Such are the vagaries of the Gulf Stream and the currents that shoot off it in different directions that some yachts making their way from Newport to Bermuda may have found themselves going backwards at some stage.

Paul Hubbard knows that demoralising feeling, having experienced the unfortunate fate in last year's Marion-Bermuda race.

The 56-year-old skipper of Bermuda Oyster has a strong sense of humour and was able to laugh heartily about the memory as his crew loaded up his 431 -foot Oyster, moored at Newport Marina, with enough food to last them 10 days.

"Last year we caught a current going the wrong way and we went 30 miles backwards in a day,'' said Hubbard. "My wife was following our position on the Internet and she couldn't understand what had happened.'' All the boats in the race must cross the Gulf Stream, a body of warm water flowing out into the Atlantic from of the Gulf of Mexico.

The variations in water temperature close to the Stream can create eddies, circulating areas of ocean which can be 30 miles wide. The currents in so-called warm eddies circulate clockwise, while cold eddies circulate anti-clockwise -- and forecasts indicated that competitiors in the Newport race could encounter both types.

The challenge for the racers is to use the information they have on the whereabouts of eddies and their navigational skills to catch the eddy on the right side, so they get a speed boost. Catch it on the wrong side and it could cost them a day, as happened to Hubbard last year.

"People take different routes during the race,'' said Hubbard. "Some boats will go 100 miles out of their way if they think they can get a sling-shot to Bermuda.'' Hubbard was not predicting great things for Bermuda Oyster in the non-spinnaker Cruising Division, whose entrants were not eligible to win the Lighthouse Trophy. Despite having achieved a second place in the same division in the 1990 race with Tonka , Hubbard said he was in it primarily for the fun this time.

"If we finish somewhere in the middle of the fleet, I will be happy,'' said Hubbard. "This is not a boat that has been stripped for racing -- she's twice as heavy as she should be. Loaded up, she weighs about 33,000 pounds. She's built for comfort rather than speed.'' Hubbard, who first came to Bermuda from England 33 years ago and is now a senior partner at Deloitte & Touche, said sailing was a great way to combat the stress of work.

"It gets me away from the office and away from phones and fax machines and it helps to clear my mind,'' said Hubbard.

"The best part of this race is probably when it ends and you reach Bermuda and you can have a dark `n' stormy and relax.'' Bermuda Oyster was crewed by navigator Gary Venning, Michael Gladwin, David Mello, Nick Pettit and Barbara Ashfield.

For Pettit, who works for Harbour Radio, it was a debut in the Newport race, while Ashfield had travelled from England to join forces once again with Hubbard.

Ashfield first sailed with the skipper 18 years ago at a time when she was resident on the Island and teaching at Warwick Academy. But every time Hubbard competes in the Marion or the Newport, Ashfield leaves her family for a few days to join his crew. "My husband doesn't mind,'' she said.

Oyster in full flow: Skipper Paul Hubbard and crew set the 431 -foot yacht Bermuda Oyster on her way at the start of the Newport-Bermuda race last Friday.

Man in command: Paul Hubbard plans his Atlantic voyage in Bermuda Oyster's nerve centre.

SAILING SLG