Offshore Cruising Association attempted to wrap up their Summer Series over the weekend.

The first race of the series, in May, was declared null and void when the Lantana buoy went missing -- and hasn't been seen since -- and the second race was abandoned when again one of the marks couldn't be found.

On Sunday, it was the same old story, as a C2 pancake buoy usually located in the Little Sound `disappeared'. Enquiries later revealed that Marine & Ports had removed the buoy as it was deemed a navigational hazard and had no further practical use.

But its removal again disrupted racing and BOCA were forced to decide their series with races three and four, back to back in the Great Sound. That problem solved, the 15 boats then had to contend with windless conditions which delayed the start by two hours, in which time some, in frustration, headed back to shore.

Eventually, an uneventful start saw Tonka (Paul Hubbard) and Monkeyshines (John Thompson) take an early lead in the light easterly breeze, but a big windshift to the southeast quickly turned the windward leg into a close reach.

At one point, Monkeyshines and Tonka actually sailed past the windward mark due to shifting conditions and had to tack back in order to round. Others, namely Scheherezade (Leslie Swainson), Monterey (Les Crane) and Shell Shock (Shelagh Tasker) gained considerable ground as they lifted to the mark.

But at the finish Monkeyshines was first followed by Shell Shock just ahead of Tonka .

In the Cruising Class, Scheherezade was a convincing winner followed by Temptation (Claude Guay) and Why Not (Al Keeler).

Next BOCA event will be the "Not So Long Distance Race'' on Sunday, September 22.