Newport Bermuda Race

The 90-foot maxi yacht Rambler, first to finish in the 2012 Newport Bermuda Race

The very first Bermuda Race was an act of rebellion. In 1906, the Establishment believed that it would be impossible for amateur sailors to race offshore in boats under 80 feet. Thomas Fleming Day, editor of The Rudder magazine, disagreed, insisting, "The danger of the sea for generations has been preached by the ignorant." Certain that an ocean race would be enjoyable and safe – and also develop better sailors and better boats – Day founded one on his own.[4] The Brooklyn Yacht Club started the race in New York Bay, in Bermuda, the RBYC finished it off at St. David’s Head.

The smallest entry then (and in Bermuda Race history) was the 28-foot sloop Gauntlet. She was notorious for her size, and also for her crew because it included a woman, 20-year-old Thora Lund Robinson. Having outpaced Gauntlet and another boat which dropped out, and the winner was the 38-foot yawl Tamerlane, with Thomas Fleming Day himself as sailing master. The yacht club provided a special anchorage off White’s Island for the race boats, set aside rooms for the skippers and navigators in the clubhouse, and laid on many parties culminating with a traditional turtle dinner at the prize banquet.

There were four more races before the sailors decided it was too much to ask that the race be held annually.

After World War I, RBYC Vice-Commodore Eldon Trimingham went up to New York to stir up a revival of the race, to much agreement. After 22 boats started in 1923 at New London, Connecticut, and every boat finished. Three years later, the RBYC and the Cruising Club of America teamed up to host the race.

Since 1923 to this day, the task of inspecting boats, arranging for trophies, the starting and finishing lines, and maintaining the race’s emphasis on safe seamanship falls on volunteer members of both clubs.[5] In 45 races over a century, only two boats have been lost, one on Bermuda’s reef, and the other in a deadly fire in 1932 that also claimed the Bermuda Race’s first loss of life.[4]

165 boats started the 48th Newport Bermuda Race in 2012. A new elapsed time record of 39 hours, 39 minutes, 18 seconds was set in 2012 by George David's 90-foot Rambler,[4] which averaged over 16 knots under perfect sailing conditions. The corrected time winner for the second straight race was Rives Potts' 48-foot Carina, which also won the race in 1970.

Again 165 boats the 49th Newport Bermuda Race in 2014. Shockwave took line honors and first overall corrected time winner in one of the slowest races in recent history in far from perfect sailing conditions.

All race results are posted at the Bermuda Race website.[6]

• St. David’s Lighthouse Division: cruiser-racers with amateur helmsmen.
• Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division: racers with professional helmsmen permitted.
• Finisterre Division cruisers/passagemakers with amateur helmsmen.
• Double-Handed Division: one crew may be a professional.
• Open Division: cant-keel racers with professional helmsmen permitted.
• Super Yacht Division: 90-plus feet long, International Super Yacht Rule.
• Spirit of Tradition Division: replicas and other traditional boats.

In 2012, it was announced that the Race had committed to seeking certification as a "clean regatta", encouraging participants "to adopt a number of best practices for the health of the oceans, including reducing plastic bottle use, following a leave-no-trace approach to dealing with trash, promoting the use of non-toxic cleaning products and bottom paint, and preventing oil spills."[9]

• Newport-Bermuda Race Official Website
• Bermuda Race documentary made for 100th (2006) Race narrated by Gary Jobson