Marion Bermuda Race – Online entry now open

by Talbot Wilson on 18 Jan 2013 The Marion Bermuda Race 2013, kicking off on Friday June 14th, is a 645-mile ocean race which provides an opportunity for cruising style yachts and amateur crews to sail a true ocean race, across the Gulf Stream with the finish line off St. David’s Lighthouse on the shore of Bermuda, perhaps the world’s greatest yacht racing destination.

Get your entries in! The start of the 2013 race, in Buzzards Bay off Marion MA, is only six months away. That isn’t much time for all the preparation a 645-mile ocean race takes. Enter now to get started and look at the important dates and deadlines for skippers, boat and crew. The 2013 Notice of Race is posted online and entry instructions are tops on the list under the Racing tab on the web.

Entries are now open and must be made online. Sailing Instructions will be posted on April 1st. On April 15th the entry fee increases by $150 then entries close June 1st. Once your application for entry is approved and your yacht is invited to race, crew qualifications and boat inspections are the next step.

A minimum of 30% of the crew including skipper, navigator, and watch captains must have attended a U.S. 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 Bermuda race organizers 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 1st. Getting your yacht inspected well before the deadline is a good idea. The Equipment Inspection Checklist is online along with comments on various ISAF and NOR requirements. Classic Yachts have different compliance requirements that skippers should address.

The Marion Bermuda Race provides an opportunity for cruising style yachts and amateur crews to sail a true ocean race with the finish line off St. David’s Lighthouse on the shore of Bermuda, perhaps the world’s greatest yacht racing destination. 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 (maybe old) Classic Yacht Division for registered sail training vessels and classic yachts.

The Marion Bermuda Race remains a Category 1 Race, restricted to invited yachts with fixed keels, fixed ballast, complete permanent galleys, enclosed heads and finished interiors with permanent bunks. It is 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.

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