A two-boat tussle saw Bermuda resident Jon Corless take the opening day honours in the J-24 class as the 2001 International Invitational Race Week got underway yesterday.

Corless and his crew came home first in race one of the series but were forced to settle for second in the next, pipped by Canadian Sean McDermott.

In the morning the wind was coming out of the north-west at eight to 10 knots as the boats took to the Great Sound, but that changed later when it moved to the west and organisers moved the mark on the third weather leg.

In the second race Corless crossed in front of McDermott, who hails from Nova Scotia, and was ahead by the first mark. However, at the second beat he got caught up in traffic and saw McDermott, who finished fifth in the first race, sail ahead.

With IODs and Etchells coming down the course as the J-24s headed up, Corless found himself relegated to fourth, but a good maneouvre on the last downwind leg enabled him to recover two places and he was able to cross the line second, finishing the day with 2.75 points to McDermott's 5.75.

The IODs had their fair share of incidents too with judges discussing a protest involving three boats.

Bounty , skippered by Peter McCausland, Shadow skippered by Rich Pearce and Ariel skippered by Harry Powell were all involved after a collision out on the course which saw one crew member knocked overboard. Ariel's Mike Burpee fell into the water after he was struck by the boom as the vessel headed downwind.

The Bermuda resident was not believed to have been injured.

The result of the protest, which came after Shadow hit Bounty and the latter collided with Ariel as they went around a mark, was not known at press time.

As matters stand Charlie Van Voorhis, on five points, leads the fleet after two races, with McCausland second on eight and Robert Napier third on 8.75.

The Etchells class saw the Island's four Bermudian entrants fill the top four spots after one race.

Paul Fisher leads the way on 0.75 points, with Tim Patton second on two, Andreas Lewin third on three and Olympian Peter Bromby fourth with four.

A total of nine races are to be sailed in each of the six classes -- Laser, Snipe, Sunfish, Etchells, IODs and J-24s -- and conditions for the second day today are expected to be good.