WITH the weekend forecast of strong winds and gales, the Autumn Cup regatta for the J24 class, hosted by Parkstone Yacht Club, promised to be a lively affair and the additional ingredient of qualifying points for the UK team in the 2005 World Championships at Weymouth guaranteed tighter competition than usual.

The International J24 ranks number one as the most popular keelboat in the world.

As a high performance sports boat, the racing is both fast and furious with little margin for error.

The 34-strong fleet headed out into Poole Bay for the first start at 10.30am.

Race one began with most boats carrying genoas which proved correct for two thirds of the race but the final beat saw the wind freshening to 25 knots and the whole fleet changed down to jibs with one notable exception.

The wind continued to increase during race two with gusts over 30 knots providing challenging conditions, particularly on the downwind legs.

Any spectator would have been treated to some dramatic wipe-outs as the fleet struggled to control their spinnakers in gusty conditions.

The start of race four saw the fleet reduced to 20 boats, others having been forced to retire with gear failure or crew exhaustion.

By this stage, the outright winner was clearly boat Roger Rabbit from Falmouth, helmed by Gavin Watson, hotly pursued by Mark Jardine in Stouche.

After a fantastic dinner for more than 120 jaded crew members on the Saturday evening at Parkstone Yacht Club, a fleet of 25 boats headed out for the final race on Sunday morning.

And despite the weather forecast, this was held in benign conditions with Watson's Roger Rabbit holding an unassailable lead to the finish.