The participants in this year's St. Baldrick's headshaving fundraiser topped all records to bring in nearly $700,000 to fund research benefiting children with cancer, organisers said on Friday.

Seventeen men, and one woman, took part in the lively annual event, presided over each March by IAS chief executive David Ezekiel at the Robin Hood Pub and Restaurant.

This year, the Bermuda event raised nearly double what any other one group raised, with hundreds of similar events staged on the same day each year in Bermuda, Canada, France, Ireland and the US.

The St. Baldrick's tradition dates back to 2000 when three New York-based reinsurance executives, all of Irish heritage, decided to turn the annual festivities surrounding St. Patrick's Day into a benefit event to raise money for a good cause.

In total, the St. Baldrick's Foundation has now raised about $17 million to go towards cancer research around the world, said one of the event's founders, Enda McDonnell, who was in Bermuda last week.

Of the funds raised, $157,520 will go to Bermuda cancer charity, PALS.

The balance will help researchers working to help children around the world.

Three participants this year each raised more than $150,000. They were: Max Re chief executive Bob Cooney, AXIS Capital chief financial officer Andrew Cook and XL Re's Delvina Dickinson. Historically St. Baldrick's has largely attracted participants the reinsurance industry. This year, underwriters and actuaries were joined by a writer, cricketer, teacher and developer.

That is a trend that the Bermuda St. Baldrick's Foundation wants to continue, said co-chair Stephen Fallon, a senior vice president of IPC Re.

Next year's event could be heavily laden with sportsmen after Bermuda cricket captain Clay Smith was pulled from the sidelines this year to participate, and making the promise that his entire team would shave their heads in 2006 if Bermuda qualified for World Cup 2007. Mr. Smith said on Friday that he was working on the team, which recently qualified in Ireland to play in 2007.

"I put my foot in it; I am working on them," he laughed.

Since Bermuda began hosting its own St. Baldrick's event in 2002, participants have raised a total of $1.4 million.

A number of participants choose to take part on behalf of family members suffering from cancer or other serious illness.

This year was no exception with Mr. Cook, Ms Dickinson and another participant, David Drury, all having family members who have faced serious illness.

Mr. Drury said the cure rate is already much higher for children with cancer than when his son, a cancer survivor, became ill. He praised efforts to fund research, such as St. Baldrick's, for boosting the chances of beating the disease.

Mr. Fallon pointed out that the St. Baldrick's fundraising effort is greatly helped each year by corporate donations, with many companies matching the funds participating employees raise. The XL Foundation administers the event, including tracking and collecting donations.