No one knew when the Marques sailed out of Bermuda with 39 other tall ships in a carnival atmosphere on June 2, 1984, that it would be the last time the ship was ever seen.

Just 13 hours later - at 4 a.m. on June 3 - theSpanish-built ship went down in the North Atlantic ocean along with 19 crew members after being struck by a freak wave 78 miles north of Bermuda.

The Marques sank in less than one minute - just eight crew members survived and only one body was recovered from the disaster.

Among those killed were skipper Stuart Finlay, his wife Aloma and the couple's 15-month-old son Christopher. Twenty years later, little is being done in Bermuda to acknowledge the tragedy and many younger Bermudians have never even heard of the disaster.

But, at the time, the tragedy drew the world media to Bermuda and sparked a year-and-a-half long inquiry into the disaster.

The inquiry finally determined that the Marques had not been seaworthy - cold comfort to the families of the victims, many of whom were only in their late teens and early 20s when they died.

Bermudian photographer Ann Spurling narrowly escaped being one of those aboard the Marques at the time of the disaster. She had talked her way aboard the ship to take pictures of the race.

Ms Spurling had no inkling the pictures she took would be the last record of the ship's passengers.

“I thought it was something different to get on a boat to take photographs,” she told The Royal Gazette.

“I picked the Marques because she was the prettiest ship at the Princess dock. She had new sheets and sails. She looked good.”

Ms Spurling was not planning to sail all the way to Halifax - the next destination in the Tall Ships Race - and skipper Stuart Finley asked her just how she planned on getting off the boat once they were underway.

“I told him I would jump and that my brother would pick me up,” she said this week.

But the Marques was delayed an hour and by the time they reached the North Shore she could not find her brother, Rick.

“The skipper said I could come to Halifax for all he cared,” Ms Spurling recalled.

Thankfully, she saw another friend, Dr. Andrew West, in his boat Tranquilizer. She jumped overboard just in time.

“I threw my floatation overboard and dove off the poop deck,” she said. “I was meant to be a bridesmaid that day in my friend's wedding but I did not go. But I made it to the reception.”

The few lucky souls who survived the sinking later told the media Marques sank fast and furious after being hit by squall.

Back on land, news of the disaster slipped out. Adrian Robson, now The Royal Gazette's sports editor, was the news director at ZBM at the time.

“The tall ships had been in that week and there was a large gathering in Hamilton Harbour on the eve of their departure,” recalled Mr. Robson this week.

“She (the Marques) was one of the most notable ships because of her history. She had been used in the popular British TV series, the ‘The Onedin Line'.

“On the Sunday after the tall ships had departed, I was out running and decided to pop into the (ZBM) studio to see if anything newsworthy had been going on. I can remember asking Peter Catell, our early morning reporter, if there had been any progress reports on the race and he told me there were unconfirmed reports that one ship had gone down in severe conditions.

“But at that stage no one was sure what was happening. The reports were sketchy, information was not coming through very quickly. We didn't know which boat was lost or even whether it had sank.”

However, it soon became apparent a major news story was breaking.

“We got word that a Canadian military ship (the Preserver) in Dockyard was going out on a search and rescue mission, so myself and Rick Richardson (station manager) decided we should get on board,” added Robson

“The only trouble was that we were in Hamilton, the Preserver was in Dockyard and it was leaving in 15 minutes. The captain had told us we were welcome aboard but for obvious reasons he wasn't about to wait for anyone.

“Rick and I jumped into the ZBM van and we drove like a bat out of hell all the way Dockyard. Thank goodness there were no Police around.

“We got there just as the ship was pulling out. I only was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. I guess we thought we would be out for just a day at the most but once on the ship we learned it had no intention of turning back to Bermuda.

“During the rescue operation, Rick and I were out at sea in some pretty rough conditions for three days in just the clothing we had on. We were both feeling seasick but once we realised the Marques had gone down and lives lost, we were kept extremely busy.

“We were the only two journalists at sea on the rescue mission and there was a huge interest from media all around the world who we were trying to keep informed via ship-to-shore radio. We saw a lot of debris and a couple of life rafts but that particular ship never recovered any of the bodies.”

After four hectic days on the Preserver, the journalists were flown back to Bermuda on the ship's helicopter. “I remember providing ‘live' reports for British breakfast TV and ABC and CBS in the States,” said Mr. Robson. “It was a hectic four days.”

He added: “Taking off on a helicopter from a ship dipping from side to side in 20 to 30 foot seas was an experience in itself.

“The helicopter had no seats and we were strapped to the side, but I guess it was of some comfort that we were travelling with the padre.”

Before the tragic sinking, the Marques had been in first place in the 1984 Tall Ship race.

“Some people said they were pushing too hard to win their category,” recalled Ms Spurling. “It was stupid.”

But the UK inquest into the disaster determined the ship was not seaworthy.

The inquest report said: “It was not the fault of any person or persons that the Marques had insufficient stability to resist the squall, but if judged by the knowledge and experience now available, the stability of the Marques would be found to have been inadequate and the vessel unseaworthy for sail training in non-coastal waters.”

In a final tragic twist to the Marques saga, its sister ship which had participated in the 1984 Tall Ships Race under the name Cuidad de Inca, also sank 11 years later, leaving three crew members dead. The two boats were owned by the same man, Mark Litchfield.

Mr. Litchfield sailed the Ciudad de Inca to Canada but relatives of the American victims of the Marques had sued him and wanted to hold the Ciudad de Inca as security. He sailed to Kingston, Ontario, where the boat essentially became trapped.

The writ from the victims' families could only be served in US waters.

As the boat would need to pass through an American lock to get out of the Great Lakes, it would be vulnerable. It was essentially stranded in Lake Ontario.

The boat spent three years trapped in Canada and even sank one winter while tied alongside a berth in Kingston, when a sea cock froze and burst.

But is was raised again.

There was considerable interest in the boat as it was listed as the oldest active square-rigged vessel. It had been built in Spain in 1858. A group interested in its preservation had it taken to England where - sailing under its original name Maria Assumpta - it sank off North Cornwall leaving three crew dead on June 30, 1995.

“The ship was seaworthy,” owner and captain Mr. Litchfield said to The Daily Telegraph the day after the disaster on June 30, 1995. “I would never sail in a ship that was not safe. It is just a tragedy that that I happen to be the owner of two ships involved in disasters.”