Epic, challenging Newport Bermuda Race

Stephen Guyer's ALLIANCE - 53rd Newport Bermuda Race © Royal Bermuda Yacht Club

The 53rd Newport Bermuda Race started Friday, June 21st with rolling starts between 1400 and 1600 hrs off the shores of Fort Adams in Newport.

For the first time in the race's 118-year history, the fleet of 163 sailboats started their 636.0nm journey across the unpredictable Gulf Stream to Bermuda from inside Narragansett Bay! Thousands of spectators watched the stunning views of the magnificent yachts starting within a few dozen yards of the fort.

A benevolent weather forecast

The weather at the start was perfect for the first hour or so with sunny skies, warm, and a nice 10-15 kts southeast breeze. But, as the afternoon wore on the winds lightened, and black clouds on the horizon started moving in as a weather front pushed across the rhumbline race track to Bermuda. From Friday afternoon until about dawn on Saturday, the fleet was desperate to get away from the coastline and into the offshore gradient winds. As the fleet exited Rhode Island Sound headed SSE, the winds settled in from the southwest in the 7 to 12 kts range. However, the forecast was for winds to increase into the 20 to 35 kts range from the southwest and vary somewhat in strength over the next three days.

The devilish, unrelenting Gulf Stream

The BIG issue looming in everyone's mind was the 150.0nm long NNW to SSE axis of the meander of the Gulf Stream that had been there for days. That meander was right on the rhumbline to Bermuda, flowing at speeds up to 4.0 kts. As anyone with Gulf Stream experience knows, such conditions spawn lots of squalls and, much worse, wind against current conditions creating steep, breaking 10 to 15 ft waves with "no backs". In other words, the waves were wild and unpredictable and could easily break boats. Unfortunately, there were several boat sinkings/abandoned ships (three) and dozens of boats dropping out due to mast failures, boom failures, torn mainsails, and bruised human bodies.

Despite the challenging weather, the J/Teams were well-prepared and 98% of them completed the race safely! There was one sinking of a J/122 due to a probable collision with a container in the Gulf Stream... more on that later.

In the end, it was a remarkable tally for the J/Boats brand in the race. Unquestionably, a total of 1 gold, 6 silvers, & 4 bronze medals was quite the medal haul for the J/Boats brand. It's one of the world's most challenging races to compete in year after year. Any podium finish is a memorable experience for any sailing team. Here is how it broke down by the divisions:

• Doublehanded 1- silver, bronze
• Doublehanded 2- silver, bronze
• SDL 2- silver
• SDL 4- gold, silver, bronze
• SDL 5- silver, bronze
• SDL 7- silver

St. David's Lighthouse Division

In the huge 99-boat St David's Lighthouse Division for amateur teams, thirty-five J's started the race- 35% of the fleet- a new participation record for J/Boats! There were several noteworthy performances.

SDL 2 Division

This eleven-boat division had four J/Crews entered. In a remarkable inaugural race on a brand-new (barely 5 days old) J/99, it was Will Apold's Halifax, Nova Scotia team on DRAGON FIRE that took the silver medal! Then, Kurt Locher's J/42 ATALANTA ended up in fourth place, just 13 minutes shy of making the bronze step on the podium! Finally, Albert Bossar's J/42 ALLEGIANT finished sixth.

SDL 3 Division

As the sole J/Team in this thirteen-boat division, Peter Gustafsson's Swedish team on the J/111 BLUR had a rough go of it, ending up in fifth place. They were only 17 minutes from earning the bronze medal in this remarkably closely-fought division!

SDL 4- the J/Boats Division

Perhaps for the first time in the history of the race, there was a single brand dominating the sixteen-boat division- all J/120s and J/122s! It was quite the duel amongst the top J/122s, sweeping the top five spots. Winning was Greg Morse's ORION, followed by Andrew Clark's ZIG ZAG in second place, just 2.5 minutes back! Third place went to Kevin Kelley's SUMMER GRACE just another 3 minutes behind! Wow... no question those teams pushed hard the entire way! Fourth went to Stephen Guyer's ALLIANCE at 1:45min behind SUMMER GRACE! Then, the fifth place went to Constant Baris's DIRE WOLF.

SDL 5 Division

J/Teams dominated this division, with the trio of J/133s nearly sweeping the podium. In the end, it was the trio on ASSARAIN IV (Steve Brownlie, Taylor Niles, & Max Neubelt) that took the silver medal, while Bob Manchester's VAMOOSE and Ray Rhinelander's BELLA J took 3rd and 4th, respectively.

SDL 7 Division

This dozen-boat division saw Len Sitar's beautiful navy blue J/160 COUGAR extend her long legs and power beat to Bermuda and a silver medal finish! We believe they have an icemaker and wine cooler on board, plus air-conditioning! Not bad!

Finisterre Division

Sailing in this so-called "cruising" division of thirty-one boats were three J/teams. Having yet another good performance to Bermuda was HL Devore's J/44 FROLIC, taking a well-earned fifth place. Just two places in arrears was Tori Willauer's J/46 BREEZING UP.

Doublehanded Division

Fourteen boats started the race; including four J/teams. Shockingly, all four J's podiumed! In the seven-boat DH 1 Division, Drew Plominski's J/40 ARTEMISIA got the silver medal, while Peter Becker's race-winning J/105 YOUNG AMERICAN took the bronze! Then, the seven-boat DH 2 Division saw Robert Dunigan's J/124 JANE SAYS take the silver medal, while Scott Miller's J/46 RESOLUTE took the bronze!

Mary Martin & Eric Irwin's J/122 ALLIANCE Rescue Story

ALLIANCE's co-owners tell the story of the rescue of their crew by Jim Coggeshall's J/121 CEILIDH after they abandoned ship halfway to Bermuda on June 23, 2024. In short, after entering the Gulf Stream, the crew heard a loud "bang" on the keel and then moments later another even louder "bang" on their rudder. The helmsman knew they'd lost the rudder as the steering stopped working. Opening up the hatch over the rudder bearings/ shaft, they could see it was swinging loose using flashlights, fiberglass was spread all over the rudder "well", and both bearings were blown off their GRP mountings. After trying two water pumps with 4,000 GPH capability, the water ingress was too great. The decision was made to abandon ship into their liferaft with a ditch bag and bare essentials. Jim Coggeshall's J/121 CEILIDH was called to help following a "Mayday" call and stood by to retrieve them from the raft. Watch this video interview of Mary, Eric, and Jim regards the rescue- 12:25 minutes long

How to Experience the Race on YB Tracker. Go to the YB Tracker online here

For more Newport Bermuda Race sailing information, visit bermudarace.com