Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy club sprang to life yesterday with the arrival of some 30 boats taking part in the Marion-Bermuda yacht race.

Akka , a 61-foot McCurdy and Rhodes, was the first to cross the line, shortly before 3.00 a.m. yesterday and as of last night was ranked fourth on corrected time at 3:06:20:49.

"Ideal conditions'' were the words skipper Axel Rosenblad used to describe Akka's successful 645-mile voyage in the 11th bi-ennial event.

"We had planned to make it here at this time,'' said Rosenblad, who stayed east of the rhumb line and enjoyed a smooth trip from the start in Buzzard's Bay, Massachusetts.

"We had a great crew,'' said Rosenblad of his ten-man team of navigator Ric Tauson, Peter Coggins, Doug Brooks, Hanko Rosenblad, Lars Rosenblad, Gary Martin, Nils Rosenblad, Dan Meggit, Marten Persson and Scott MacEvoy.

"Our navigator did an exceptional job,'' added MacEvoy, referring to the celestial navigation techniques used solely to steer Akka to Bermuda.

It marked Rosenblad's seventh racing trip down to the Island, and he noted that his wife, Hanko, the only woman on board, was instrumental in getting the whole trip together.

"She must have served at least 100 gourmet meals in three days for us, and she did a lot of the boat preparations,'' said Rosenblad.

Akka is no stranger to the race. In 1991 and 1993, she won line honours under the name of Alphida .

American Promise was close behind yesterday, followed by Tara and Veritas a few hours later. Veritas is currently ranked first overall with a corrected time of 3:02:33:20.

The first Bermuda boat to finish was Buddy Rego's Tsunami , a Frers 41, which was 13th across the line on a corrected time of 3:07:46:41, currently tenth overall.

"We were a little slow to start, and there were boats around us most of the way,'' said Rego, who noted that winds ranged from four to 21 knots and seas were calm.

"It was a piece of cake -- a very easy sail, and the crew did a stellar job,'' he said. "We only turned on our GPS system 36 miles off Bermuda, as opposed to the regulated 50 miles, and we found we were dead on the rhumb line.'' Wildflower captain Greg Noonan said that anyone taking part in the race for the first time would have picked up a very "warped'' idea of the journey, as conditions were so perfect.

Bermudian Derek Ratteray's Alida was 25th across the finish line at St.

David's Light, currently ranking him 22nd on a corrected time of 3:11:50:06.

Ratteray suffered a 30-minute penalty because Alida was in the starting area prematurely at the start in Marion.

Also arriving late yesterday was Bermudian Paul Hubbard's Tonka , but there was no news on the Island's remaining entry, Colin Couper's Vivace .

However 13-year-old Jonathan Carter, the youngest sailor in the race, arrived yesterday aboard Denver-based Columbine , skippered by Richard Leather.

Columbine was 18th overall on a corrected time of 3:10:20:34.