The judge in the Thyssen-Bornemisza trial yesterday confessed that he was already lost by the complicated legal details of the case.

The case, into its third day, is due to run for a further 52 weeks.

The trial -- in which Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza de Kaszon, the head of one of Europe's richest families and owner of one of the world's largest private art collections, is suing his eldest son for control of a $2.7 billion business -- started on Monday.

The case is being held at the Supreme Court in Hamilton and 17 of London's finest and top salaried lawyers are on the Island for the trial.

The civil case is highly complex and involves thousands of documents. The opening speech alone, made by Michael Crystal QC, could last seven weeks.

But before the third day of the trial could get underway, Puisne Judge Denis Mitchell, halted proceedings to state that he was confused about part of the opening and was only prepared to give the case a limited amount of his time.

The baron is taking his son Georg, also known as Heini junior, to court to gain control of a Bermuda-based trust.

The baron put his son in charge of the business in 1983, but now wants to regain control and claims his son owes him $232 million in arrears, with inflation and loss of value.

Yesterday, the judge said about the number of capital changes made to the company between 1978 and 1982: "I have got myself confused''.

Earlier he said he was making his own detailed notes in the case.

He added: "If at any stage of the case I feel I am falling behind in the updating of my notes, I will say so and invite you to help me to find time to rectify the situation.

"The number of out-of-court hours which I am (a) capable and (b) prepared to give this case is limited.'' Mr. Crystal took the judge once again over the details of the first two days of the case.

Mr. Crystal then slowed his pace. He took an hour and a half to explain why he believed a document on the formation of trusts which had been translated from Italian to German and then English was incorrect.

He dealt in great detail with the Italian document, taking the judge through it page by page, stating: "I am just indicating what is in the bundles.'' "It may be at the end of the day this is not a very important document in the case,'' he added.

During this time he winked at his fellow lawyers, members of the gallery and smiled at the defendants.

In the case the disputed trust's main asset is TBG, an industrial conglomerate that earned $100 million last year.

The baron is attempting to dissolve the trust, claiming that since 1995 his son has not paid him the full 40 million Dutch gilders a year that was agreed upon.

It has taken a year and a half to get the case to court, while both sides have ironed out their legal wrangles.

All preliminary disputes were held in private and at the end of the summer it was estimated that the legal costs for the first year alone cost $14 million.

Thyssen-Bornemisza, 78, is married to Carmen `Tita' Cervera, a former Spanish beauty queen, who is 22 years his junior.

It is his fifth marriage. In 1993 he sold his art collection, one of the world's largest then in private hands, to the Spanish government for $350 million.

The collection is housed in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum and might become part of the dispute if the Bermuda trust is dissolved.

The trust's beneficiaries are Georg Thyssen-Bornemisza, chief executive officer of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Group, and the baron's four other children.

The trust was set up to keep the business together, and avoid any disputes between the family about inheritance.

The case continues today.

BUSINESS BUC