weather, Contest once again showed herself to be a rock of consistency, claiming one more title and all but wrapping up another yesterday.

The feast or famine nature of the year revealed itself in Mangrove Bay, with tranquil calm the order of the day -- race days have been either near gale or, like yesterday, still calm.

However, making the best of the less than ideal conditions were Andreas Lewin and his Contest crew, starting with the long-awaited conclusion of the BMMA Series Match Racing.

A four way tie during the first hosting of the event precipitated a sail-off yesterday.

Lewin and company received an early present when scheduled opponent, Port Royal failed to report to the starting line for their match, handing Contest a walkover victory.

Another, featuring Challenger and Victory , ended with the latter submerged, allowing Challenger through to the final.

Contest convincingly won the final, triggering appreciative screams, howls and boat horn salutes from the bevy of spectator craft assembled.

Next up was the race for the 50th Anniversary Trophy and the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club entry Elizabeth , skippered by William White, seized the moment, surging in front during the initial upwind leg and never looked back.

Elizabeth led at each rounding of the five-leg, windward/leeward course, as superb crew work and tactics in the fluky conditions paid off.

"It's the first piece of silverware we've got all season, so we're pleased that we got it,'' said White afterwards, flanked by a jubilant crew.

"It was a very light day, hardly any breeze. We had our secret weapon up which kept us going forward and just kept moving all day.

"The crew work was good as it has to be in the light stuff and we had a bit bigger sail up than everybody else which also helped, but mostly it was the crew work, keeping the boat up and going forward.'' An easy second was Contest followed by Challenger , Victory , Port Royal and Echo .

Following a brief respite, all six craft returned to the stake boat for the start of the BMMA Trophy.

Victory , with Allan Powell at the tiller, promised early, leading through the first two legs.

However, this pledge proved but a mirage, as first Elizabeth was able to overhaul the St. George's offering and then Contest produced the most dramatic move of all, finding exceptional breeze to the left side while heading to weather -- the rest of the fleet had gone right -- and jumped two places from third to first.

Elizabeth was forced to settle for second with Victory holding on for third, Challenger fifth and Port Royal bringing up the rear in sixth.

With 641 points and a lead of 153 over nearest rivals Challenger (483 ) in the race for the Coronation Cup it would take a major miracle for Contest , seeking a fourth straight title, to be dislodged.

Yet, for Lewin and crew there remains unfinished business and the skipper promised no let up, which would come as harsh news for opponents.

"We'll sail the way we have been all season. Even though we have the overall wrapped up, there are still individual trophies and we'll try to go out and win them,'' said Lewin, who can mathematically clinch the title during the next race day on September 8.

"We can afford to be very aggressive, so we're going to sail each race as hard as we can and have been.

"This season has been sort of a strange one, we've had a lot of blow-outs, so it's been one of the shorter seasons. But it's also been either very windy or very light and I think we've sailed every race now with either the tallest rig or the smallest rig, there haven't been many inbetween races.

"We've managed to be consistent in all the conditions which has been great.

It's been quite trying this year, but we've done very well and I think it's been our best year.'' THREE IN A ROW -- A trio of dinghies jostle for position after rounding the windward mark during Fitted Dinghy racing for the 50th Anniversary Trophy in Mangrove Bay yesterday.