her progress since last summer.

Carter will be the skipper of Longobarda when it sails in the Newport to Bermuda yacht race next month, aided by Chris Law of the Royal Thames Yacht Club and John Thomson, former Commodore of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club.

On board will be a total crew of 28, big enough to handle the 80-foot maxi and a cricket match already planned for Newport.

"To give you an idea of how large the crew will be, well, we'll have a game of cricket with the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club team versus the Royal Thames. The people left over will serve as umpires and social directors.'' But the biggest thing on Carter's mind, of course, will be the race which begins on Friday, June 17.

Carter, 52, is no stranger to the Newport to Bermuda event. This year's race will be his 10th, having won aboard Condor in the maxi class 1986. He did not compete the last time the race was held in 1992, but has been itching for another chance to race again, especially since the end of last summer's Omega Gold Cup, during which he served as an umpire.

"I was thinking then how it would be the New York Yacht Club's sesquicentennial (150 years), and how it would be really nice to get a boat with the potential of possibly getting line honours in the race,'' said Carter from his office yesterday. "But trying to charter a large boat is very, very difficult. First of all these large boats go charging around the world and there's a question of getting one at the right time and at an affordable price. And one that is sufficiently state of the art without being so brand new that the owner will be racing it with his own crew.'' What Carter and Law eventually found was Longobarda (an Italian word for long spear), with five regatta wins under her belt, but a yacht that really hadn't sailed since 1989. Mike Slade, the boat's new owner, was eager to find someone to race her in the New York Yacht Club's sesquicentennial.

"The genesis of the idea was that he would make the boat available at Newport, we could do the Newport to Bermuda race, and then he could take the boat back up to Newport to do the sesquicentennial under the flag of the Royal Thames. It all started to work and we started to put it together.'' Carter will skipper the only Bermuda yacht in the Racing Division, expected to be one of the most hotly-contested events in the Newport to Bermuda race. The Smith's resident, who operates his own research and development companies, is set to leave for the Rhode Island town on June 8 where Longobarda will first compete in the Harbour Court regattas on June 11 and 12, part of the Onion Patch Series.

"She's Longobarda just arrived at Newport and came through 60 knots abreeze on the way across the transatlantic from Southampton, England, so we know that she's capable of taking some very stiff breezes.

"But the Newport to Bermuda race is a real crap game. It really depends on the weather and if you have serious breakdowns. The boat is going to be among the first six boats. We have a good chance of being up there.'' Carter is taking no chances as he prepares for next month's races, a logistical nightmare that has taken months to plan.

"When you charter a boat of this magnitude.. .I mean we started exchanging faxes and telephone calls in October and my file is six to nine inches thick at the moment. You've got to negotiate the charter agreement and insurance. There's so many facets to this.'' Most off all the crew will be up against some significant competition in the form of well known American skippers Richard De Vos ( Windquest ) and Donald Elliman ( Conspiracy ), while John Hobbs of England Nirvana , Bruce Savage of South Africa ( Orion Express and Adamo Ricci of Italy ( Orchidea ) will give the biennial race a truly cosmopolitan flavour.

Nirvana is the course record holder (two days, 14 hours, 29 minutes and 16 seconds) when Bermuda resident Marvin Green owned her in 1984.

Carter will be armed with extensive research by the time he arrives in Newport, months of computer printouts tracking down weather trends and various developments of the Gulf Stream. There will also be computer equipment on board.

"It's not a question of expecting any surprises, it's more a question of once you've got the information making sure that you read it properly and that you act on it quickly,'' said Carter. "If we get right weather situations and right Gulf Stream situations I mean the boat is capable of coming down quite quickly and that's obviously what we'd like to do.'' The crew is mostly hoping to avoid any mishaps and have trained exhaustively for what can be "quite a punishing race.

"I mean a boat like this, it is a pretty dangerous boat to sail on,'' said Carter. "The loading blocks are prone to blowing up and you'll have kevlar sheets or spectra sheets just whipping across the boat. It's a question of making sure people are not standing in dangerous areas.'' Although half the crew are from either the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club or Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club, the key player will be Law, with recent victories in Lymington Cup and Congressional Cup competitions.

"We know Chris is hot at the moment,'' said Carter. "He's now sixth in the world ranking for match racing. And his main responsibility will be organising the crew and making sure we keep the mast in the boat and we've got the right sails up.'' Looking at pictures of Longobarda on his desk, Carter added: "I'd love for all of the crew to turn around and say that (Newport to Bermuda) was the best yachting experience we've ever had, irrespective of what we do. I just want it to be great memory.''