Bermuda Race Foundation announces upcoming 2026 Roll of Honour Inductees
by Bermuda Race Media 16 Jun 08:09 PDT
Sheila McCurdy, Jim Teeters, and Ellyn Osmond (on behalf of her late husband) © Stephen R Cloutier
Last night, the Bermuda Race Foundation announced Sheila McCurdy, Dr. John D. Osmond III, and James Teeters will be inducted into the Bermuda Race Roll of Honour, which recognizes and celebrates extraordinary achievement in or concerning the Newport Bermuda Race and its predecessor races, in the fall.
The Roll of Honour includes the race's founder, one of Bermuda's greatest ocean sailors, multiple race record holders, one of the race's most successful designers, and two of the greatest heroes in the history of sailing.
Sheila McCurdy has an extraordinary record of offshore sailing having sailed across the Atlantic Ocean ten times and will sail her 21st Newport to Bermuda Race this week. Along the way, she has become one of the most recognized authorities on ocean sailing: having served as commodore of the Cruising Club of America, ran US Sailing's National Faculty, and logged over 10,000 miles offshore. For twenty years Sheila served on the United States Naval Academy Fales Committee, which oversees the academy's waterfront training, fleet of boats and racing teams.
Jim Teeters has been a member and supporter of the Bermuda Race Organizing committee for over two decades. After an early career as a professional dancer, Teeters entered the world of yacht design and racing, contributing to the work of legendary yacht design firm Sparkman and Stephens and five America's Cup campaigns. His work in offshore racing rules has been invaluable to the sport, having developed Americap and the Offshore Racing Rule (ORR). Teeters' most recent contribution to the Bermuda Race has been Forecast Time Corrected scoring, which leveraged technology and forecast models to create a fairer system for comparing boats of different sizes. The Bermuda Race was the first offshore race in the world to implement this scoring in 2024.
Dr. John D. Osmond III was a long-time member of the Cruising Club of America. He served as Chair of the Newport to Bermuda Race in 2012 and was the Principal Race Officer for the next ten years. John was an active racing sailor and campaigned a Frers 45, Brigadoon IV with his partners, Perry Harris and Robert Morton. He competed in 15 Newport to Bermuda Races. John was a regular member of Bill Koch's crew aboard Matador and Matador2 (1984-1993). Osmond was Chair of US Sailing's Offshore Committee and deputy chair of the International Offshore Racing Council. He was a past commodore of the Storm Trysail Club and was twice chair of Block Island Race Week. This year, the John D. Osmond Memorial Prize was established and will recognize the best performance by a first-time Bermuda Race Skipper (Person in Charge) for boats competing in each of the Corinthian focused divisions (St. David's Lighthouse, Finisterre, and Double-Handed Divisions).
Inaugurated in 2006 on the 100th anniversary of the first race, 20 individuals have now been selected to join the Bermuda Race Roll of Honour. This year's three inductees will be officially added to the Roll of Honour at the Bermuda Race Foundation's Annual meeting in the fall.