The 645-nautical mile voyage from Buzzard's Bay, Marion to St.David's, Bermuda will be anything but smooth sailing for the 322 sailors that make up this year's Marion to Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race fleet.

Wind gusts in the Gulf Steam over gale force strength are now a threat, although wind direction with the current should keep seas from being overly short and steep.

Preliminary reports on activity in the Gulf Stream show a warm eddy producing unfavourable current along the rhumb line. The Stream itself is oriented somewhat favourably along the rhumb line with the wind direction generally from the southeast or east-southeast for the first 12 to 18 hours over the Atlantic.

"In 30 years of forecasting this is one of the most dynamic weather patterns I've seen," commented weather expert, Dane Clark, on the eve of this year's race.

Local skipper Paul Hubbard is now bracing himself for a "bumpy ride" across open seas.

"It's going to be fairly heavy on the nose on the way down. It's going to be a rather uncomfortable ride," he said.

Conditions for today's start (1.30 p.m. local time) of the biennial race call for 13-17 knot southeast winds in two to three foot running seas.

Sailors will also be confronted with fog and periodic showers as they make their way out of Buzzard's Bay and chart their course on either side of the 165 degree rhumb line.

Once in open seas, progress will be difficult for much of tonight due to unfavourable wind direction before favorable conditions return either later in the night or early hours of tomorrow morning when winds are expected to shift in a west-southwest direction.

However, wind speeds will become "brisk" and seas "above normal" through tomorrow and will remain that way for the rest of the race.

Once through the Gulf Stream sailors will keep their fingers crossed the notorious 'Bermuda High" will not come into play.

The 'Bermuda High' is a high- pressure system that has a reputation for "killing the wind" and making the final approach to the Island almost "unpredictable".

Only recently the 'Bermuda High' brought the Tall Ship race fleet to a virtual standstill on their final approach to the Island from the Azores that was eventually completed under power.