On June 21, 2024, 162 boats set sail from Newport, racing towards the Gulf Stream and kicking off the 53rd Newport Bermuda Race. 4,000 race fans along the shoreline, spectating the first time off Fort Adams, watched them start their journey to Bermuda.
The first night was expected to be slow, as storms affecting southern New England had dampened the wind. It’s a race to get away from land and into the next prevailing ocean breeze and Gulf Stream current.
At just shy of 48 hours into the 53rd Newport Bermuda Race, and there was already a dismasting, an abandoned ship, and a few retirements. Despite these challenges, the fleet encountered a variety of sailing conditions and sea states as they made their way to Bermuda. As the navigator on the expected first-to-finish Pyewacket 70, Peter Isler, said, “We have had every headsail up in the inventory (except the storm jib).”
Roy P. Disney’s Pyewacket, Volvo 70, arrived in Bermuda achieving the line honor finish with an elapsed time of 02d 11:17:35.
Sailors faced very light conditions off the coast of New England after the start as passing thunderstorms on land diminished the wind, making it a drifter at sea. Unfortunately, the JV 72, Proteus, owned by George Sakellaris, dismasted at 0200 on June 22 while sailing normally in moderate conditions due to a mast failure at the base. All crew were unharmed, the rig was cut away, and the crew safely returned to Newport. That day the breeze filled in, and the boats made quick progress along the rhumb line towards Bermuda.
At 0300 on the morning of June 23, Alliance USA 52770 J/122, owned by Eric Irwin and Mary Martin, reported dealing with water ingress via a rudder post and subsequently decided to abandon ship. Multiple competitors stopped racing and stood by to assist as needed. By 0400, all crew were safely aboard the J/121 Ceilidh, which will now resume racing with the Alliance crew, and was estimated to arrive in Bermuda on June 25.
Roy Disney’s Pyewacket 70 was expected to be the first to finish in Bermuda off St. David’s Lighthouse. On June 23, also sitting on top of the Live Leaderboard for the Gibbs Hill Division, but close behind was Andrew Berdon’s Summer Storm 52.
In the St. David’s Lighthouse Division, Carina and Hound looked to be battling for the top spot. These two teams have a long history as powerhouses in the Bermuda Race going back 50 years. Carina has won the race 3 times since her launch over 50 years ago but not since 2012. Hound was built for the Bermuda Race in 1970 by the father of the skipper, Art Santry helming Temptation. Hound has 88 Bermuda Races among the crew onboard to Carina’s 67.
On June 24, pending any protests, Summer Storm 52 and its crew will be the champions of the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division of the 53rd Newport Bermuda Race.
Just five months ago, this boat, owned and skippered by Andy Berdon, was stored in a shed in Germany. After a series of repairs, bringing the vessel across the Atlantic to Florida, and finally up to Newport, Summer Storm 52 sailed into Bermuda with a corrected time of just over two days and 10 hours.
For navigator Chris “Lew” Lewis, this is the second Bermuda Race in a row in which he has emerged victorious. Berdon credits the win to the crew’s ability to avoid fronts approaching the coast of New England on the first night of sailing.
On June 26, competing boats have been crossing the finish line since the early hours of Monday, June 24. The St. David’s Lighthouse Division of the 53rd Newport Bermuda Race has been won by Carina. Finishing with a corrected time of two days and 16 hours and 12 minutes, Carina sailed past the division’s namesake landmark just after 3:00 AM on Tuesday, securing its place in the history books as the most-winning yacht in the race’s 118-year history since its founding in 1906. 96 boats started in the St. David’s division.
This is the fifth Newport Bermuda Race win for Carina (1970, 1982, 2010, 2012, 2024), three of which have been under the ownership of Rives Potts. “It means a great deal, I’m just so proud of the crew,” said Potts, who met the boat and its sailors this morning as they docked at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC). “A lot of [the crew] are on the boat for the very first time, and they all did well.”
Carina’s skipper W. Barrett Holby, Jr. added, “from five minutes before the start we just raced hard. We realized we were doing well, but we didn’t think about that, we just kept racing.” Holby sang the praises of his crew saying, “everybody pulled their own—we had great food, great navigation, great sailors, and great helmsmen. Everything came together.”
Carina was able to lead its class out of Narragansett Bay early but, like all competing vessels, was impacted by weather conditions near the top of the course. Holby stated that at times it felt like the boat had a personal rain cloud and still wind following the boat.
In the Gibbs Hill division, Summer Storm 52 has become the Gibbs Hill Division Champion. That boat’s experienced crew included owner and skipper Andy Berdon and navigator Chris “Lew” Lewis, who also navigated the division’s winning boat in the last Newport Bermuda Race in 2022.
“It was champagne sailing most of the way for us,” said Berdon. “The hardest part for us was getting out of Newport because a series of fronts caused light and variable winds. We were able to outside Newport and keep up speed the whole way to get into the ocean breeze.”
Berdon credits boat captain Alec Snyder with the boat preparation as well. The boat was inside a shed in Germany in February, and it is now sitting on top of the podium in Bermuda. There were 16 boats in Gibbs Hill, a division that has no limits on professional crew.
Scores of boats completed the race late June 24 and early Tuesday, June 25, including some closely followed teams. Hound crossed the finish line during the night with a corrected time of two days and 16 hours and 25 minutes. This includes a 30-minute penalty for crossing the starting line early – which means as the delta between Carina and Hound is 9 minutes, the penalty cost Hound the overall win.
In the Finisterre division, Northeast Wind won with a corrected time of 2 days 15 hours and 53 minutes. Skipper Frank Sobchak, along with his Hinckley 48 sloop and crew, were thrilled upon arriving in Bermuda to learn of their victory.
In the doublehanded division, the inspirational Phil Haydon and his Alexander Kraebel sailed into the top spot on board their Sunfast 3300 Fearless. Haydon founded Sail for Epilepsy and uses his story and journey to educate and inspire. He says they were not following the tracker at all during the race, so they are so happy and emotional to learn about their win upon arriving in Bermuda.
“We had a strategy we were going to execute, and we did, and it paid off. We have been working for over a year training, and all the hard work paid off.” Haydon dedicates the win to his virtual shipmates, those supporters he hopes to inspire to take “one more step” and “Fear. Less.”
Gunga Din, a Swedish Yachts 41 owned by Robert Fye and Paul Cunningham, with a total crew of seven, had to abandon ship 80 miles from Bermuda due to water ingress. All crew members were successfully transferred, unharmed, to Desna, a Tartan 37 owned by Adam Van Voorhis with seven also aboard. All 14 are now making their way towards Bermuda expected late tonight. It is unknown at this time what precisely caused the water ingress. They are racing to Bermuda and were expected Wednesday afternoon, June 26.
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