above it, Hughie Watlington and his crew managed to remain upright for both races as they received a double victory dose.

In addition to capturing the A.S.Cooper and White's Island Cups, Contest also vaulted past Challenger to assume top place in the Coronation Cup standings.

The 131 points garnered give the former 58 points compared to 531 for Challenger , now in second place with five scheduled races left and four more also to be made up following postponements.

Echo (443 ), Victory IV (36), Elizabeth II (28) and Bloodhound (241 ) round out the six member table.

Conditions were not exactly ideal for the dinghies and each of the six crews had a tortuous time battling the elements -- often coming out the loser -- with winds gusting upwards of 15-18 knots on occasion.

Racing got underway late, but early casualties were Victory IV , which sank 100 yards from the start and then Bloodhound's , spar snapped in spectacular fashion putting the Maritime Museum boat out.

Meanwhile, Challenger looked to be in good shape leading around the first windward mark followed by Contest , Elizabeth II and Echo . The last two would soon become the third and fourth sinking victims, leaving the others in a two boat battle for first place honours.

Olympian Paul Fisher and his crew looked to be winning the war against Watlington and crew as they continued to lead approaching the final leg.

However, in an instant, Fisher's luck turned sour and any chance of victory disappeared as a swell submerged the Somerset boat, leaving Contest to go it alone and claim the win.

For race two, some switched to smaller sails in an effort to offset the high winds. Moderate improvement was seen with half the starters completing the course. Contest again led the way followed by Challenger and Elizabeth . Echo suffered another sinking, while Victory and Bloodhound elected for early showers and dropped out midway through.

Echo , the syndicate boat captained by Martin Siese, had looked impressive before suffering her ignominious fate going around the second windward mark.

But the day undoubtedly belonged to Contest .

Challenger won the battle with Elizabeth for second.

The dinghies will be racing again next Sunday in Mangrove Bay.