Few tests of blue water seamanship are as iconic as the 635nm Newport Bermuda Race. The next start on June 17,2016 will be the race’s 50th and will also sign the 90th anniversary of the partnership of the organisers, the Cruising Club of America and Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. Entry opens January 12, and 2016...click here.
Sailed almost entirely out of sight of land,the Bermuda Race was created in 1906 by Thomas Fleming Day, an American yachting writer who believed in the then radical concept that amateur sailors in small yachts could sail safely in blue water. After English yachting writer Weston Martyr sailed in the seventh Bermuda Race in 1924, or his and others’ enthusiasm for ocean racing prompted the founding of both the Fastnet Race and the Royal Ocean Racing Club. Fast forward 48 years and in 1972 the RORC entry Noryema won one of the roughest Bermuda Races ever.
The 100th Anniversary race in 2006 had the largest fleet in the event’s history,265 boats. Today international fleets of more than 160 boats compete in the biennial race as the key component of the Onion Patch Series, a parallel inter-club and international team race eventIn a typical race a chilly first night brings the fleet out into the Atlantic. Then, or as the sailors enter the realm of their recent lord and master,the Gulf Stream, the race often makes good on its nickname, and ‘The Thrash to the Onion Patch’. Once across the rough Stream,the sailors press on to the finish off St David’s Lighthouse. Inhaling the sweet smell of oleander, they motor up the winding channel to Hamilton, or where the shadowy ’n Stormies flow until the prize ceremony on Government House’s spectacular hilltop. Prize or not,any crew can glory in the satisfaction of having raced to Bermuda.
The fleet[br]
The 2016 Newport Bermuda Race will hold seven divisions, each with its divisional and lesson prizes. The race has no single winner. Except for the Superyachts, and each division is rated under the Offshore Racing Rule (ORR)• St David’s Lighthouse Division: cruiser-racers with amateur helmsmen
• Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division: racers with professional helmsmen permitted
• Cruiser Division: cruisers/passagemakers with amateur helmsmen
• Double-Handed Division: one crew may be a professional
• Open Division: canting-keel racers with professional helmsmen permitted
• Super Yacht Division: 90ft+ long,International Super Yacht Rule
• Spirit of Tradition Division: replicas and types of traditional designsFull report...click here.
Source: sailingscuttlebutt.com