The 1993 Marion to Bermuda Race may go down as the most successful ever in terms of performance by locals.

An all time high of eight Bermuda craft took the starting line in Buzzard's Bay, off of Cape Cod, with all but seven successful in completing the 645-mile sojourn across the Atlantic to the finish off St. David's.

"Overall as a country we have acquitted ourselves very well,'' said former Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club commodore Mr. John Carey. "and I would imagine our American friends are disappointed that we've carried away so many trophies.

"All have done a tremendous job representing Bermuda and it really is a tribute to the navigators, who had a difficult job coming out of Buzzard's Bay in heavy fog, the likes of which they've probably never experienced before.'' For more Marion Race coverage, see Page 13 and the special supplement in today's newspaper.

History was made with the first ever all black crew aboard Mr. Leslie Swainson's Baltic 37 Scheherazade , while Mr. Kirk Cooper etched his name in the record books when he guided Alphida home in a blistering elapsed time of 78 hours, 33 minutes and 42 seconds, beating the previous mark by 21 seconds.

Mr. Benjamin (Buddy) Rego, by placing first in Class A in the sloop Tsunami , became the second Bermudian ever to win a class title, the other being Ayesha in 1979, who also took Class A honours.

Then there was Tonka (Mr. Paul Hubbard) assuming her customary position as the best local boat on corrected time, giving her the "three-peat'' in taking the Corporation of Hamilton Trophy -- she previously won in 1991 and 1989.

The remaining vessels were Mr. Robert Mulderig's Starr Trail , Vivace owned by Dr. Colin Couper and Dr. David Roblin's Lullaby , which sailed shorthanded.

All placed in the top half of their classes, a remarkable feat in itself.

The only casualty was Mr. Nicholas Dill's ketch Dillightful , which encountered mechanical problems forcing her to withdraw.

Meanwhile, Mr. Blair Simmons, the son of local sailing legend Mr. Penny Simmons, and a member of the Alphida crew expressed his joy at seeing the Bermuda contingent perform to such a high level.

Mr. Simmons said: "I think it's a good turnout for Bermuda.

"Eight boats is fairly impressive and to do so well is equally so. Hopefully in the future we can keep that sort of number and success.

"I would say for Tsunami and Buddy Rego it was an exceptional performance, especially with it being his first Marion race as skipper. They did an excellent job and I congratulate those guys thoroughly ... they sailed a beautiful race.

" Tonka , she comes through every time and those guys are pretty much the experts at that, always giving a good showing.'' It was felt by many of those concerned that the success of these events only serve to bolster the position of the Island as a sailing mecca.

"We have a lot of international events here and the success (with the Marion race) is reconfirms our status as a sailing nation,'' added Mr. Rego. "For this event we had good sailors who wanted to do well ... we put them on the water and they proved it.''