The Newport Bermuda Race, commonly known as the Bermuda Race, is a biennial, 635 nautical miles (1175 km) sailing yacht race from Newport, Rhode Island to the British island of Bermuda. According to its website, the Race is the oldest regularly scheduled ocean race, and one of two regularly scheduled races "held almost entirely out of sight of land."[1]Indian Harbor Yacht Club has recorded more entries in the Newport Bermuda Race than any other yacht club in the world.[2]
In a typical race, the fleet enters the Atlantic and the Gulf Stream, with rough water, giving the race its nickname, "The Thrash to the Onion Patch."[3] Once through the rough Gulf Stream, the sailors press on to the finish off St. David's Lighthouse, then winding channel to Hamilton, Bermuda to the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club.
Along with Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race and the Fastnet Race, it is considered one of the classic big offshore races with each distance approximately 625 nautical miles (719 mi; 1,158 km).
To quote Gary Jobson, "It’s a feather in every sailor’s cap to have done the race, and many consider the Lighthouse Trophy the most coveted trophy in distance racing."
Early history
The 90-foot maxi yacht Rambler, first to finish in the 2012 Newport Bermuda Race
The very first Bermuda Race was an act of rebellion. In 1906, the Establishment believed that it would be impossible for amateur sailors to race offshore in boats under 80 feet. Thomas Fleming Day, editor of The Rudder magazine, disagreed, insisting, "The danger of the sea for generations has been preached by the ignorant." Certain that an ocean race would be enjoyable and safe – and also develop better sailors and better boats – Day founded one on his own.[4] The Brooklyn Yacht Club started the race in New York Bay, in Bermuda, the RBYC finished it off at St. David’s Head.[citation needed]
The smallest entry then (and in Bermuda Race history) was the 28-foot sloop Gauntlet. She was notorious for her size, and also for her crew because it included a woman, 20-year-old Thora Lund Robinson. Having outpaced Gauntlet and another boat which dropped out, and the winner was the 38-foot yawl Tamerlane, with Thomas Fleming Day himself as sailing master. The yacht club provided a special anchorage off White’s Island for the race boats, set aside rooms for the skippers and navigators in the clubhouse, and laid on many parties culminating with a traditional turtle dinner at the prize banquet.[citation needed]
There were four more races before the sailors decided it was too much to ask that the race be held annually.[citation needed]
After World War I, RBYC Vice-Commodore Eldon Trimingham went up to New York to stir up a revival of the race, to much agreement. After 22 boats started in 1923 at New London, Connecticut, and every boat finished. Three years later, the RBYC and the Cruising Club of America teamed up to host the race.[citation needed]
Since 1923 to this day, the task of inspecting boats, arranging for trophies, the starting and finishing lines, and maintaining the race’s emphasis on safe seamanship falls on volunteer members of both clubs.[5] In 45 races over a century, only two boats have been lost, one on Bermuda’s reef, and the other in a deadly fire in 1932 that also claimed the Bermuda Race’s first loss of life.[4]
Recent history
165 boats started the 48th Newport Bermuda Race in 2012. A new elapsed time record of 39 hours, 39 minutes, 18 seconds was set in 2012 by George David's 90-foot Rambler,[4] which averaged over 16 knots under perfect sailing conditions. The corrected time winner for the second straight race was Rives Potts' 48-foot Carina, which also won the race in 1970.
Again 165 boats the 49th Newport Bermuda Race in 2014. Shockwave took line honors and first overall corrected time winner in one of the slowest races in recent history in far from perfect sailing conditions.
All race results are posted at the Bermuda Race website.[6]
2016 Race
At 4:22:53EDT on 19 June 2016, James H. Clark's 100-Foot Comanche, with skipper Ken Read and navigator Stan Honey, crossed the finish line in Bermuda with an elapsed time of 34h 52m 53s, breaking George David's Rambler record by more than 4h 36s.
The 2016 Bermuda Race was the 50th running of the race. More than 195 boats were sanctioned by the Bermuda Race Organizing Committee as qualified entries in the 50th Newport Bermuda Race. An International fleet competed in the biennial race that began on 17 June. There was also the Onion Patch Series, a parallel inter-club and international team-race event.
The 2016 Newport Bermuda Race had seven divisions, each with its divisional and class prizes. The race has no single winner. Except Super Yachts, each division is rated under the Offshore Racing Rule (ORR).
2022
In the first race since 2018 Jason Carroll of Larchmont Yacht Club and the crew of the MOD70 trimaranArgo won line honors and established a new overall race record when they completed the 52nd edition Saturday night local time. Argo’s elapsed time of 33 hours, 0 minutes, 9 seconds. This was fast enough to achieve the first-ever Saturday night finish in the history of the Bermuda Race.[7]
Unfortunately 2022 saw the race’s second loss of life when the captain of the Morgan of Marietta, a 42-foot sloop, fell overboard during strong conditions.[8]
Current Classes
St. David’s Lighthouse Division: cruiser-racers with amateur helmsmen.
Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division: racers with professional helmsmen permitted.
Finisterre Division cruisers/passagemakers with amateur helmsmen.
Double-Handed Division: one crew may be a professional.
Open Division: cant-keel racers with professional helmsmen permitted.
Super Yacht Division: 90-plus feet long, International Super Yacht Rule.
Spirit of Tradition Division: replicas and other traditional boats.
Winners
Comanche in the Rolex Transatlantic Race 2015 leaving Newport RI
In 2012, it was announced that the Race had committed to seeking certification as a "clean regatta", encouraging participants "to adopt a number of best practices for the health of the oceans, including reducing plastic bottle use, following a leave-no-trace approach to dealing with trash, promoting the use of non-toxic cleaning products and bottom paint, and preventing oil spills."[9]
References
^"About". Newport Bermuda Race. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
