races, the Island's trans-Atlantic calendar this year will welcome yet another.

For May 11 will witness the start of the Charleston (South Carolina) to Bermuda race, which is expected to feature some 30 boats, possibly including renowned yachtsman David Scully, who raced to a fourth-place finish during the last BOC Round-the-World race.

The 635-mile event is being patterned after the Newport-to-Bermuda, with spinnakers being allowed -- unlike Marion, which is strictly a cruising affair -- and will be hosted locally by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC). Rick Hennigar and David Browder of Ross Marine in South Carolina are charged with organising duties.

RBYC vice-commodore Bruce Lines confirmed the race and said that once inititial safety concerns had been addressed -- specifically in terms of craft stability -- the club was more than glad to join the first-time venture.

Unlike the Newport race, which employs the costly IMS measuring system that includes a stability factor, the Charleston regatta instead will use the less expensive PHRF method, one that excludes measurements of stability -- something RBYC were quite wary of.

"Our concern was that we'd have some real lightweight craft that basically depended on crew weight coming from Charleston to Bermuda,'' said Lines.

"You have a range of about 200 miles off the US coast that the US coast guard will cover, then another 200 miles in the middle that they might cover if pushed and then 200 miles near Bermuda. We don't have any search and rescue capabilities, so we decided we needed some factor to be associated with the race.'' It means that some water-ballasted boats may be forced to compete with those full, while others will need to undergo modification prior to departure to meet Capsize Screening Value requirements.

Exact criteria have been set out for monohulls, while matters relating to multihulls have yet to be resolved.

Lines added that the Charleston race would not impinge upon the Marion-Bermuda event, slated to begin June 20.

"It's a different culture of people. It's people from down south, mainly among the Charleston region, whereas most of the people in the Marion Race are from the New England, New York area,'' said Lines.

"This is a very low-key race. People will be taking their own finishing times and radioing them in to Harbour radio.'' Moreover, the impact upon Bermuda's economy could be significant if the event can grow along the lines of the big two.

"If it's anything like the Newport race, which is estimated to have a $2 million dollar effect on Bermuda's economy, if this thing takes off and has say 50 boats next time you're looking at at least $500,000 pumped into the local economy,'' "That's a conservative figure considering you have a lot of wives and children coming down here to meet the boats.'' Scully's inclusion would lend even more credibility to the race, which has attracted inquiries from as far away as Antigua.

The long-time veteran of the sport captained the 60-foot boat Coyote in the BOC, which left Charleston in 1994.