expected to cross the finishing line off St. David's this morning.

The fleet of 104 boats left the small Massachusetts town of Marion last Friday afternoon and by 4.00 a.m. yesterday, the leaders were around 180 miles north-east of Bermuda.

Race press officer Rich Healy said: "If they travel in a straight line at an average of six knots, they should take around 30 more hours to get here, so the first ones should get in early to mid-morning.'' Organisers have been able to track the fleet more accurately than ever before in the race's 22-year history thanks to transponders fitted to six boats which allow their positions to be pinpointed via satellite.

Hopes of fast times raised by a stiff north-easterly breeze which gave the boats a rare downwind start from Buzzards Bay have now disappeared.

And ironically, after last week's fears that a postponement might be necessary because of the proximity of tropical storm Arlene to the race route, the boats were yesterday encountering exactly the opposite problem -- lack of wind.

Light breezes south of the Gulf Stream, a river-like body of water flowing off the eastern seaboard directly across the 645-mile course, have slowed down the fleet.

Healy said yesterday that the yachts had made good progress across the Gulf Stream itself over the weekend.

"The larger boats were moving along at around nine knots and the smaller ones were doing about seven,'' he said.

"But the wind's gone back to the south and that won't help them. There's not a whole lot of wind out there.'' Healy added that the bigger boats seemed to be out in front and that could mean good news for Bermuda.

Although there are only five Island-based boats in the fleet, one of them, War Baby skippered by veteran Warren Brown, is the biggest vessel in the race, at 61 feet long.

Brown, on the same boat, was first to finish in his only previous appearance in the race in 1989.

But overall positions are decided on a corrected time basis, which penalises the bigger boats, so the actual race winner is unlikely to be known until Wednesday.

The other Bermuda skippers competing are Paul Hubbard with Bermuda Oyster , David Roblin with Lullaby , Buddy Rego with Tsunami and Colin Couper with Babe .

Photos by Gail Scott-Sleeman Heading home: Bermuda boats War Baby (above) and Lullaby (below) set off from Buzzards Bay at the start of the Marion-Bermuda race on Friday.