Their story has all the makings of a triumph-over-tragedy classic - something of movie or literary proportions.

However, the mixed expressions of pride, joy and devastating sorrow on the faces of all associated with Blue Yankee underline just how real their experiences of the past month have been.

As the impressive Reichel-Pugh 66 yacht rested in the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club's jetty yesterday, its owner and crew accepted, somewhat mutedly, praise and congratulations for capturing the Gibb's Hill Lighthouse Trophy - the new prize for the corrected time winner of the IMS (International Measurement System) Racing Division in the Newport-Bermuda Race.

Topping all racing boats, they posted a corrected time of 51 hours, 59 minutes and 23 seconds to be the envy and toast of their peers but, for the 15 persons aboard Blue Yankee - which docked in Bermuda around 12.45 a.m. Monday - the word most appropriate to describe their feelings was "bitter-sweet".

It was the exact term which owner, Bob Towse, ship-mate, Brock Callen and crew member Latimer Spinney all used to convey the stir of emotions and memories welling up in each of them as thoughts centred on a vital but missing part of their team.

On May 24, while Blue Yankee was in Long Island Sound participating in the Brock Island Race (a warm-up event for the Newport-Bermuda competition), its captain Jamie Boeckel - a seasoned, respected sailor - was thrown from the bow when a spinnaker pole broke. Despite the best efforts of the US Coast Guard, other race boats and his sailing colleagues - including Callen who jumped in and attempted a rescue - the apparently unconscious Boeckel was lost at sea. The 34-year-old Newport, Rhode Island resident's body has not been found.

So, for this reason, victory in a race which Blue Yankee began precisely three weeks after this tragic event, means so much more than just the usual prestige of winning the biennial, trans-Atlantic crossing.

"The Newport-Bermuda race is very important race. In the even years, it's the crown jewel. It's a big part of Blue Yankee's campaign and, because of the tragedy we experienced nearly a month ago, it's bitter-sweet for us.

"I am very proud of my crew and how they have come through this and we are happy to win from among this very competitive fleet," said an obviously emotional Towse.

The 61-year-old sailing veteran paid tribute to the expertise and commitment of Boeckel who captained his yacht for the past two years and who was instrumental in Blue Yankee's build-up for the Newport-Bermuda race until the time of his presumed drowning. Towse, who is accompanied by his son Farley, thinks his crew has a "pretty good chance" of excelling in the Onion Patch Series also, individually and in the team category.

"We have a good team - Orion, Goldigger and ourselves. We are representing Storm Trysail Club," said the Stamford, Connecticut resident, adding this would be a perfect way to cap their tribute to Boeckel.

Callen, who joined Towse's team two months ago, noted that getting back out into the deep blue ocean was "therapeutic" for the crew and that they know it's what Boeckel would have wanted them to do.

"We were really happy to get out sailing again. The crew really came together and were driven. When things got a bit tough, we stepped it up and all pulled together and gave that last bit of effort that made the difference.

"It's obviously a bitter-sweet win. We would love to have had Jamie here but I think he was still a part of it.

His word in everything regarding the boat was 'excellence', making sure that every time Bob stepped on the boat, it was perfect. We tried to live up to that standard in this race.

"We were ranked fourth going into the Newport-Bermuda event and, with this win, we are in good standing going into the last two races of the Onion Patch series. We just hope we can finish it out well and take it all on Friday," he said.

Spinney, 34, agreed they "all needed this", saying that getting back on the water helped the crew reflect on what happened. It's a good feeling, he said, to win a race "we dedicated to Jamie".

Towse described race conditions as breezy and, in the Gulf Stream, even severe. He termed it "a good seaman's test for the entire fleet". While others suffered breakdowns or other major problems that hindered progress,Blue Yankee luckily escaped with a pad eye being ripped out of its deck and a few wrecked sails.

While the crew were always confident they would be "strong contenders", it was on Sunday morning that they stepped up their title challenge when they realised Carerra (fourth on corrected time) was "rather close to us and actually beating us on corrected time".

"They are some good friends of ours that we race against a lot. It's a tough rivalry and we wanted to win," said 22-year-old Callen.

"There were a number of boats that could have won this race. The competition is so great. There were some breakdowns on other boats that we were able to capitalise on and we didn't have any problems that we couldn't overcome," noted Spinney, who has worked with Towse for almost 10 years.

For Towse, who has been sailing since he was 25, it was his second Newport-Bermuda success. In 1998, he won the IMS Grand Prix in a 47-foot yacht, also calledBlue Yankee. Apart from its ill-fated participation in the Brock Island Race, the current Blue Yankee tuned up for this race by competing in the Miami to Baltimore Race and in the first two races of the Onion Patch series held last weekend by the New York Yacht Club. It was built in 1999 by Bashford International in Australia.