THE Whitsunday waters were the venue for an epic battle during Hamilton Island Race Week with local boats fighting it out for top honours.

In the trailable division the Hamilton Island boat Rhumbmaid edged out Airlie Beach-based yacht High Tide after engaging in a thrilling duel for the duration of their event.

The light conditions at the beginning of the event suited smaller craft and as the wind picked up throughout the week crews lost boat speed.

Rhumbmaid won the opening race of the series on Friday with High Tide finishing second, eight minutes in arrears.

In Race 2 Rhumbmaid and High Tide finished fifth and eighth respectively.

Rhumbmaid recovered to win Race 3 from Tonoa with High Tide finishing third, about 12 minutes behind the winner.

Rhumbmaid continued to impress with victory in Race 4 while High Tide finished fifth to remain second overall.

Despite the wins, Rhumbmaid skipper Stuart Green said the opening day of competition hadn't been the crew's best day on the water.

"I don't think we did that well today. We like the lighter stuff,” he said.

Green said the three co-owners of Rhumbmaid had collectively sailed more than half a million miles in the Whitsundays and the local knowledge certainly paid off.

"The two races we have won we have won by nine and eight minutes respectively,” he said.

"We know them like the back of our hands, it's great to have the advantage where the tide is good and where the wind shadows are.”

That local knowledge paid off again when racing resumed on Saturday, the final day of the regatta, with Rhumbmaid finishing equal fourth with High Tide.

The result was enough to hand Rhumbmaid overall victory with a series score of 15.5. High Tide finished second overall.

Green said the Hamilton Island regatta remained the number one event on his calendar.

"Being local guys we just love it,” he said.