Race News

Richard Shulman appointed Chairman for 2010 Newport Bermuda Race

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Dr. Richard Shulman of Barrington, RI will chair the 2010 Newport Bermuda Race, which will start on June 18.

Trophies Awarded at Prizegiving in Bermuda

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT

The Prizegiving Ceremony for the 2008 Bermuda Race was held at Government House in Bermuda. Peter Rebovitch's Cal 40 SINN FEIN took home the St. David's Lighthouse and the new North Rock Beacon Trophy.

Sinn Fein and Tenacious To Take Home the Lighthouse Trophies

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT

At the Government House Prizegiving Ceremonies tonight, Sinn Fein will be presented with the St. David's Lighthouse Trophy and and Tenacious will receive the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Trophy.

Privateer takes Open Division, Tenacious protested

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Privateer, a Cookson 50 owned by Ronald O’Hanley of Boston Massachusetts, is now the provisional winner of the Open Division in the Newport Bermuda Race ahead of Puma’s Volvo 70 Il Mostro skippered by Ken Read.

Today, Chief Scorer, Jim Teeters, noticed a mistake in the scoring for Class 16 and the Open Division.

Privateer then posted a corrected time of 60:40:09. That’s 22 minutes and 42 seconds less than the corrected time of Il Mostro. The Volvo Ocean 70 crossed the finish line nearly 20 hours ahead of Privateer but now slips to second place on handicap in the four-boat division and class for yachts with canting keels.

Ronald O’Hanley and his crew from New England are already northward bound. They’ll have a nice surprise when they hear the news. They will be awarded the Royal Mail Trophy for first in corrected time in the Open Division.

Privateer’s captain, Ian Henderson, was taken aback when he was informed of the news. Already at home in Newport, all that Henderson could say was, “I’m extremely thrilled.” He is going to contact Ron O’Hanley, the winning yacht’s owner, who is already back at work in Boston, and relay the good news. Recovered from the initial shock, Henderson said that the delivery crew left for Newport on Thursday afternoon and he was sure that O’Hanley would return to Bermuda for the Prize Giving on Saturday evening. “You have to have a lot of good luck to win this race,” said Henderson.

Tenacious keeps Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Trophy despite safety protest

After finishing the Newport Bermuda Race on Tuesday and being declared the provisional winner of the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division, Tenacious, the tiny Beneteau First 36.7 skippered by Julien Dougherty faced a protest from the inspection committee for incomplete compliance with the Offshore Regulations. Her lower starboard lifelines had loosened during the race because the stanchions had been bent by hiking crew and she did not have a 'lifesling' man-overboard device recovery device. The international jury ruled that Tenacious was not compliant with the rules and penalized them one hour on their elapsed time.

It made no difference to these tenacious giant killers, for having corrected out 3 hours ahead of second placed Sironsong, the J 133 owned by Thomas Carroll, Dougherty and his crew will still collect their Gibbs Hill Lighthouse at the prizegiving at Government House on Saturday. Tenacious was the smallest boat in the Gibbs Hill Division, and with only one pro aboard, took on 14 fully professional, traditional keelboats and won against the likes of the 90-foot Rambler. Rambler finished on Monday afternoon and Tenacious completed her journey down to Bermuda on Tuesday night. Results are provisional.

Aquarius, Sam Fleet’s Swan 601, won Class 11, the other Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division. The corrected time for Aquarius was 63:04:10.

Julien Dougherty and some of his crew are from Long Island Sound and many of them, including Dougherty, had never sailed the Newport Bermuda Race. Dougherty’s first trip to Bermuda was last year following the Marion Bermuda Race. Inspired by his visit and his delivery of an Island Packet yacht back to Long Island Sound, he grew determined to sail “one of the three great ocean races in the world.”

It took Dougherty nearly a year to upgrade all of the hardware and replace the running rigging to bring Tenacious up to ORC specifications. He assembled a crew of racing buddies from Long Island Sound and others based on their experience and skills. When he signed up Adam Loory, of UK Sails, one of Loory’s conditions was that he had to be able to drive. “That put us in the Gibbs Hill Division. Before the start, we were up in Bermuda looking at some of the boats, including Rambler, and were shaking our heads and saying, ‘what are we doing competing against them?’”

