It was 11:20 p.m. before the first vehicle of the night was overturned during the drunken street bash at this year's Homecoming Weekend at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont.

At the foot of Aberdeen Street on Saturday, where an intimidating human barricade of provincial police, city police and Toronto police officers stood, a yellow boat appeared in the midst of the sea of partiers.

It landed on the concrete with a grainy thud and, almost on cue, a chant of "Flip the boat! Flip the boat" went up from the drunken crowd. Sure enough, about a dozen revellers mounted the vessel and began jumping on its wet surface to the obvious delight of the party.

But, in the beer-fuelled mayhem of yet another Aberdeen Street homecoming bash, the conquering of this yellow sailboat was about the rowdiest occurrence during the weekend. Police made a lot of arrests and doled out hundreds of tickets, but were never forced into crisis mode.

Police said 54 people were arrested, mostly on liquor- and intoxication-related charges, down from 58 in 2006.

The rowdiness peaked in 2005, when a car was set on fire during a street party and dozens of people were arrested. It prompted the city's mayor to publish an open letter in 2006 asking students not to get out of control during Homecoming Weekend.

Crowds smaller, fewer students in hospital

Thousands of drunken revellers from across Ontario crammed onto the small street Saturday night for the unauthorized affair. However, police said the crowd, estimated at 6,500, was down in size from 2006 despite thousands of unofficial invitations were issued via the internet to university and college students across the province.

Dr. Peter Munt, chief of staff at Kingston's hospital, said Sunday that a total of 20 people were treated for intoxication or minor injuries overnight Saturday.

That number compares favourably with 2006, when there were 10 to 15 people in the hospital emergency department at any one time who were either unconscious or intoxicated.

Partygoers with minor injuries were treated and released from the first aid tent at the northwest corner of Aberdeen Street.

Some drunken revellers sobered up at the Campus Observation Room, which was used as a detox centre.

At 12:30 a.m. Sunday, police received a report of a partygoer falling off a roof. Police, medics and St. John Ambulance volunteers ventured into the crowd to find the person, but didn't succeed. Emergency personnel said he had likely walked away.

Policing the party this year was expected to cost the city about $244,000.

Every available city police officer worked Saturday night, and units from the Toronto police and the Ontario Provincial Police lent support, bringing the total cost of tax-paid security to about $467,000.