By Ron Imbriale
Desire…. an enthusiastic rookie crew of mostly friends…. a classic “old” S&S 38 Swan…. persistence…. a helpful boatyard…. some great navigation…. and some good old fashion luck. With this combination, you can accomplish miracles. Maybe not a miracle, but a 1st in the Americap Cruising Division in our 1st Newport Bermuda Race is not a bad start!
It all started over one year before the race, when John Hammel, from Arlington, MA, my navigator and I decided to give the Race serious consideration. If I had realized then how much preparation it was going to take to get the boat ready I might have reconsidered. But once you start down the path it’s difficult to turn around.
Unfortunately, since none of the crew had ever raced in an offshore event, the Race Committee was concerned that we would not meet the experience requirement that was part of the qualifications for entry. We all had plenty of sailing experience on the cruising side and some with offshore hours, but no offshore races. A bunch of banged up knees and elbows racing on dinghies doesn’t count. With the suggestion that I attempt to identify a couple of experienced sailors to join us, I decided to use the “crew available” feature of the web site. After considering quite a few candidates we narrowed it down to Rick Williams, from Marblehead MA, with many offshore hours but still not a lot of offshore racing experience, and Ian Moray from Sydney Australia, who had a couple of Sydney-Hobarts under his belt, including the tragic 1998 Race. Add to that some old friends… Dick Griffen, from Steamboat Springs, CO, Vince Stango, from Marlton, NJ, and John Hubbard, from Portland OR, for a crew of seven, and the race committee decided we passed the experience test. The boat preparation test was still to come.
Spirit had one other offshore race experience, winning its class in the 1995 China Sea Race from Hong Kong to Manila with its previous owner. Obviously, the pedigree was there, but it needed a lot of prep to get it back in shape for Newport to Bermuda. Going through the ORC Special Regulations for Category 1 and looking at the list of to-do’s seemed daunting at first, but as the list became shorter and shorter, and the race date closer, the anticipation built. Passing the pre-race inspection was the last major hurdle. Now it was time to think about racing!
Our goals were modest, based on our experience. Being our first offshore race, using only cruising sails, we were not quite sure what to expect. Get safely to Bermuda and back and be happy with a reasonable finish position.
My memory of the Race……
On the morning of June 16, 2000 we wake up to thick fog. At around 11:00 a 20+ knot SW wind blows the fog away. One hundred and seventy five boats start the race, and the first class crosses the line, off of Castle Rock Light House in Newport, RI, at 1300. Our start is at 1440, a bit confusing with all the different classes and start times. Hammel calls the race committee to verify our start. We’re ok. Rough sea conditions, 4 to 6 feet at the start, does not give the crew anytime to acclimate to life at sea. Those with Scopolamine patches on experience various side effects, such as dry mouth, spacey feeling, possible hallucinations, delusions of grandeur.
Seas build to 4 to 9 feet, with an occasional 10 to 12 footer, winds 20 to 25 knots. Life down below is challenging to say the least. Everything becomes a chore. Lying down is best. Using the Head is a wild ride. Have to make an effort to eat and drink, to keep strength up. Granola bars, Power Bars, peanut butter crackers, bananas, apples, box juices, water, and powdered lemonade are the main menu for first 48 hours. Baked Lasagna, which is heated up, is not a big hit.
The water temperature off Newport is 59 degrees. Hats and fleece are needed. We watch it go up to 63 degrees over the first 24 hours. As we close on the Gulf Stream the water temperature goes from 63 to 80 degrees in approximately 45 minutes. We pick up a favorable current and are making 12 knots over the bottom. Quite a ride! After the typically confusing seas of the Gulf Stream the winds calm and the seas lay down giving the crew a chance to get some much needed rest. The ever-popular cook comes out of the galley with chicken fingers and broccoli that looks and tastes as good as any meal I’ve ever had. That meal is followed the next evening with baked ham and vegetables along with fresh baked brownies. Rest and some good food are a real boost to crew moral.
The last two days become a blur of calm wind and seas, 80 degree water, shorts and tee shirts, salt water baths on deck, flying fish, yellow fin tuna, Sargasso sea weed, man-of-war jelly fish, sharks, squalls with some rain, cumulus clouds, shooting stars, the milky way, phosphorescence, close encounters with a few other race boats, ship sightings, daily radio reports of our position, lots of laughs and the realization that we are still in contention. The whole crew becomes very focused on keeping the boat moving as fast as possible. At night watching the various gauges and compass with the red lights has the feeling of playing a video game.
We pass 200 feet to the east of Kitchen shoal…. one-quarter mile east of Mills. Starboard tack all the way except for two short tacks to the finish. A committee boat comes close by and asks to see our spare compass, storm tri-sail with sheets attached and a few other items. We motor around to Hamilton. Simpatico, which won our class in ‘98, comes by and the crew bows to us. We ask how they did. They say 2nd place and that we beat them. We do not believe them for sure, until we see it on the monitors at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. The Dark and Stormies start to flow.