Newport to Bermuda Race.

With just six weeks to go before the biennial race, organisers are still waiting for sailors to submit their entries.

Traditionally, skippers are never too good at complying with the closing date for entry -- which passed more than a week ago.

But it now seems increasingly unlikely that the number of yachts to make the 635-mile ocean crossing will exceed the 149 that set sail in 1990.

More than 250 sailboats completed a `Request for Entry' but it is doubtful that many more than half that number will actually line up for this year's race.

A final figure is not expected to be announced until month's end, but if Bermuda's representation is anything to go by, it does not promise to be a record-breaking event.

Paul Hubbard's Tonka , Buddy Rego's Tsunami , and Frances Carter's Circe are three notable absentees from the Bermuda contingent, which looks set to be just three boats strong.

Colin Couper's Vivace leads the Bermuda challenge, and will probably be the only local representative in the Racing Division.

Eldon Trimingham's Escape and Nicholas Dill's Dillightful are entered in the Cruising Division.

"It's always important for Bermuda to have as many boats as possible in the Bermuda Race,'' said Trimingham. "But this recession's a serious business.

The cost of replacing equipment and sails today is so high that people are having to think twice about it.'' However, the picture is not all doom and gloom, with the entry of Boomerang -- the first boat to finish in 1990 -- already confirmed.

BOOMERANG IS COMING BACK! -- The boat, which won line honours in 1990, will be looking to repeat that feat this year.