Veteran Bermudian sailor Rick Spurling is perhaps typical of many of those racing in this year's Newport-Bermuda Race.

The goal is to be competitive but the aim is to have fun. And the priority - safety at all costs.

Spurling, who took part in his first Newport-Bermuda crossing back in 1966 and has embarked on the same adventure eight times since, would like nothing more than to add to his silverware collection. But when all's said and done, he'll be perfectly happy to reach the St. David's finish line safe and sound.

And the same probably applies to his fellow Bermuda skippers, Robert Mulderig in Starr Trail, Stephen Sherwin in Borderlaw, Colin Couper in Babe and Paul Hubbard in Bermuda Oyster, as well as another veteran Bermudian, Kirk Cooper, who will be on American Ricky Schulman's entry, Temptress.

In a sport which has suffered some terrible tragedies in recent years - a would-be Newport-Bermuda skipper was lost at sea only last month while racing in a warm-up event - safety remains high on the race agenda.

All of the boats have undergone rigorous inspections this week, Spurling's chartered 48ft Swan, Hinano, being no exception.

"Our goals?", asks Spurling. "Obviously to enjoy the race, have fun and have a safe crossing. "But we do have a competitive boat, so there's always a good chance we'll have a little luck and do well. "The main thing, however is to enjoy the racing, the camaraderie and the challenge."

On board with Spurling will be his son, Giles, Dr. Andrew West and dentist David Roblin as well as Americans Americans Patrick Doyle, Tom Hilbert, Dennis Malloy, Dennis Malloy junior, Lou Wallner, Tom Maynard, Rick Betterley and Neil McLauchlin.

"We have an amateur crew but we can be competitive," says Spurling. "We all come from far afield and we get ourselves together at the last minute.

"So we're not competitive in the sense that we're preparing weeks before, but we do intend to make the trip enjoyable.

"Hinano's a chartered yacht, we've only had the boat for about a week now.

"We raced it on a couple of the weekend races just to shake it down and fix anything that we found defective.

"Now we've done that and we've been working on a few things this week. It's come through a very thorough inspection. I think it's a very nice boat, and we're ready to go."