A Wild Start & New Race Record for the 2022 Newport Bermuda Race
Caroline Blatter 18 Jun 2022 Newport / Rhode Island / United States of America (USA) / Bermuda / Regattas & Cruising Rallies
52nd 'Thrash to the Onion Patch'
A fleet of 187 sailing yachts sailed across the start line in Newport yesterday, in some of the most exciting conditions for a good few years!
The first classes started in a 22-knot southwesterly in a ripping ebb tide, followed by a brief influx of dense fog, a period of sunshine, and then a line of soaking thunderstorms that halted the starting procedure. By the time the last three classes got underway on the backside of the line, the last classes could barely get across the starting line. Fortunately, the ebb tide out of Narragansett Bay was still pushing the fleet toward Bermuda.
“Overall, those were some of the best conditions I’ve seen for the start in the last five or six Bermuda Races,” said Clare Harrington, the principal race officer for the start of the race and the Rear Commodore of the New York Yacht Club. “Having all that wind at the beginning from the southwest was spectacular. I think it was ideal conditions. When that front came through it was a little dicey. I don’t recall ever having to put the start on hold like that to let that thunderstorm go by. That was new.”
A Race of Challenges
With the fleet divided into eight divisions, this biennial 635-mile ocean race from Newport to the 'Onion Patch', is a test of blue-water seamanship.
The 'Onion Patch' for those unaware, is a nickname from the 1800's when Bermuda traded its prized onion crops to the U.S. East Coast, with weekly onion shipments at points topping more than 30,000 boxes, before trade dwindled due to World War I.
Daniel Litchfield's Neilson59 Hound
Since its inception in 1906, the Bermuda Race has presented different challenges of navigation, seamanship and personal limits. Navigation plays a huge part as the fleet crosses the Gulf Stream, the warm, northeasterly-flowing ocean current off the U.S. eastern seaboard. Sailing into favorable current where the Stream meanders and avoiding adverse current on the wrong side of the eddies is often key to victory.
A true test of seamanship for any long offshore race is keeping the boat, sails, and hardware functioning properly, judging when to press hard and when to slow down a little to preserve the boat’s equipment. Similarly, it’s a test of personal limits with sleep deprivation and lack of sustenance becoming major factors for a crew when the going gets rough!
*** NEWS UPDATE ***
NEW RACE RECORD
*1st Saturday finish ever *
*Newport - Bermuda in 33 hours 00 mins and 09 seconds*
Jason Carroll’s MOD70 - ARGO by Sharon Green
1st in Line Honours, 1st in Multihull Division
The previous record within the major divisions—Gibbs Hill Lighthouse and St. David’s Lighthouse—is 39 hours and 39 minutes, set by George David’s maxi yacht Rambler 90 in 2012, an average speed of 16 knots.
The course record in the Open Division is 34 hours and 42 minutes (18.3-knot average speed), set by the 100-foot maxi yacht Comanche, skippered by North Sails President Ken Read, in 2016. (Open Division yachts are not eligible for the overall race prizes.)
We knew this year’s fleet might break records, with two multihulls capable of some fast speeds, including Jason Carroll’s (New York City) MOD70 Argo and the 80-foot VPLP trimaran Ultim’emotion2, owned by Antoine Rabaste (Nimes, France) which sadly retired 120 miles into the course reported it had dropped their rig, thankfully with no injuries.
The smallest and largest...
Martin Sutter's 141ft Schooner Columbia
The smallest boat in the fleet is Thomas O’Connell’s (Stonington, Connecticut) J/99 Finale at 32.6 feet, entered in the double-handed division. “She’s one tenth over the minimum length,” the 75-year-old O’Connell, originally from Sussex, England, said sprightly. “I’d always wanted to do the race, but my previous boats wouldn’t have passed inspection. I’m tickled pink to do the race. Doing it double-handed just adds another challenge.”
The largest vessel, the steel-hulled fishing schooner Columbia, owned by Martin Sutter (Austin, Texas), measures 141 feet in overall length. Columbia is built along the lines of the original 141-foot wooden Gloucester fishing schooner built in 1923.
The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club
The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club is Race Host and the centre of activity for racers and their families whilst in Bermuda, with ample dockage for nearly all visiting yachts, duty free fuel, a well stocked bar, restaurant and duty officer.
The personable highly competent Soares family at Bermuda Yacht Services are known to many sailors, and can capably look after any yacht, offering agency support as Bermuda's premier yacht service provider.
For all other RECOMMENDED SERVICES in Bermuda, follow this link.
Watch the Race Tracker here, and the follow updates and the latest news on this link .
All information courtesy of the Bermuda Newport Race
Photography - Sharon Green and Daniel Forster
