INTRODUCTION

On behalf of the Beverly Yacht Club, Blue Water Sailing Club and the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club, I would like to invite you to participate in the 15th running of the Marion Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race. The 2005 start date is June 17th off Marion Massachusetts in Buzzards Bay. For nearly thirty years the Marion Bermuda Race has been recognized as one of the premier ocean racing events in the world and it is our mission to continue the high level of safety, management and competition that is required to maintain that status. We are proud that the event is a completely volunteer effort coordinated between our three yacht clubs. It takes many hours of hard work and dedication by all too successfully develop and execute an event of this magnitude.

The Marion Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race is for cruising yachts and we will not vary from that focus. But, it is our responsibility to stay abreast of the evolutionary changes occurring in the world of cruising and cruising yachts to insure the race is representative of the state of the sport. For example, in 1997 we added an electronic navigation class to the race, which until that time, was a totally celestially navigated race. In 2003 two major changes occurred, we increased the LOA of boats from 62 to 80 feet and we added an asymmetrical cruising spinnaker to the allowable sail inventory. That brings us to the 2005 race where we have again recognized the changes in cruising by adding a cruising Multihull class and a Double-Handed class. For the first time we will be offering a trophy for the all female crewed boat to finish first overall on corrected time. Most importantly we monitor the changes in construction and rigging techniques that are today creating much sturdier boats with lower displacement. Boats that may not have been approved three or four races ago may now fit the criteria of a safe, well constructed cruising boat. It is an ever changing landscape that makes the sport and the Marion Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race great.

We are please to announce that we will again being using the Americap II rating system for this year's race. Over the last several years of using the Americap system, it has proven itself a fair accurate rating system for long distance racing. It is easy to get your boats' rating, just go to the US Sailing website, www.ussailing.org and fill out the application.

As with past races, the Blue Water Sailing Club will be hosting the Marion Bermuda Race Symposium at MIT in Boston. It is a full day event and is scheduled for March 26, 2005. It is a US Sailing approved "Safety at Sea Seminar" and we strongly suggest that as many of your crew as possible (it is required that at least 30% of your crew has attended an approved safety seminar in the past five years) attend the seminar or an approved Safety at Sea seminar. More in-depth information can be found on the Marion Bermuda web site.

The Marion Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race Committee is ready to assist in any way to prepare your boat, crew and of course you to participate in the 2005 race. So start now by going to the Marion Bermuda web site at www.marionbermuda.com and filling out an application to get the process going. Our Acceptance Committee and their able group of Inspectors are ready to assist you in preparing your boat to meet ISAF Category 1 requirements. Take some time just to browse the web site, there is a wealth of information to be had.

The 2005 Marion Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race Committee look forward to welcoming all participants to this years event and wish all the very best experience possible.

Graham Quinn
Executive Director
Marion Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race Association, Inc.