A northerly breeze of between 10 to 12 knots is expected to greet the 84 boats who will line up in Buzzard's Bay, Massachusetts, around lunch time today for the start of the biennial Marion to Bermuda cruising race.

The 645-mile ocean challenge officially gets underway at 2.15 p.m Bermuda time when the first of the six classes will be sent on their way.

Just four Bermudian skippers -- Colin Couper, Buddy Rego, Derek Ratteray and Paul Hubbard -- and their all-Bermudian crews are among this year's entry and all were reported yesterday to be making final preparations without any major problems.

For Ratteray, in Alida , this will be his first venture in the race while Couper, Rego and Hubbard have all competed previously. Hubbard, skipper of Tonka has five Marion-Bermuda races under his belt while Couper, in Vivace raced in '91, '93 and '95 and Rego, in Tsunami , in '93.

Yesterday Ratteray told The Royal Gazette that the weather forecast for today's start called for light winds of around 10 to 12 knots.

However, all skippers were to be updated at a final meeting last night.

"It might be a bit of a drifter for the first 24 hours or so,'' commented Ratteray.

First boat across the line is expected to arrive in Bermuda late on Monday evening or early Tuesday, although much will depend on weather conditions throughout the passage.

Hubbard suffered a minor setback when he ran Tonka aground in Marion this week but no major damage was reported, while Ratteray experienced generator problems which have now been fixed.

"So far everything is running smoothly. There are no problems and the weather is beautiful,'' said an optimistic Rego, who cruised up to Marion from Bermuda in three days and 21 hours. "If everything goes that well on the way down, we'll be very happy,'' he added.

First across the line two years ago was Denver skipper Richard Leather in his Hylas 51 Columbine , and he is again on the start line today.

However, overall winner in 1995, Donald Porter in his Westsail 32 Kemancha is not returning.