Cutting through the whitecaps with awesome power, Starr Trail made almost the perfect start to the Marion-Bermuda Race yesterday.

Robert Mulderig's Farr 72, defending first across the line honours from 2003, took an immediate lead and reached speeds of up to 30 knots on her way out of Buzzards Bay in near-immaculate conditions.

Predictions of dense fog and rain proved inaccurate as the 68 boats set off on their 645-mile trek bathed in bright sunshine and 20 knot-plus southwesterly winds.

Mulderig's Starr Trail, rated as the fastest vessel in the 15th edition of the popular ocean crossing, took a commanding lead among the Class A yachts which included Geraldo Rivera's Voyager.

The media star, disqualified in 1985 for a pre-race collision, got away cleanly in his push to officially complete the race at the second attempt.

Another Bermuda vessel to make a strong start to the expected three-day race was Colin Couper's Babe. The Swan 46, which included Bermuda Governor Sir John Vereker among her crew of ten, was the first across the line in Class B.

More impressively, following advice that the majority of the fleet ignored, she then heavily tacked to the west and became the sole vessel attempting to leave the Bay along the west shore, thus avoiding incoming tides.

The technique is well known among locals although no one else broke off from the main fleet in the early stages to take that route.

Couper's experienced team are expected to do well in their class, and the Governor may be in with a shout of picking up a trophy in his second ocean crossing, after completing the Newport-Bermuda Race last year, also aboard Babe.

Another Bermuda entry looking to take an honour, as he did last time out, was Paul Hubbard aboard Bermuda Oyster.

Hubbard, who claimed the Bermuda Longtail Trophy in 2003 as the fastest finisher from the Marion-based Beverly Yacht Club, also appeared to get away cleanly, albeit among the last in Class D.

Good fortune, good instruction and perfect weather ensured there were no collisions at the start of the event, although three vessels found themselves adding to their journey length by crossing the line early and having to backtrack.

Despite having 645 miles of sailing ahead of them, skippers are still looking for that impressive, speedy start but the appropriately named Mischief, skippered by William Wiegmann, and both Anasazi and Bonspiel in Class D were forced to turn back after their premature departures.

There was one early casualty, however, as Class A boat, Kiva, was still sitting forlornly in the Beverly Yacht Club moorings when the Press boat returned to Sippican Harbour. Skipper Mark Stevens said he was still hopeful of setting off for Bermuda later in the day after all the batons blew off his brand new mainsail yesterday morning, forcing him to miss the start.

Today the final seven vessels in the race, the newly-invited multihulls, will set off to complete the Bermuda-bound fleet. They are expected to arrive on the Island around the same time as the leading boats from the monohull fleet.

The position of all the boats competing can be tracked using the iboattrack technology on www.marionbermuda.com. The positions are updated every two hours throughout the entire race.