Entries for the 2013 Marion to Bermuda Race are now open to those interested in participating in the 645- mile ocean crossing.All entries must be made online prior to the June 1 deadline with the entry fee to be hiked up another $150 dollars on April 15.Once entry applications have been approved by the race committee, crew qualifications and boats will be scrutinised.At least 30 percent of the crew including skipper, navigator, and watch captains must have attended a US Sailing sanctioned Safety-at-Sea Seminar within five years prior to the race. Both sailors on the Double-Handed entries must meet this requirement.Marion to Bermuda Race organisers will host their Safety at Sea Symposium at the University of Massachusetts in Boston on March 23-24.All yachts must undergo a courtesy yacht inspection by an official race inspector. The deadline for initial inspections is June 1.Sailing instructions will be posted April 1.The biennial race gets underway on Friday, June 14 in Buzzards Bay off Marion, Massachusetts and concludes off St David’s Lighthouse.The Category One Race is reserved for invited yachts with fixed keels, fixed ballast, complete permanent galleys, enclosed heads and finished interiors with permanent bunks and sailed under the ORR rating rule, full or partial, for the Founders and Big Yacht Divisions and under ASTA handicapping for the Classic Yacht Division.The race is now open to yachts from 32-feet to 100-feet long in three divisions: the Founders Division 32-80 feet now allowing the use of symmetrical spinnakers and spinnaker poles, the new Big Yacht Division 65-100 feet long with a full sail inventory and the new (possibly old) Classic Yacht Division for registered sail training vessels and classic yachts.This year will see Bermuda Sloop Foundation’s schooner Spirit of Bermuda make its inaugural voyage in the biennial race which provides an opportunity for cruising style yachts and amateur crews to sail a true ocean race.The race is organised and run entirely by hundreds of volunteering members of The Beverly Yacht Club (BYC), The Blue Water Sailing Club (BWSC) and The Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club (RHADC) for the Marion Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race Association.The 2013 Notice of Race is posted at http://www.Marionbermuda.com/archive/2013/nor2013.pdf and entry instructions are tops on the list under the Racing tab on the web.Since its inception in 1977, the race has evolved into a premier ocean race and sailing event which appeals to a broad range of cruising and racing enthusiasts.The spirit of the race is one focused on family and fun, and all yachts and crew are participating for the joy and pleasure of sailing, competition, and the camaraderie that accompanies such an offshore event.