agreed.

Controversy arose at the start of the race in Rhode Island last Friday when the Robert Mulderig yacht appeared to start in the wrong division. After arriving at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club on Wednesday morning, boat captain Blair Simmons and navigator Warren Brown denied any wrongdoing.

And after looking into the start, the race committee, at least one of whose members said he saw the infraction, laid the issue to rest. "There is no penalty and there is no protest,'' spokesman Talbot Wilson said.

Brown agreed that there was "a lot of confustion at the start'' when another boat Class 12 boat, Kialoa began in Class 11. Starr Trail nearly joined them but rather than risk a two-hour penalty, wisely delayed their start until the next class left ten minutes later. Another discrepancy arose because of faulty class listings in forms submitted to skippers. Starr Trail was listed in both Class 12 and Class 11.