minutes yesterday in its bid to break the record for the fastest Newport to Bermuda crossing.

Yet, one could not tell from the mood of owner/skipper John Barry, who appeared jubilant, despite falling an agonishing nine minutes and 56 seconds short of the mark 57 hours, 31 minutes, 50 seconds set by the 80' maxi-yacht Boomerang during the Newport to Bermuda race in June.

"I feel great. I could feel victorious, but I feel great,'' said Barry, whose craft arrived in an elapsed time of 57:41:47, which stands as a record for a multi-hull boat, beating its own mark of 64:29, also set in June.

"Maybe it's a bit (disappointing), but the good news is that this gives us an excuse to come back to Bermuda...so we'll try it again next year.'' Hoping to take advantage of a beneficial forecast, Barry and his French crew left Newport early Monday morning and arrived at St. George's Sport and Dinghy Club at around 10 a.m. yesterday -- an agonising nine minutes and 56 seconds shy of Boomerang 's standard.

Barry said the journey was a rough one, especially in and around the Gulf Stream, where he and his crew of Bruno Dubois, Philippe Oulhen and Gilles Campan were subjected to heavy winds and rough seas.

However, what ultimately dashed their hopes was the lack of breeze nearing the Island, with a Bermuda high creating a low for Barry and his men.

"The start was bitter, bitter cold and we missed a snow storm by just a few hours, so we put everything on that we had on the boat and took off at two in the morning, because that's when we thought the weather was just starting to present itself,'' explained the skipper.

"The (Gulf) Stream warmed us up a bit, but it was blowing at about 40 (knots) from the north and the Stream was really rough, the roughest I've ever seen it. But fortunately it was only 40 miles wide and we were able to get through it in three hours.

"(But) after we got close to Bermuda the wind dropped out and kept getting lower and lower.'' Asked if there was anything that could have been done to allow that extra push that might have handed them the record, Barry said there wasn't.

"We pushed the boat hard and got everything out of it. The whole trip, we didn't sleep or eat much,'' he said. "We reflected back as to what we could have done to make the boat go faster and the answer is nothing.

"We made no mistakes, nothing broke, no tactical errors, we just didn't have enough wind at the finish.'' Barry will stay in Bermuda over the weekend before flying home to Connecticut, while the boat will be sailed to Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Nevertheless, Barry reiterated his intention to return and challenge the mark.

"I guarantee we will break it,'' he said.