Brian Hillier is on the verge of making local Newport Bermuda Race history.

When Hillier’s J-125, Crossfire, sails across the starting line at the mouth of Narragansett Bay tomorrow afternoon, it will mark the first time that a yacht from St George’s Dinghy and Sports Club has been represented in the 635-mile ocean race.

“It is an honour to represent the club and I am very proud to do so,” said Crossfire’s 59-year-old captain. “It’s going to be fun.”

It is only fitting for Hillier to claim this distinction. After all, he is a past commodore of the St George’s Dinghy and Sports Club.

Crossfire is competing in the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division with a well-drilled crew comprising of navigator Butch Agnew, tacticians and watch captains Glenn Astwood and William Thompson, Eddie Bardgett, Ken Lamb, Jeremy Brasier and Hillier.

“We have all been sailing together for several years,” said Hillier, whose sailing career began in the Sunfish at age 12. “We have good chemistry on the boat and you could not have asked for a better bunch of guys.”

After purchasing Crossfire five years ago from Kirk Cooper, Hillier hatched a plan to sail the boat in the biennial Newport Bermuda Race.

“When I first bought Crossfire I wanted to do something else other than just sailing around Bermuda and talking with the crew over the years we decided to do the Newport Bermuda Race,” said Hillier, who has logged nearly three decades of sailing experience in the Bermuda Fitted Dinghy.

“Crossfire is not normally an ocean going boat, it is basically for sailing around the buoys. This is the first ocean race for Crossfire, but we are all seasoned sailors.”

Hillier and crew prepped for the race by sailing up to Newport for the start.

“We sailed the boat up here in just over 4½ days with a crew that had never the sailed the boat,” he said. “We are an amateur team sailing against professionals so we are going to be with the big boys.”

Crossfire is among the smaller yachts in her division.

“We are one of the smaller boats in our class,” Hillier said. “But at the right angles Crossfire can handle seven or eight knots.

“It is always a challenge to do the race. And, as one of the smaller boats, we are going out there with the understanding that we have to pay attention, sail safe and get the boat home.”

Hillier is making his eighth appearance in the race and first in a decade.

He made his race debut in 1990 aboard Buddy Rego’s yacht, Tsunami, and has also sailed with Eldon Trimmingham and Cooper in the past.

This year also marks the first time that Hillier has appeared in the race as owner and captain of a yacht.

Early forecasts call for light breezes for tomorrow’s start, something which doesn’t seem to faze Hillier much.

“It looks like it is going to be light at the start,” he said, “But the weather changes day to day.”