More than 200 boats ready for Newport Bermuda

by Talbot Wilson on 18 Jun 2008 With just days and hours until the 2008 Newport Bermuda Race starts the second century of racing to Bermuda, boats are going full tilt on last minute preparations. June 20th and the thrash to the Onion Patch is right around the corner and there is no time to spare.

While many crews are busy stowing groceries and gear for the 635-mile ocean crossing, including the favorite for line honors, Alex Jackson's new 99ft super maxi Speedboat, some found weaknesses the hard way in the New York Yacht Club Anniversary Regatta presented by Rolex last weekend. Brisk winds and lumpy seas stressed crew and gear in Sunday’s races.

Steven Sherwin, a doctor from Bermuda, was pushing his Corby 41.5, Nasty Medicine, around the course on Sunday and doing well. He had a 5,2 on Saturday. But big daddy Neptune decided to give him an ugly Father’s Day present. He was racing well, in the top three and bam! The clew of his main ripped out. He had to go back to town for a replacement.

'It was very disappointing for us,' Sherwin said. 'Shortly after the start of the third race in the NYYC Regatta, the clew of our new mainsail blew out leaving us with no alternative but to return to the dock. We changed back to the old main as rapidly as possible and returned to the racecourse only to find the fourth and final race was in its closing stages. We spent the rest of the day tuning the boat and will be contacting our sail maker for an explanation of the sail failure. Needless to say it was not the best way to finish what we felt was an improving performance across the weekend. '

Maybe it is good karma for Sherwin to get his troubles behind him. He bought the boat this spring, previously named Wahoo, to replace an older design he had been racing. Sailing the upgraded Nasty Medicine is all-new to the Bermuda crew.

Conspiracy, a NYYC Swan 42 owned by the Cahoots syndicate, was holed in the starboard aft quarter in a collision on Saturday. They made midnight repairs and came back on the course Sunday. In the wind on that day they were off the pace, maybe a little gun shy from the previous day’s adventure.

Race day, June 20th, should see more than 200 boats on the line just off of Castle Hill Lighthouse between Narragansett Bay and the Rhode Island Sound. The first start is at 1300hrs EDT. Spectators can track the fleet or their favorite boat on iBoattrack and get inside opinion through timely commentary and reports on the race web at www.bermudarace.com

Background
The 2008 Notice of Race is posted on the web www.bermudarace.com/. The race is very similar to 2006. The Offshore Racing Rule (ORR) will again be used as the primary handicapping system for the 2008 race in the competition for all major divisional prizes including the St David's Lighthouse and the Gibb's Hill Lighthouse Trophies, The Carleton Mitchell Finisterre Trophy, The Royal Mail Trophy and the Philip Weld Prize.

Yachts in the St David's Lighthouse and the Gibb's Hill Lighthouse Divisions that also choose to race under IRC will compete for a significant new keeper trophy, the North Rock Beacon Trophy, being presented by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. The new trophy is a silver and bronze replica of the lattice tower that warned mariners of Bermuda's northern reef from 1960 to 1990 crafted by the same silversmiths who make the famous Bermuda Race lighthouse trophies.

All yachts in the 2008 race are required to have a 'fully measured' ORR certificate and those electing to race for the IRC trophy will need an endorsed IRC certificate as well. If your boat needs to be measured or re-measured just notify US Sailing at offshore(at)ussailing.org The fleet will be divided into the same divisions as in 2006. The largest is the St David's Lighthouse Division for amateur helmsmen and mainly amateur crews, next is the Cruiser Division, dedicated to more restricted amateur competition, but with spinnakers restricted to one asymmetrical. There is a double-handed division and also the Gibb's Hill Lighthouse Division for professional programs. The Open Division (formerly Demonstration) is for supermaxis, cant-keelers, Volvo classes and open 40's, 50's, and 60's.

For 2008, there will be stricter limits on the number of ISAF Group 2 and Group 3 competitors allowed in the St. David's Lighthouse Division and the Cruiser Divisions to encourage more amateur crews. To get an ISAF competitor classification, visit www.sailing.org and click on the 'sailors' tab to start the classification process. For most competitors, it's a simple on-line questionnaire about your sailing activities.

About the Bermuda Race
The Bermuda Race has been sailed from Newport Rhode Island to Bermuda since 1936 and has come to be called The Newport Bermuda Race. In 1926 the newly formed Cruising Club of America became co-organizers of the race along with the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. The race has prospered to this day under the joint guidance of these two outstanding clubs and the committee now called the Bermuda Race Organizing Committee.

The formative days of The Bermuda Race stretch back two years before the first start of the Bermuda Race to the pages of Rudder magazine. In 1904, Thomas Fleming Day, the controversial Editor was keen on offshore sailing and used Rudder as a forum to encourage others to join him. Day began by organizing a ‘longshore’ race from Sandy Hook to Marblehead, a daring 330-mile chase that attracted 6 entries – and columns of criticism in the New York and Boston papers.

Unperturbed by the journalists, Day organized a second ‘longshore’ event a year later from Brooklyn to Hampton Roads, Virginia and blasted back at his critics from the pages of his magazine: 'Newspaper men ought to know better than consult a lot of grey-bearded rum soaked piazza scows. What do these miserable old hulks who spend their days swigging booze on the front stoop of a clubhouse know about the dangers of the deep? If they make a voyage from Larchmont to Cow Bay in a 10-knot breeze, it is the event of their lives, an experience they never forget and never want to repeat.'

These comments on the pages of his magazine did wonders for promoting the concept of racing small boats beyond the horizon. After the Hampton Roads Race, which had attracted nine yachts, owners turned to Day for something more ambitious. They wanted 'a real ocean race, one that would take them well offshore and into blue water.'

The Rudder editor needed little encouragement to push for a new event. With Day’s complete promotional support, two clubs cooperated in the management of the race. The Brooklyn Yacht Club organized the start and encouraged participation. The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, under the leadership of Commodore Ambrose Gosling, organized the finish line and assessed their members £2.00 each for post-race entertainment. And there was £100 Cup donated by Sir Thomas Lipton for the winner. The race to Bermuda was born in 1906.

The Newport Bermuda Race now stands with the Fastnet, the Sydney-Hobart and the Transpac as one of the top four ocean races in the world. Organized by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club with various US yacht clubs from 1906 to 1924 and from 1926 to the present with the Cruising Club of America, the Bermuda Race has always been a true test of blue-water sailing skills. The objectives of the race are to encourage the designing, building and sailing of seaworthy yachts and the development of the art of seamanship and proficiency in the science of navigation.