Two outstanding sailors were named to the Bermuda Race Roll of Honour in 2018: Richard S. Nye and E. Llwyd Ecclestone, Jr.

One hundred years after the first Bermuda Race was held, the Bermuda Race Roll of Honour was created, in 2006, to recognize and celebrate extraordinary sailors who have made the Thrash to the Onion Patch. In 2018, two more sailors were added to the Roll, which now has 10 members.

Richard S. Nye (1904-1988): A pioneer of modern ocean racing, Dick Nye came late to sailing and was in his 40s when he won the 1952 Bermuda Race in the first of his three Carinas. After winning more Bermuda Race silver for high finishes in his class, he again won the St. David’s Lighthouse Trophy in 1970.

Famous for pushing hard, as the leaking Carina staggered across the finish line of the rough 1957 Fastnet Race, Dick shouted, “OK, boys, you can let her sink!” They won that race for their second-straight Fastnet victory. The Nyes also won the 1957 and 1972 transatlantic races to Spain. Dick was not sailing just to win. A shipmate described him as “a tremendous example of a guy who just loved to be at sea. He just loved it.”

E. Llwyd Ecclestone, Jr: Meticulous in his preparations, ambitious in his boats and goals, Llwyd Ecclestone has sailed 22 Newport Bermuda Races, missing only three since 1968. When he won the St. David’s Division in Kodiak in 1998, it was because he took a rare chance, going far to an eastern corner so remote it was called “the Death Zone.” To his loyal crew he is the model skipper. Says one: “He is a living personification of the principles and core values of Corinthian sailing.” In that spirit, he donated the race’s Corinthian Trophy, awarded to the top boat in the Cruiser-Racer Division with an all-amateur crew.

Ecclestone has again entered Kodiak, his Reichel/Pugh 66, in the 2018 race.

Learn more on the Bermuda Race Roll of Honour.