Dougherty and the crew had a nice sail down, mostly on starboard tack. “ I explained to the crew that winning a Lighthouse was a great honor and that some people spend a lifetime trying to win one. We are incredibly pleased”. Affirming how difficult it is to win a Lighthouse, especially on the first try, navigator, Jeffery Tyrrel said, “My father and grandfather spent a lifetime trying to win one. They came close.”

In addition to Loory, Tenacious was sailed by amateurs from Long Island Sound that included: Julien Dougherty, Stephen Cain, Gerard Girsti, Thomas Mikolasko, Heather Schultes and Jeffrey Tyrrel.

Sheila McCurdy, CCA Vice Commodore, drives Selkie to 2nd second

On November 9, 2009 the Cruising Club of America (CCA) will install Sheila McCurdy as Commodore. Sheila, who has sailed fifteen Newport Bermuda Races and raced six of them as skipper, was second placed in class 1 and second in the running for the Lighthouse trophy in the St. David’s Lighthouse Division for the second time since 1994. She is likely to take a hiatus from racing the Newport Bermuda Race during her tenure as Commodore. She will be the club’s the first lady Commodore.

The CCA shoulders much of the responsibility for the stateside organization of the Newport Bermuda Race and the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club takes over 24 hours after the start of the race. The CCA change of guard takes place in the off years because there is so much to do in advance of the race.

Offshore sailing runs through the McCurdy family’s bones. Sheila, her husband, David Brown; her nephew, James Morgan McCurdy; Newport Bermuda Race historian, John Rousmaniere; Richard Hambleton; Anne Becker and Carol Vernon sailed Selkie. The boat itself a McCurdy & Rhodes 38 was designed by her father, Jim.

Sheila follows in her father’s footsteps in many ways. There were numerous races in which Sheila navigated while her father skippered. Her father was Commodore of the CCA during the mid-1980’s. As Commodore, Jim recommended that women be admitted as members of the CCA, but it wasn’t until 1994, during the same year that Selkie finished second overall in the Newport Bermuda Race with Sheila as skipper, that women were admitted to the CCA.

Sheila sails offshore “because I like being at sea. I race offshore because of the challenge. It’s like a triathlon. The first part is getting the boat ready and that goes concurrently with getting the crew organized. You feel as if 2/3’s of the job is done by the time you get to the start, and then you have a four-day sprint through changing conditions and a lot of unknowns. It’s not just about steering 160 degrees. It’s about sailing 160 degrees for a reason.”

Sheila, like most skippers, was highly complimentary of her crew. “ They are an incredible crew. They are engaged and focused and take care of one another and the boat,” said McCurdy. Selkie saw winds as low as 3 knots in the eddy to the north of the Gulf Stream and gusts up to 25 knots as she got closer to Bermuda.

Sheila did a transatlantic crossing with John Rousmaniere nearly thirty years ago and was comfortable delegating the provisioning to Annie Becker, Assistant to the Executive Director of US Sailing. She has total confidence in Carol Vernon, a marine engineer, naval architect and delivery skipper who has been involved in numerous America’s Cup campaigns. “We try to have a couple of younger sailors join us. Not only do they follow orders well, their enthusiasm and excitement add to the energy of the boat. They can haul sails around without popping Ibuprofen,” joked Sheila after this year’s long beat to Bermuda.

McCurdy looks forward to enjoying what she refers to as the “greatest sailing reunion on earth” on the grounds of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, to her term as Commodore of the CCA and working with the joint Newport Bermuda Race committees to improve logistics and operations and provide good customer service. “After all, we do this race for the sailors,” stated McCurdy.

-- By Lynn Fitzpatrick

Cabady Wins Onion Patch Regatta

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT

CABADY, a Taylor 42 owned by Randall Baldwin of Ridgefield, CT, takes first place in the Onion Patch Series for the Henry B. duPont Memorial Trophy.

