Simon De Pietro's Class A yacht Lilla was the early leader in the Marion Bermuda Race, and his Briand 76 was surging towards Bermuda at a 10.1 knot clip, the race organisers said yesterday.Second is Brigand, another Class A skippered by Sean Saslo, which is averaging 9.2 kts while Kiva and Margalo are third and fourth.The yachts are making good progress after a wet and wild start from Buzzards Bay on Friday when winds were blowing at a steady 30 knots and gusting to 40.Of the 53 registered boats, 50 boats crossed the starting line when the starting gun for Class D (11 boats) went off at 1230 hours. Two boats returned within three hours: Hotspur II, Ron Wisner's Columbia 50 (Class D), came back into calm Marion harbour at 3pm with a report of broken shrouds.Truant returned shortly after Hotspur II , with an injured crew member (possible concussion). His crew member walked off the boat on his own accord, which was a very good sign.Two other boats have retired from the race: Aries Dream (Sabre 426, Class B), Alastor (Cal 35, Class D), and from the looks of it, Patchwork (Westsail 32, Class D), the smallest boat in the fleet, appears to be heading back to their hailing port of Stratford Connecticut, the Race organisers said.To follow the race, go to iboattrack for up to the minute tracking.