so large that Martha Stewart would find trouble filling all the rooms -- gathered on Friday afternoon in Sippican Harbour to watch the start of the 10th Marion to Bermuda race. And for the first time since the race began in 1977 there was almost as many spectator boats near the Centreboard Shoals starting line as yachts actually participating in the event. There remained 77 vessels signed up in six classes, the lowest total in the history of the race.

Organisers, however, rebuffed any talk of a sharp decline in entries at a glitzy, well-attended party for participants from Bermuda at the Beverly Yacht Club on Wednesday night. When Works Minister Leonard Gibbons made reference to the low numbers in a short speech filled with good humour, Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club commodore Buddy Rego followed it up by saying the numbers weren't really low at all. And he rebuked a story in the The Royal Gazette which reported Bermuda entries had dipped from two years ago. In 1993 there were eight local boats among 115 entries, this year there will be five. Rego, at his spin-doctoring best, said the percentages were actually the same, despite "what a daily paper in Bermuda, which shall remain nameless, states.'' The tone of the evening improved, with US Consul General Bob Farmer and Gibbons presented with gifts. Geoffrey (Dickie) Bird, one of the race's founding fathers, was given a colourful print. Still, the low numbers remain a concern and proved to be a potent backdrop to conversations throughout the week in Marion. "I'm think that I'm a little disappointed that the numbers are down, I have to admit that,'' Colin Couper, skipper of Vivace , one of the five Bermuda entries, said candidly in an interview. "There are many factors and I feel sorry for the people who have put a lot of time and energy into organising this, but I'm sure their enthusiasm has not been dimmed one bit.

"It's one of those things that you see in events and I'm sure in two years it'll be back up.'' Couper, however, admitted that changes are likely to occur to fend off a further decline in numbers. "I believe there'll be a few adjustments in the rules of the race, particularly with regard to the sails.

"Some of the newer boats are rigged with high-tech sails made of kevlar or spectra and that's not allowed in this race. So those people who have a cruising boat, say, from this year or last year, they would have to spend $10,000 to $20,000 just to put a set of sails on the boat for one race and that's a lot considering the other expenses involved. "I feel pretty certain that it's going to have to change if they want to keep the race alive, which they all do.'' For the first time in a week sunny skies greeted participants on Thursday, the best news anyone has received even before the captain's meeting later that night at Tabor Academy in the heart of Marion. The sunshine was expected to continue through Friday, a significant change from the last start which was blanketed in fog and resulted in at least one serious accident. Among the other Bermuda boats competing here is Crewcut , a Sigma 41, with David Marc Finnegan as captain and Martin Purser as navigator. Crew members include David Roblin, Craig Scott, Robby Dickinson, Shelagh Tasker and Warren McHarg. Leslie Swainson is taking a second stab at the race in Scheherazade , having made history in 1993 as the first all-black crew in the race. George Washington will navigate the Baltic 37, while Walter Trott, Glenn Astwood, Lovintz Cann and Lawson Williams are the crew members. Aboard Tonka , a Sigma 36 skippered by Paul Hubbard, will be navigator Gary Venning and crew members Michael Gladwin, David Mello, Barbara Ashfield and Paul Grennall. Phil Wilson is skipper of Starr Trail , a Freedom 45, with Jim Leonard serving as navigator and crew members are Marv Toland and Bob Mulderig. MARION RACE SAILING