It was back to school time last night for 250 or so skippers and navigators preparing for the Newport to Bermuda race.

Like high school seniors cramming for a high school exam, they listened in rapt attention to final meteorological and Gulf Stream analyses, less than 16 hours before the horn goes off for this afternoon's staggered start in Newport Harbour.

The Captains' Meeting at the Newport Harbour Hotel and Marina was compulsory for any sailor worth his salt although just how much they learned was debatable. Most of these students came in having done more homework in the past few months than they did in four years of university.

"It's not like previous years when people came into these meetings cold turkey,'' said Frank Bohlen, an 11-race veteran and a professor of Marine Services at the University of Connecticut, who led last night's final briefing.

Bohlen has been sending skippers Gulf Stream information since January. And thanks to the development of GPS and satellite imagery -- all available on the Internet -- a lot of them these days know just as much as their teachers.

Even if they did learn any startling new information last night, no one was saying. They are, after all, in a race and to a man, skippers were keeping their charts close to their vests.

"The bottom line is everybody has their pet theories about what the Gulf Stream is going to do,'' said Dr. Colin Couper of Bermuda, making his seventh trip -- this time as skipper of Brigaddon VI .

Asked what his strategy was, he just smiled and said: "We've got a few ideas.'' Les Crane, skippering Monterey for a sixth time, added: "You'd think that, given the same information, the strategy would be obvious but it's amazing how the boats get all over the place. Even in other races when there's been what I would call a very definite strategy, boats still end up all over the map.'' What, then, was his strategy? Crane said it was "in the process of changing'' and would ultimately "be a factor of what the forecast is for (this morning).'' The strategy was changing along with the weather forecast. Officials last night only talked about the first half of the race and it wasn't particularly good news for those hoping for a record crossing; in fact, almost opposite what it was two days earlier.

"I've got a feeling it's not going to be a fast one,'' said RBYC commodore Bruce Lines.

While a cold front will still blow through the area today, the winds are now expected to be southwest and hitting the nose of the boats as they head out to sea. That's still better than the second day's forecast of no wind at all, so the prevailing message last night was: Don't hang around in Newport.

Most of the sailors expected strong winds over the middle portion of the race at which time they should be, if all goes well, within the friendly confines of the Gulf Stream. With that wind crossing the stream, "it could get pretty messy,'' said Crane.

Race spokesman Talbot Wilson said that contrary to popular theory, 30-knot winds are not essential to a fast crossing and a consistent 15-knot breeze is more valuable.

"The thing with these big boats is, once they get going, they create their own wind,'' he said.

Just as important as the wind is the Gulf Stream, that invisible river meandering up around Florida and enveloping Bermuda. Its current adds more than one knot to a boat's speed and in some places as much as four.

Located approximately 100 to 150 nautical miles down the rhumb line, this ocean boundary -- characterised by marked water temperature and colour contrasts -- "represents a juncture every bit as important as the start or finish of the race,'' Bohlen said.

Once in the stream, skippers seeking an extra boost must be careful not to wander too far off course as they follow its meandering trail. Boats will try to find the narrowest and warmest parts of the stream to assist their passage to Bermuda.

FACT FILE What: 41st biennial Newport-Bermuda Yacht Race.

Race start: Today, 1.00 p.m., EDT.

Number of entries: 162, largest fleet in 16 years.

Sponsors: Cruising Club of America and Royal Bermuda Yacht Club.

Starting line: Between Castle Hill and Beaver Tail Lighthouse in the Rhode Island Sound off Newport.

Finish line: St. David's Lighthouse, Bermuda.

Distance: 635 nautical miles (along the rhumb line).

Record: 57 hours, 31 minutes, 50 seconds -- an average speed of 11 knots -- set by Boomerang in 1996.

Major trophies: St. David's Lighthouse (best corrected time overall); Rod Stephens Memorial (winner of combined race amateur and grand prix division); CCA Bermuda Station (first in Cruiser/Racer Division); Royal Mail (non-spinnaker Cruising Division) plus 30 other prizes as well as medallions for the first four corrected times in each class.

Oldest boat: Mistress , launched in 1930.

Bermuda boats: Monterey , Defiant , Starr Trail .

Bermuda skippers: Les Crane, Steven Vestbirk, Robert Mulderig, Kirk Cooper, Dr. Colin Couper.

Oldest skipper: 86-year-old Jim Mertz, of Rye, New York, making his 28th start.