Bermudian skipper Paul Hubbard had to win a race against time to get his boat ready for last Friday's start of the Marion-Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race.

His 43-foot vessel Bermuda Oyster had been in Marion for three weeks awaiting urgent repairs from local firm Burr Brothers.

But according to Hubbard, the repairers had been slow to complete the work, which was mainly the installation of new electronic equipment and a water heater.

Bermuda Oyster was still with Burr Brothers last Wednesday morning, just 52 hours before the race was due to start from Buzzard's Bay, off the south coast of Massachusetts.

The situation left the skipper and his crew of five with little time to test the new equipment at sea before they undertook the 640-mile crossing to Bermuda.

Hubbard, who was staying with hosts in Marion, said: "I took it to Burr Brothers three weeks ago and they have nothing special to do, really.

"The water heater broke and some of the electronics needed mending and I had new parts shipped in from England. And the gooseneck has fractured on the boom.'' Hubbard planned to take out the boat for trials the day before the race, but still had other things to get done, too.

"I need to pick up a new life raft and buy a new second anchor,'' he added.

Hubbard sailed with his regular Bermudian crew of Gary Venning, Peter Haines, David Mello, Mike Gladwin and English teacher Barbara Ashfield, who used to work on the Island.

Like all the sailors gathering for the race, Hubbard was taking a keen interest in the weather forecast and, in particular, the progress of tropical storm Arlene which threatened to delay the race before petering out north of Bermuda.

"No-one knows what the storm is going to do,'' he said. "They say it has the potential to weaken so we'll probably be all right. And if the organisers feel a delay is necessary, they will postpone the start of the race.

"When you hit heavy weather, you either have to run from it or heave to -- it will make things interesting.'' Race press officer Rich Healey said last Thursday: "The news is definitely better on the weather but we are still being told there will be 12-foot seas 100 miles away from the centre of the storm and the boats are likely to get northeasterly winds which won't make for the most comfortable sailing.'' Bermudian skipper Buddy Rego, who was preparing his 41-foot yacht Tsunami for the race, admitted to being a little nervous about Arlene.

"We have to be concerned about it,'' said Rego. "If it throws up some northeasterly winds, it will make it a bumpy ride.

"We have not done anything different with the boat to prepare for heavy weather. Every time we prepare the boat to go out on the ocean, you must prepare for the worst.'' This was Rego and Tsunami's third Marion race, having finished 16th overall two years ago and first in Class A in 1993.

And Rego felt the omen was good for more success this year for him and his crew of navigator Ralph Richardson, Michael Carey, John Thompson, Ken Lamb, Peter Stark, Bob McCutcheon and David Juleff.

"We're in a very competitive class, more so than in previous years, I'd say,'' said Rego. "We have an excellent, experienced crew and most of them have done this race more than once and they are familiar with the boat.

"However, out on the ocean, what you think your chances are and what Mother Nature wants can be very different things.'' For the first time in its 22-year history, the race featured separate classes for boats using celestial or electronic navigation. Rego opted to go electronic.

"I spoke about it with the crew and they felt that going electronic would help to involve them more,'' added the skipper.

Hubbard's crew: Bermuda Ouster owner Paul Hubbard and his crew faced arace against time to tget their yacht repaired in time for the start of the Marion-Bermuda Race.

SAILING SLG