According to Boomerang navigator Bob Hale, the three essential ingredients for success in the biennial Newport to Bermuda Yacht Race are: a good vessel, ideal sailing conditions and flawless crew work.

Toss in over six decades of ocean racing experience coupled with some fresh blood and you have a formidable combination.

After setting a new race record of 57 hours, 31 minutes and 50 seconds during the 1996 race, Boomerang skipper George Coumantaros revisited that pulsating form recently by setting a new mark during the ill-fated Storm Trysail Club's 57th annual Block Island Race, obliterating the previous record by two hours, 53 minutes and 19 seconds.

Coumantaros' latest triumph, however, was overshadowed by tragedy as rival Newport to Bermuda skipper Jamie Boeckel was swept overboard during the race off Long Island Sound and is now presumed dead.

Ironically, Boeckel had managed to pip Coumantaros to the finish line during the 2000 Newport to Bermuda Race, sailing his 66-foot ocean racing sloop to third place honours.

Now set to compete in the new Gibbs Hill Lighthouse division during this year's ocean race and conceding that sailing is "a young man's sport", Hale, like many of his colleagues on board the 80-foot maxi-yacht, still fancies his chances of contesting for top honours later this month.

"I think that they want us in the racing division," said Hale, speaking from downtown Manhattan, New York. "We have a lot of old-timers who are really good sailors that don't get labelled with the pro label.

"But it's a young man's sport so you have to keep replacing people with younger people just like you would in any other sport.

"Physically, the crew is in good shape and this year we will be using a mixed crew in the Newport to Bermuda Race. We will be bringing some youth on board who are currently competing in the Volvo race."

Six of Boomerang's crew won't be back in Rhode Island until a few days before the start of Newport to Bermuda as they are still taking part in the Volvo Round the World Race.

"We made some changes and we have tried to make it more competitive with some of the other racing boats," added Hale. "We've tried to speed her (boat) up a little bit and that means bigger sails and hopefully improved stability.

"We have just tried to maximise sail and stability combination . . . everybody's constantly trying to improve the boats. I think that we have taken advantage of some of the potential areas where we could make improvements."

Coumantaros will again be at the helm of Boomerang and will be competing in his 25th Newport to Bermuda race while Hale will be navigating in his 15th race.

"That's 40 years of racing experience just between us two alone," says Hale.

"The two watch captains between them also have probably completed ten or 14 races each. The experience onboard is quite substantial."

Boomerang will compete in this year's race with an overall crew of 22 with about 16 to 18 onboard for the Atlantic crossing.

"Obviously our first goal is to finish, but if we can break the record then it would be great. However, it is tough to break records when sailing in a ocean race. An awful lot of luck comes into play. It's not just a speed race, it's a handicap race and of course the big prize is for doing the best on handicap not breaking the record to Bermuda.

"So in order to win the big prize you have to win on corrected time, but I can tell you it's going to be a big job trying to break that record."

"You need to have the ideal conditions, the right boat and almost flawless crew work. It's an interesting combination."