Division Winners

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Sinn Fein, Peter Rebovich’s Cal 40 from Metuchen New Jersey, beat the other ten boats in Class 1 and the entire 123-boat St. David’s Lighthouse Division for top honors in the 2008 Newport Bermuda Race. This is Rebovich’s fourth successive Class 1 win and his second lighthouse win in a row.

In addition to claiming the St. David’s Lighthouse Division victory, Sinn Fein is the first boat ever to win the North Rock Beacon Trophy, which was donated this year by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club for the winner on corrected time among all of the 122 IRC-rated boats in the combined St. David’s and the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Divisions.

Sinn Fein, pronounced “Sin Fin” by the renegades from Raritan Yacht Club, placed first in Class 1, the small boat group, in the 2002, 2004 and 2006 Newport Bermuda Races. The crew has been together for several Bermuda Races with five of the seven members having been on the 2002 team and all of them having been aboard for the Centennial Newport Bermuda Race in 2006, so all of them have now won Class 1 and St. David’s Lighthouse trophies.

The small boats had a very different race from that sailed by the big boats in the Open Division that finished the day before them. The winds were on the bow, straight from Bermuda the entire time, and were much stronger after the High that buffered the approach to Bermuda earlier in the week, had disappeared.

Peter Rebovich said of his crew, “This is the best crew in the race without a doubt and this was one of the most difficult races, because it was all upwind. No one got sick, but we did have mechanical issues. It was an unexpected win because we lost our electronics when we swamped the computer and lost use of our satellite phone. We could navigate, but we couldn’t communicate. It was a total surprise!”

Sinn Fein is no stranger to celebrating in Bermuda. The crew was unanimous in saying that they were going to drink a lot, go to the Governor’s party and eat Bermuda out of fish chowder.

Sinn Fein’s elapsed time or 104:43:57 corrected at 61:06:38 under ORR and 100:13:44 under the IRC rule. Selkie, a McCurdy Rhodes 38, skippered by Sheila McCurdy, Vice Commodore of the Cruising Club of America, was second with a corrected time of 62:10:18. Emily, Edwin S. Gaynor’s Nielsen 44, was third in the division with a corrected time of 63:23:48.

Sinn Fein’s all amateur crew is comprised of Peter S. Rebovich Sr., Gary Gochal, Henry Henning, Peter S. Rebovich Jr., Mark P. Rebovich, Kelly Robinson and Foster Tallman.

Tiny Tenacious triumphs in the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division

Tenacious, the little Beneteau First 36.7 sailed by Julian Dougherty of City Island New York, was smallest boat in the Gibbs Hill Division of traditional keelboats with professional crews and won against the likes of the R/P 90 Rambler, STP65 Moneypenny. and the new R/P 69 Bella Mente. Rambler crossed the line first on Monday afternoon and Tenacious completed her voyage down to Bermuda on Tuesday night.

Tenacious had a total elapsed time of 103:00:28 which corrected out to 56:53:20. She finished two and a half hours ahead of Thomas Carroll’s J 133 Sirensong, the second place boat in Class 10 of the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division. Aquarius, Sam Fleet’s Swan 601, won Class 11, the other Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division. The corrected time for Aquarius was 63:04:10.

Tenacious was largely sailed by amateurs from Long Island Sound. Her crew included: Stephen Cain, Julien Dougherty, Gerard Girsti, Thomas Mikolasko, Heather Schultes and Jeffrey Tyrel. Sailmaker Adam Lorry, was the sole professional on board and the team entered the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse division to allow him to drive the boat.

Back to Bermuda for Champagne and Bacon Sandwiches

Paul Hubbard and his crew on Bermuda Oyster have been sailing together forever and 109 hours 7 minutes and 11 seconds back to their home port. Bermuda Oyster crossed the finish line at 4:57:11 on Wednesday morning and was greeted at the dock by Yvonne Hubbard, Jenny Redburn, a bottle of champagne and bacon sandwiches from The Green Lantern.

And now they have something to really celebrate. With a corrected time of 81:38:51 Bermuda Oyster takes 1st in Class 12 and wins the Carleton Mitchell Finisterre Trophy for 1st place in the 43-boat Cruiser Division.

