Stunning weather brought out five contestants for the Holmes Holes Sailing Association Fall Racing Series on Sunday for the last race of September. Other boats were seen in the harbor, but the lure of bright skies, warm air and an open horizon were too much for them to resist venturing out into the Sound and beyond.

With light air coming out of the southwest, the course was set around the traditional triangle from West Chop to East Chop. A flooding tide added to the usual struggle to make it around green can 23a at East Chop, and became the story of the day. Some boats took several tries to get around before they could begin the beat back to the finish line.

Former Commodore Dan Culkin skippered his Vineyard Vixen Magic Time around the course smartly and was rewarded with a first place on corrected time. The win moved Magic Time up to second place in the standings just .001 points behind Stuart Halpert and Providence.

Finishing second was Frank DeSimone aboard Lagoonah, a Columbia 32, followed by Tom and Laurie Welch on Escape, a J/100.

Ernie Mendenhall and Kathy Logue brought out their new Cape Dory 25, Sandpiper, to see where she would fit in, giving the fleet three Cape Dorys. She finished fourth.

Avanti became the fourth boat to qualify for the Fall Series with five races under its belt and a fifth place, but will need some better scores to get out of the fourth-place position. Phil Hale’s Tango is holding the third position.

Avanti took her last-place finish in stride, and after crossing the finish line turned around and headed back out toward the Sound and blue skies. Her skipper later remarked, “It was such a perfect day, I just didn’t want to see it end.”

The next race is Sunday, Oct. 5, with a 10 a.m. start. For more information, go to the Holmes Hole website at holmeshole.org.