Sandwiched between covering the Michael Jackson trial and heading off to Aruba for the missing teenager, Geraldo Rivera found the time to race from Marion to Bermuda.

Rivera, famous for having his nose broken on national television, giving away troop positions in the Iraq war and having an iconic moustache, has a high pressure job from which he rarely gets a break.

So for Rivera, whose attitude has gone from indifferent and stiff in Marion last week to relaxed and amiable in Bermuda yesterday morning, sailing is his one way of letting it all hang out.

?That?s why I love sailing so much,? said the 61-year-old yesterday aboard Voyager after successfully completing the 645 mile ocean crossing for the first time and avoiding a repeat of his 1985 disqualification for a pre-start collision.

?When you are out on the water there is nothing else to think about. Yes, I do have a stressful job, there a lot of demands and we have done some pretty dangerous things, but being out there helps you forget about it all.

?I had the Michael Jackson trial to cover last week but when I was out there at sea, all I was thinking about was the current and the wind and how to get this boat to go as fast as possible.

?There is enough to think about at the helm of the boat that you don?t have time to worry about work ? whatever you do for a living.?

Unfortunately for Rivera, he was awoken from his sea-induced relaxed state with a jolt upon his return, ?100 messages? on his Blackberry and confirmation that he has to head down to Aruba to cover the story of the missing American teen there.

He spent last night in Bermuda but heads out today to New York ? for some quality time with his heavily pregnant wife ? and then on to Aruba and the realities of his job.

But yesterday Rivera, still in possession of his trademark moustache ? which he threatened to shave off if Jackson was found guilty ? accompanied by the stubble of an ocean sailor, was only interesting in talking nautical.

?It was a great crossing,? said Rivera, who seemed very much at home and relaxed among his crew and not the arrogant figure he cuts on the small screen.

?I really enjoyed it. We sail down to Bermuda probably once a year and I always like the trip.

?I think the conditions were the perfect example of the North Atlantic at its finest. We had blustery conditions and then dead calm and then blustery conditions again.

?It was a good test of everyone?s sailing skills, we have a great crew here and they all did marvellously.?

Rivera admitted it was a ?culture shock? when the 1972 Voyager, which he has owned for ten years, hit a patch of air so light they went backwards.

?We have been around the world in this boat and when you hit light air, you just turn on the motor.? he said with a smile.

?So it was a bit of a culture shock for us. We recorded a speed of minus two at one point, I don?t think I have ever gone backwards like that before.?

For Rivera, other highlights of the crossing included having to use the ship?s sewing machine to repair the spinnaker and seeing one of his crew get hit square in the shoulder by a flying fish.

?Sailing has its own challenges,? he added with a smile.

?It is something that I can never tire of. I have seen a lot of things in my life, I have been to Iraq on numerous occasions and I have even been shot at.

?Some things were dangerous, some things were exhilarating but there is one thing that is guaranteed to make me happy ? and that is sailing.?