184 Bermuda bound today

Speedboat to lead the charge in the Newport-Bermuda Race

A good wind is predicted for the early stages of the 47th Newport Bermuda Race, which starts Friday off Newport, R.I.

The 184-boat fleet is the third largest in the race’s 104-year history. Nearly 2,000 sailors will compete. The course runs 635 miles from the mouth of Narragansett Bay into the Atlantic Ocean and across the Gulf Stream to the finish line off St. David’s Head, Bermuda. The race should take two to three days for the largest boats, over 80 feet long, and four to six days for the smallest ones of 33 to 40 feet.

“We expect a fine afternoon sea breeze of 10 to 15 knots to get the boats out into the Atlantic,” said Bjorn Johnson, Chairman of the Bermuda Race Organizing Committee. “It may get lighter as the boats sail out into the Atlantic, but there will be a strong favorable current in a Gulf Stream meander carrying the boats toward Bermuda.”

The thousands of spectators at the start will include Bermuda’s Governor, Sir Richard Gozney, and Premier, Dr. Ewart Brown. When the first starting gun is fired at 2 p.m. EDT, the two officials will be looking on from a motor yacht with Commodore Sheila McCurdy of the Cruising Club of America and Commodore Peter Shrubb of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, the race’s two sponsors.

The 184-boat fleet is divided into five divisions whose final standings will be determined by factoring handicaps into the boat’s elapsed times. The largest with 103 boats is the St. David’s Lighthouse Division for predominately amateur racing crews. If the two-time defending champion, Peter S. Rebovich’s Sinn Fein, wins her third straight St. David’s Lighthouse Trophy, she will tie a record set in 1954-60 by Carleton Mitchell’s Finisterre.

The Cruiser Division is the second largest with 39 boats. Its winner will receive a prize carrying Mitchell’s and Finisterre’s names. Professional racing crews compete in the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division (13 boats) for a trophy named for Bermuda’s tallest lighthouse. Three boats with cant keels and other innovations will race in the Open Division for the Royal Mail Trophy.

There also is the 26-entry Double-Handed Division for boats sailed by just two sailors. They sail for the Phillip S. Weld Prize and Moxie Prizes. In addition, the top boat in the IRC rule standings will receive the North Rock Beacon Trophy.

The five divisions are broken down into a total of 16 classes, determined by the boats’ size and type.

The race for first to finish will very likely be between the largest boats in the fleet, the 99ft Speedboat in the Open Division and the 90ft Rambler in the Gibbs Hill Division. Meanwhile Ken Read's Puma Ocean Racing is using the race as training for the Volvo Ocean Race.

"I did my first Bermuda race when I was 17, so I think that puts my count up to 12 of these races (?!?). This is an ocean racing classic," said Read. "I remember the good old days where I used to be a bit nervous heading out into the ocean and the great unknown." After sailing around the world, the Bermuda Race is still a great adventure, but a little different now. "This is really just a bit more than a day race for us", said Read. "The boat is fast and we're pushing to get down to the finish as quick as possible."

For Puma, the Bermuda Race is a great opportunity to test the crew, boat, sails and all the little parts and pieces. "We still have il mostro and we're going to get as much as we can out of the old girl. Our team has a schedule throughout the summer that includes everything we want to work on." Read went on to explain, "Putting ourselves in a racing situation is key. Simply testing the boat has a whole different mentality- there is a lack of tension onboard, but when you're race-testing it's just a whole different feeling onboard. Even though this isn't a high pressure event for us, racing brings out different reactions, adds the element of intensity, and make the crew push the boat a bit harder. I'm a big promoter of doing as much race-testing as we can."

Compared to the NYYC Regatta the team expects to be a bit more competitive during the Bermuda Race. "In this race, we're sailing under the ORR handicap system so the fact that we're not racing against any other Volvo 70s really is not a huge factor. What that means is that all the boats with canting keels (all three of us) are in the same division. We'll be calling ourselves the bizarre and abnormal division."

Looking at the forecast, it's very light air- unfortunately. So the record of getting down to Bermuda in 48 hours will mostly likely stay in tact, it's highly unlikely anyone will beat that time with the forecast right now. Read and navigator Tom Addis are expecting the race will take us about 30% longer- so il mostro will finish around mid-day on Monday.

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