Passersby on East Broadway may have thought they were daydreaming yesterday morning when they saw a 40-foot yacht flying through the air.

In fact it was part of a complicated and delicate operation - involving barges and cranes - to lift Alan Paris' round-the-world yacht BTC Velocity out of the water so that it could go on display in front of the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI). "It was quite an adventure getting it there. Boats are meant to be in the water not flying around Hamilton on cranes. The idea was initially that the boat would be sold in the United States but there were a number of people who thought it would be a shame if she did not come back to the Island as she is a little bit of Bermudian history." He said the next few months would be spent trying to raise $175,000 to recoup some of the money he spent on taking part in the 28,000 mile Around Alone race, which he completed this May. The sloop will stay at BUEI for between six months and a year until it is taken to St. George's where it will either become part of a St. George's Foundation display at Queen's Warehouse or will find a place on Ordnance Island next to the Deliverance.