Next Newport Bermuda Race date announced

by Talbot Wilson on 11 Jul 2012 The Bermuda Race Organizing Committee (BROC) has announced that the start of the next Newport Bermuda Race will be on Friday, June 20, 2014. While another record-smashing year like 2012 may be unlikely, BROC expects to provide blue water racing sailors with another great experience in 2014.

The Bermuda Race Organizing Committee is composed of members from the Cruising Club of America and Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. It strives to make this classic ocean race a fair test of yacht design, navigation and sailing skills with a strong emphasis on amateur competition. Safety is a primary concern of the BROC. BROC has commissioned a study of the Seabiscuit and other incidents to learn from them to support the race’s excellent safety record.

Considering the rough sailing conditions in 2012, the race was relatively incident free.

Commodore Daniel P. Dyer III of the Cruising Club of America and Commodore Jonathan Brewin of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, sponsors of BROC and the race, announced the appointment of Frederick W. Deichmann as Chairman of BROC for the 2014 race.

'Save the Date June 20, 2014 for the 49th edition of the Newport Bermuda Race,' said Deichmann. 'We’ve already started organizing for another great ‘thrash’ to the Onion Patch. We don’t expect another record-breaking race so soon, but we can expect another great racing experience in 2014,' Deichmann added. 'We will be getting our volunteer committees set up over the next few months. We are looking at ways to improve the entry system and for ways to attract more first-timers to the fleet.'

Deichmann is not a newcomer to the Bermuda Race Organizing Committee. He has most recently served as Vice Chairman for BROC for the 2012 race, as Participation Committee Chairman for the 2010 and 2012 races and as an inspector for the 2004 through 2012 races. His business took him to live in Bermuda where he was a member of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. He served on the finish line committee for both Newport and Marion Bermuda races from 1994 through 1997.

Fred’s sailing experience includes some 35 years of coastal cruising on the US eastern seaboard, a round trip from Connecticut to Tortola in 1999 and an Atlantic crossing in 2002. In addition to round-the-buoys racing in Long Island Sound and in Bermuda, mostly as a crewmember, he has participated in three Newport Bermuda races and two Marion Bermuda races as Captain of his Tartan 37 Dawn Treader. Dawn Treader has been a fixture in the family for 32 years, preceded by a Tartan 30 of the same name.

In addition to his membership in the Cruising Club of America, Fred is a member of the Shennecossett Yacht Club, the Mason’s Island Yacht Club (where he served as Commodore in 2007-08) and the Nauyaug Cruising Club, all based in Southeastern Connecticut).