winners in the Bacardi National Keelboat Championships on the weekend.

There was great anticipation in the Etchells class where there were 10 boats and the IOD class which had nine participants. Bromby led the Etchells class while Powell was the IOD winner. Corless was the winner of the J-24s which attracted only three competitors, as four of the regular skippers in the class were taking part in the Rugby Classic.

The race format saw three races held on each day in each class. Conditions on Saturday were light and shifty and resulted in the course being shortened for some of the racing. Sunday, however, proved to be a perfect day with steady breezes which provided some exciting racing.

Glenn Astwood had plans of racing but arrived on the start line on Saturday with a broken mast, having sailed out in light winds. Sunday's breeze proved a challenge as one crew shredded their spinnaker and two other skippers engaged in a tense and `wordy' mark rounding.

One of the most exciting aspects of Sunday's racing was watching 15-year-old Zander Kirkland compete very successfully against the adult skippers in the IOD class. He won one race and was third in a second, having started more than a minute late.

The youngster was third in another race which didn't score as he was over early and did not realise it. Kirkland was unable to sail on the first day as he was writing his SAT's.

The prizegiving will be this Saturday at the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club starting at 5.30 p.m. Next year's National Championships will take place on October 9 and 10.

Top three finishers Etchells -- 1 Peter Bromby, 2 Adam Barboza, 3 Andreas Lewin IODs -- 1 Harry Powell, 2 Craig Davis, 3 Bob Duffy J-24s -- 1 Jonathan Corless, 2 Shelagh Tasker, 3 Tim Viney