While the name on the stern says War Baby it has been nothing less than a 50-year odyssey of love for owner and skipper Warren Brown, who has adopted the sea as his home, his partner, his friend.

Hence it was no surprise to find the evergreen captain at the starting line in Newport for the 19th time last Friday, and even less of one when he and the 61-foot S&S crossed the finish line off St. David's first among the Bermuda boats taking part in the Newport-Bermuda Race, with an elapsed time of four days, six hours, 21 minutes, 54 seconds. War Baby was also seventh in Class Six and 89th overall.

Conditions proved ideal for the 37-ton sloop, at least during the first two days, plowing along at a solid clip. However, like most of the bigger boats, Brown and his crew found themselves almost motionless as they neared the Island when the winds died.

"We had a very fast two days and then we got into trouble when it went light on the third day,'' explained Brown, who held out great praise for his 12-member crew that included Bermudians Kevin Horsefield, Jack Ward and Melissa Brown. "We're 28-years-old and very heavy -- 37 tons -- and a lot of the new boats are much lighter than we are and that includes a lot of the bigger boats. So, it's fine when you have that weather, and we went like an express train through the seas those first two days in heavy weather, but once it lightened up those light ones -- probably a third of our weight -- go past you every time.

"I'm always pleased to get in first, but you have to realise that I have a slightly bigger boat than some of the others -- I'd be pretty disappointed if a smaller boat beat me in.'' By most accounts the 2000 version proved a relatively tranquil venture, with the enigmatic Gulf Stream not nearly as treacherous as in most years.

"The Gulf Stream this year was very straightforward and because it had a big dip it gave most of the boats a good boost towards Bermuda,'' said Brown, who had Canada's Ray Martin in the role of navigator. "The current this year in the Gulf Stream was favourable for the boats coming down.'' And what's up next for Brown... sailing, sailing, and more sailing of course. "I've been a sailor for 48-50 years -- I'm not about to stop now,'' he said.

While Brown claimed line honours among locals, it was another boat Monterey guided by the calm hand of Les Crane that seized the top spot on corrected time of 63 hours, eight minutes, 45 seconds.

The result was particularly satisfying for the veteran skipper, who after having taken six days to finish two years ago, was able to bask in the joy of a competed journey -- not to mention solid ground -- two days sooner this time around.

"This was a great race. It's great being in on a Tuesday and not a Thursday like the last race,'' lamented Crane, who counted daughters A.J. and Nicola, as well as son Court among the crew of 11.

"This was probably the easiest race in terms of having a lot of wind and not squalls. We've had races before where it's been storm-type conditions and heavy thunder squalls and that sort of thing. This was just 20-25 knot winds the first couple of days, good reaching conditions, and that's a lot of fun.'' Continued on page 15 Crane's gamble almost pays off Continued from page 13 Crane intimated how he made a bet with his crew that the winds would come in from the south and took a more westerly position than the rest of the fleet, sailing 40 miles west of the rhumb line at one point.

The gamble appeared a sound one for a while. That is until the wind moved more to the south-west, allowing the rest of the fleet to fetch up towards the finish line and leaving Crane buried underneath.

Monterey ended up 16th in Class One and 43rd overall.

"Basically it was a bet we put on and it came close to working, but not quite,'' said Crane, breaking into laughter.

Nevertheless, there were probably none more enthralled with what had transpired during the course of the past week than Stephen Sherwin, the skipper of Borderlaw , a vintage 1965, 43-foot English constructed Camper Nicholson.

For in his initial Bermuda race as skipper Sherwin was able to not merely finish, but win the newly created Class 10 for classic yachts.

Sherwin fell in love with the boat from the first time he saw her at the shipyard of John Anderson in Camden last year and this week's result proved it to be a match made in heaven.

"It's one of the highlights of my sailing life,'' said Sherwin, a registered family practitioner. "It's something that I've always wanted to do. I've always wanted to do it in a classic boat and it's just gone very well.

"This is the end of a nine-month campaign and there was nothing left unplanned about it or wishy-washy.

"We had a boat that was capable of doing well, a good classic boat -- she's not a slow boat. Also we had a very well balanced crew of people who were capable of overcoming any problems.'' Boderlaw's corrected time of 69:04:17 gave her a more than two-hour advantage over second-placed Lively Lady II , a Carter 37 skippered by William Hubbard of New York.

All boats scheduled to arrive in Bermuda have arrived, with preparations for tomorrow's Onion Patch series underway.

Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club member Carvel Tefft surpassed his expectations with a second-place finish on corrected time.

His 70-year-old 43-footer Bangalore was only beaten to the Lighthouse Trophy by Eric Crawford and Restless .

Tefft, an American from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, who joined the RHADC because he "loves Bermuda and its people'', put the success down to hard work, but added that conditions had boosted his chances.

After admitting that he had been a little surprised by his placing, Tefft said: "When you work hard at something, you have high expectations.

"Conditions were right for the boat, I think. She is a Rhodes custom 43, built in 1930 to race on the Great Lakes, so she is a good reaching boat.

"She got down here like a train. She's a good boat in heavy weather like we had the first couple of days. She stays on her feet very well. We did the whole race on one tack.'' Warren Brown: first local to finish.