The champagne and bacon sandwiches are part of a tradition that dates back at least 8 years when Neil Redburn started sailing with Hubbard. The spirits and the victuals were a delightful welcome home for the Bermudian sailors with more than a five o’clock shadow on their faces.

Their Oyster 435, “sails like a brick” according to Hubbard. Despite being a heavy boat that sails well upwind, the chef did not cook on Sunday and Monday. According to Hubbard and some of the crew that has been with him for 17 years, “this was the roughest trip on the boat. The wind was on the nose the entire way.”

“We were docked next to Steve Sherwin’s Nasty Medicine (another Bermuda boat) in Newport. They were off loading provisions and liquor and we were stowing ours down below. We have an extensive wine list, but it went largely untouched.”

Another Bermudian crew celebrating today was Colin Couper and his crew on Babe, a Swan 46 which finished first in class 3 and top Bermudian boat in the fleet. Navigator Kierion O'Connell said "We had a fantastic sail down and made most of the shifting winds. Everything said 'go west' and not take any notice of the Gulf Stream, and that is exactly what we did." This was Couper's 5th Bermuda race onboard Babe and 9th crossing with his crew.

For watch captain and tactician, Jonathan Brewin, the most memorable aspect was the food cooked up by Couper and Stephen Kempe. "It was the best I have every had on a passage race. Normally we have to make do with freeze dried fare but this time Stephen and Colin served up roast beef on our first night out and suprised us every meal after that. Then, close to the finish when we were all pumped up to do well, they came up with bowls of ice cream."

du Moulin and Reyling win Double-Handed Division for 4th time

Rich du Moulin the immediate Past Commodore of the Storm Trysail Club, and crewman Chris Reyling limped across the Newport Bermuda finish line aboard Lora Ann, but had a pleasant surprise when they looked at the Official Notice Board. The duo won the Double-Handed Division once again. According to du Moulin, the 2008 race marks the fourth time in a row that he has won the division and the third time in a row that du Moulin and Reyling have won together.

Lora Ann’s corrected time was 80 hours 37 minutes and 47 seconds. Mireille sailed by Hewitt Gaynor and Jay Raymond finished second some 17 minutes later.

du Moulin and Reyling made it to Royal Bermuda Yacht Club long before Lora Ann, an Express 37, was expected to show up. Lora Ann was towed from the finish line to Dockyard for repairs. The two crewmen looked exhausted. “It was a tough race. We normally have four hours on and four hours off, but this time it was more like five to six hours on and three hours off. We didn’t have an autopilot for most of the race.” Reyling went on to explain that an engine light indicated that the engine was overheating. They went to check the cooling valve and the stem to the valve broke, so they had no engine for the last 36 hours of their 100 hours 14 minutes and 41 second hour race. With no batteries and no autopilot, they resorted to hand steering. “It was monotonous and trying,” said Reyling.

du Moulin, a twenty time Newport Bermuda veteran, spoke for the pair saying, “we like double handing because there is more adventure. It’s not insane like single handing because at least there is always someone who can keep an eye out for ships.” He conceded howver, “It’s nice that it’s over and you forget about it by the next time it’s time to sign up.”

2008 Sailing Instructions Posted

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Sailing instructions for the 2008 Newport Bermuda Race have been posted in the Official Materials section of the web site. The 635-mile category 1 ocean race begins on June 20, when a fleet of more than 200 boats will head from Newport, RI, to the Atlantic island of Bermuda.

Notice Of Race Amendment #1 Posted

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Amendment #1 to the Notice of Race has been posted. This amendment concerns the minimum ORR "L" specified for all divisions. See the Notice of Race page for the actual amendment language.

Olin Stephens Elected to Bermuda Race Roll of Honour

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Olin J. Stephens II has been elected to the Bermuda Race Roll of Honour on the 80th anniversary of the first of his many races to “the Onion Patch.” No yacht designer has produced more prize-winners over the race’s 102-year, 45-race history.

Provisional Notice of Race

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 16:00:00 GMT

August 2008