Minis to join Bermuda 1-2

And will include the female Red Dress team

On 6 June 2007 the Newport Yacht Club, in conjunction with the Goat Island Yacht Club, will fire a gun in yachting’s historical waters off of Newport, Rhode Island to mark the start of the Bermuda 1-2 Yacht Race. Over 35 yachts will cross the line to begin the singlehanded portion of the 635 nautical mile first leg to St. Georges, Bermuda.

This race serves as the pinnacle of the sailing calendar for the near 1,000 members of the two host clubs and the surrounding yachting community, and is to be recognized as the first time the tiny 21ft long Mini 6.50s will come head to head in North America. The Mini Class US (the governing body of the Mini 6.50 in the United States) and its members will use this long-awaited platform to showcase the trend toward offshore adventure sailing for the first time in the USA.
 
After four to six days navigating complex spring weather patterns, dodging ships and fishing vessels in busy shipping lanes at night, and battling the ever changing Gulf Stream, the solo sailors will cross the finish line to be welcomed by the St. Georges Dinghy Club.

After a few days of rest and repair, the yachts, this time with a crew of two, will set out for Leg 2, racing back to Newport on 22 June 2007. The return leg will prove to be as testing as the first, but with the opportunity to push even harder with a second set of hands.
 
Co-skippers Katie Ambach and Tara Thomas will sail into history as the only women competing in the first Mini Class US event and the second all-female team in the 30 year history of the Bermuda 1-2 (Katie was part of the first all female team aboard Moe Roddy’s Red Dress in 2005). A professional boat builder and licensed captain, Katie has logged over 12,000 offshore miles in her work as a delivery skipper and as crew aboard charter boats and Sail Training Vessels. Her combined knowledge and experience from building high end composite racing yachts at Goetz Custom Boats, and two custom Minis, will be put to the test as she races the first leg to Bermuda, alone.

Tara Thomas compliments the team with recent employment and involvement on various levels in the professional yachting industry. Maintaining, managing, transporting and sailing in some of the world’s largest and most competitive one design racing programs (including Farr40s, Volvo70s, US Women’s Match Racing Championships and Grand Prix 12-Meter events), Tara’s ability to analyse and improve performance will be a key element in this campaign.
 
In 2005 cardiac nurse and single-handed sailor Moe Roddy, began the Red Dress Racing campaign and created a buzz surrounding the Bermuda 1-2 Yacht Race unlike anything the yachting community had ever seen. The Red Dress Racing Campaign not only educated thousands of women about the dangers of cardiac disease, it also did something amazing for women in sailing. While the general public may be able to recognise the symptoms of cardiac arrest in men, even physicians may still misinterpret the same event in women. Similarly, the world and yachting community continue to recognize offshore sailing as a male dominated sport. Red Dress Racing focuses the attention on women, on women’s heart disease risk, and on women’s sailing ability. -
 
In March, Katie, Tara, and Red Dress Racing will take delivery of a Zero Mini, the mini red dress, designed by Marc Lombard and built by MOS Composites in Begur, Spain.