Charleston To Bermuda Race Starts Saturday

by Meaghan Van Liew on 13 May 2005 Charleston Mayor Joe Riley will fire the cannon to begin the Charleston to Bermuda Race this Saturday at 12:00 noon aboard the U.S. Navy Afloat Lab vessel at the Charleston Maritime Center.

Five Bermudian dignitaries, including the Honorable Walter M. Lister JP MP, representing the Government of Bermuda, will assist. On land, dozens of beautiful wooden boats and the fanfare of the Charleston Maritime Festival will be underway.

The Charleston Bermuda Race was founded ten years ago. The event challenges sailors to navigate the 777 nautical miles between Charleston and Bermuda at a time of year known for tricky, unpredictable weather.

Simply known as the C2B, the race has also acquired a reputation of focusing on fun. The parties are lively, with raucous music, great food and libations by Gosling’s Black Seal Rum.

Tonight marks the first celebration called the Captain’s Bon Voyage Party. More than 1,000 guests are expected to gather at the Charleston Maritime Center, sending the Captains and their crew off in style. Tickets are $25 per person and include meal, open bar and live music.

The C2B Race is so serious about fun that they have mandated in the rules that if the sailing is too slow, and no one (with a positive rating) has finished by Thursday, May 19 at midnight, everyone can turn on their engines and head for Bermuda.

This highly unusual rule will allow all racers to make it to Bermuda for the festivities planned at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club over the weekend. Racers will mark their position on the race course and the race committee will calculate the finishing rank by their distance to the finish line.

'We hope it won’t be a necessary course of action,' said Brad Van Liew, who is sailing on a Santa Cruz 70 called Midnight Rider. 'We’ll all be excited about it if the weather is like 2003, when only two boats officially finished the race as fourteen more were bashing into heavy weather and turbulent seas in a Northeasterly wind.'

Some stories of particular interest in this year’s event:

The One Lost on the Way

Sixteen boats were entered in the race, until on sank on the way to the start.

Bob Cummings was transporting At Ease, his Bavaria 41 from Newport, Virginia to the start in Charleston when he and crew Jerry McCarthy encountered massive seas and 50+ knots of wind. The story is a wild one, but they eventually had to be airlifted off the sinking boat near Cape Hatteras by the US Coast Guard, and sadly… will not be competing in the race this year.

Students Take to the Seas

Twenty amateurs will head to Bermuda for their first ever 'big' sailing adventure. Ocean Sailing Academy has three boats entered in the race, each with student crews and two professional captains.

From their 20’s to 60’s, these new sailors have traveled from Bermuda, Canada, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and elsewhere to race. There should be some fun stories coming off these boats!

First Bermudian Entry

Richard Hartley, sailing his Hinkley B40 Mark III, Alice Kay, marks the first time a Bermudian has trekked over to Charleston with his boat, in order to race back.

As the race nears, many more stories will unfold. Aerial photos will be available after the start.

Interviews with any of the Captains and crew are available upon request. Follow the race at www.charlestontobermuda.org.