself you've won every other race. The guys were very good they said 'Look we know you can do it. Pick yourself up straight away. Forget about it (the fourth race). Use it to get angry but don't get emotional about it and let's get on with the next race'.

"So quickly we snapped out of it and said 'Well it's down to one race' and that was that."

Gilmour acknowledged that ousting New Zealander Coutts was a major factor and a boost to his camp.

"We felt confident coming into today though Chris has a superb team. To us, the key match-up of the entire week was against Russell Coutts.

"He has been the doyen in these boats for many years and to snuff him out early made it pretty clear that we had a fairly reasonable chance from that point on."

Dickson, who tasted the 'bubbly' in 1987 and 1989, was a gracious loser, complimenting Gilmour's tenacity and efficiency.

"When you get beaten you can always say we would have liked to have done a bit more but we're very pleased with how the week went.

"All the teams but one went home before we did so we have not had a bad week. It's disappointing not to win on the day but it hasn't been a bad week," concluded the runner-up who pocketed $18,000.

"We were pleased to be in the final and to be 2-2 with the final decisive race. Peter Gilmour and his guys sailed very well and are very deserving winners. It was a trying final with strong conditions."

The Petit Final to decide third and fourth place also had its drama as Radich gained a fortuitous 2-1 decision over Dean Barker of New Zealand. Barker was ahead in the third and final race but, in doing a penalty turn at the finish, was adjudged not to have got his spinnaker below the spinnaker pole before crossing the line and, as such, not to have completed the race.

Meanwhile, Oliver Riihiluoma turns 13 on Friday - Halloween - but there was nothing unlucky or scary about his showing in the inaugural Renaissance Reinsurance Junior Gold Cup.

The young Bermudian staved off a tough challenge from Poland's Lukasz Przybytek to eke out a one-point victory yesterday with the low score of 25 points among Optimist sailors.

"I am quite surprised but happy. I really didn't think I would (win) even after the first day I still didn't think I had that much of a chance but I kept doing well. I had almost all top-five finishes," said Riihiluoma whose only finish outside the top five was ninth in the third of ten races.

"I had a lot of good races and I was really consistent. I had a few protests today and I wouldn't have won without them."

Apart from the runner-up, the strong international field in this competition showcased their class with New Zealand's Paul Snow-Hansen taking third with 31 points while Nicolai Sehested of Denmark, Swede Nicklas Dackhammer and Hannah Mills of the UK finished fourth (34), fifth (37) and sixth (39) respectively.