Cruising Yacht Race has gone from strength to strength. Jonathan Kent looks back at all the thrills and spills of the few ocean races designed exclusively for cruising yachts.

It was 24 years ago that American W.David Kingery first came up with the idea of having a yacht race from Marion to Bermuda.

Kingery was a member of the Marion-based Beverly Yacht Club and in 1975, he was interested in entering a single-handed race from England to Newport.

To qualify for the race, he decided to make a single-handed voyage to Bermuda and it was on this trip that Kingery was struck with the concept of a race from Marion to the Island for cruising yachts and family sailors.

He discussed his idea with Dickie Bird, of the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club, Leo Fallon of the Blue Water Sailing Club and fellow members of the Beverly Yacht Club.

Support was forthcoming from all three clubs and in 1977, Kingery's dream became reality with the first Marion-Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race.

It attracted the same number of starters as this year's race, 104. The going was slow in light, south-westerly winds and Silkie was the first overall winner.

Conditions were very different for the 1979 race, with 128 starters plunging into 25-knot south-westerly winds. Fourteen boats failed to finish and there were two dismastings in what proved a struggle against nature.

Gabriella was first to finish overall and first on corrected time, while the new Family Trophy was won by Asteroid .

In 1981, 143 yachts crossed the starting line and early in the race the wind picked up and by the halfway stage the fleet was battling against 45-knot, howling winds.

Satan's Mercy sank close to the Gulf Stream and her crew was rescued by Windburn , which carried on with the race. Calms near the Island meant food supplies for the expanded crew ran low and she powered into Bermuda.

There were 38 non-finishers, mostly due to lack of wind or gear problems and 15 others were so late finishing the Race Committee was not at St. David's to take their time.

Sly Mongoose was first to finish, with Edelweiss first on corrected time, while the family trophy went to Legend .

Two years later, Ron Noonan's Wildflower from Class G took first overall, with Herb Marcus and Silkie taking the shorthanded honours for the fourth successive time. Asteroid won her second Family Trophy.

In 1985, light air from the south made it slow going until Wednesday morning, when close to Bermuda, the fleet ran into a massive southwesterly wind and repetitive thunderstorms.

Carioca and Fleetwing were dismasted and the latter was eventually abandoned, as 22 boats withdrew. Charisma's was first to finish, but Pirate stole the honours on corrected time and Legend won the family prize.

In 1987, the Premier of Bermuda, Sir John Swan, himself an avid cruising sailor, was among the spectators who watched a fleet of 149 boats set off from Buzzards Bay in a 25-knot southwesterly wind.

The 59-foot Class A cutter Runaway was first to finish in a time of 80 hours, setting a new race record, while Legend , skippered by Kevin Carse, won the first overall, class B and family titles.

The biggest fleet in the history of the Marion-Bermuda race, 163 vessels, started in 1989.

After several postponements due to lack of wind, it turned into another record-breaking affair, as Bermudian skipper Warren Brown and his 61-foot sloop War Baby finished first in 721 hours.

Bermuda's Kirk Cooper and Alphida were first over the line, while corrected time honours went to John Elliot and Yukon Jack , just ahead of Jim Hayes' Shambles , as 145 yachts finished.

A downturn in the economy was reflected by the reduced number of entries for the 1991 race. On a beautiful day, 117 yachts crossed the start line without incident or mishap.

But by the time the fleet reached the Gulf Stream, a storm with a radius of around 300 miles arrived from the north-east, bringing winds of near hurricane force and seas of 30 to 40 feet.

Remarkably, there were no major mishaps and Richard Carleton's Orion was first overall, closely followed by Morris Kellog's Blue Magic .

After a glorious start to the opening day of the 1993 race, a 20 to 30-knot southwesterly wind kicked in as the starting line in Buzzards Bay became shrouded in thick fog.

Two boats collided and retired and although there were several other near misses and groundings reported, the rest of the fleet of 115 made it out into the open ocean and enjoyed an idyllic voyage to Bermuda.

Alphida and Cooper were again first to finish and set a new record time for the race, though over a shorter course, while Ron Noonan's Wildflower came first overall on corrected time.

The 77 starters in the 1995 race departed in glorious weather and made steady progress to the Gulf Stream, where they were stalled by 16 hours of complete calm.

The arrival of the wind found the fleet almost completely together and sparked the start of a virtually new race for the reamining 300 miles to St. David's.

Dick Leather's Columbine was first to finish, late on Tuesday evening, 30 minutes ahead of Veritas . Carter Cordner's Kemancha took corrected time honours, denying Ron Noonan's Wildflower a hat-trick by just half an hour.

The 1997 race marked the 20th anniversary of the event and the first time sailors were permitted to use unrestricted electronic navigation.

Marion Race history However, those electing to use the old-fashioned celestial methods, 75 percent of the fleet, were awarded a three percent bonus to their time allowance.

First to cross the finishing line was Abbot Fletcher's Majek , one of the smallest vessels in the race. Alex Rosenbladt's Akka was first on corrected time.

On the Friday, the Friends and Family Race drew more than 40 boats for a 25-mile race around Hamilton harbour, followed by a waterfront party at the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club.

This year's race, the first with separate classes for electronic and celestial navigation, attracted 104 starters, the biggest fleet for six years, which bodes well for the future of what has been described as "the premier ocean racing event for bona fide cruising yachts''.

Lined up: Kirk Cooper's Alphida , which twice took line honours in the Race.

Back problems prevented Cooper from crewing in this year's race on Dr. Richard Schulman's Temptress -- which took line honours this year.

SAILING SLG