The Bermuda Race is the oldest recurring ocean race in the world, and it starts from Newport. In fact, the official name of the race today is the Newport Bermuda Race.® This year the race's starting guns will begin to fire at 12:50 PM on June 18th right at the entrance to Newport's harbor. The premiere ocean racing fleet of nearly 200 yachts will then head out into the Atlantic Ocean on their three to six day thrash (depending on the boat and wind) across the Gulf Stream to the Bermuda Islands 635 nautical miles away.
But the Bermuda Race did not always start from Newport. It took many races and many years for this great event's start to find its perfect home.
NEW YORK HARBOR.
The first two Bermuda Races, in 1906 and 1907, started from Gravesend
Bay on the east side of the mouth of New York Harbor. The 1906 race started
in a storm, but the 1907 race had the typical winds for June.
The pilot chart (shown below), which reflects many years of statistical
experience, breaks down by month the wind direction probabilities in specific
locations according to the eight cardinal and sub-cardinal points of the
compass. On the Bermuda Race course in June the pilot chart shows that
24% of the
breezes are from the southwest, and 16% are from the west. A rhumb line
Bermuda
Race course from Gravesend Bay to Kitchen Shoal, Bermuda of 150° magnetic
together with the aggregate 40% likelihood of a west or southwest wind,
means that the most likely average sailing angles to the wind can be expected
to be 61° or 106°, providing a nice, fast starboard tack reach
all the way.
JUNE PILOT CHART -- NEW YORK TO BERMUDA. Relative lengths of arrows show
probabilities of wind directions.That is what happened in the 1907 race.
The southwest breeze held for almost the entire race. It was such a fine
starboard tack reach that the first
boat to finish passed Bermuda's St. David's Head Lighthouse before the
finish committee even had a boat on station. The winner was the schooner,
Dervish owned by Henry A. Morss, the Commodore of the Corinthian Yacht
Club of Marblehead, Massachusetts. Her time was a remarkably fast 89 hours.
MARBLEHEAD
The organizers of the Bermuda Race thought that if the 1908 race started
further east it would tighten the wind angle and provide some more close-hauled
sailing for the competitors. The specific choice of Marblehead was undoubtedly
because of Commodore Morss' offer to have his Marblehead Corinthian Yacht
Club organize the start. With a rhumb line magnetic course of 172°,
the Marblehead start provided a course that was 22° closer to the
typical
Bermuda Race wind than Gravesend Bay's 150°.As a reminder that statistics do not predict specific outcomes, the anticipated southwest wind was absent in the 1908 Bermuda Race. Instead that race was a hard sail in strong winds from the improbable east. The next two Bermuda Race starts returned to Gravesend Bay.
NEW LONDON
When the Bermuda Race was revived after the First World War the organizers
looked for a starting place in a congenial location that yachtsmen would
find attractive. Long Island Sound where New London is located was a well
established center of yachting at the time, and many people came to New
London in June to watch the Harvard-Yale crew races. New London was further
east than New York, giving it a more desirable probable wind angle.Five
consecutive Bermuda races were started from New London, but there were
disadvantages to that location.
MONTAUK
Because
of New London's disadvantages it was decided to begin the 1932 race right
at Montauk Point. It had been necessary for the New London fleet to get
around Montauk Point anyway, so the ocean course remained the same. The
Montauk start was not a success. It was far from the nearest harbor. It
was impractical for spectators. The water was deep and choppy with strong
tidal currents. It was an inconvenient and difficult place to start a
race.In 1934 the start moved back to New London with all of its shortcomings.
NEWPORT
In 1936 the Bermuda Race start finally found its home at Newport. It has
started from Newport in June of every even year since then (apart from
a
break for the Second World War). Because the starting point is always
at Newport the course rhumb line has now become fixed at 635 nautical
miles. This 635 mile course is as familiar to ocean racers as the 26.2
mile Marathon course is to runners. It is the classic. The only exception
was in 1970 when the race went counterclockwise around Bermuda. That experiment
was never repeated because it got the sailors to the parties late.
Bermuda Race Courses, including the now permanent course from Newport
to St. David's Head Newport is the perfect location for the Bermuda Race
start. It is geographically central to yachting in the Northeast, which
New York and Marblehead were not. The course heads straight out to sea,
which the New London course did not. The course's sailing angle is close
enough to the average wind direction to provide great sailing variety.
Newport's marine infrastructure is in place for the boats. The harbor
is deep and large. The accommodation and entertainment resources of Newport
are abundant. And the maritime traditions are profound. Newport's start
married to the lovely destination of Bermuda is ideal for the world's
oldest regularly sailed ocean race.®
NEWPORT BERMUDA RACE® ORGANIZERS
The Bermuda Race is remarkable in that it has never had commercial sponsorship.
In the illustration above on either side of the St. David's Head Lighthouse
are the flags of the two yacht clubs that organize the Bermuda Race.
http://www.bermudarace.com
The white and blue burgee on the left belongs to the Cruising Club of America. This club's membership is comprised of just over one thousand accomplished blue water sailors, mostly from the United States and Canada. The CCA assumed the organization of the Bermuda Race after the race's revival following the First World War. CCA members have traditionally entered the race in great numbers. http://www.cruisingclub.org
The blue flag with the crown is the burgee of the Royal Bermuda Yacht
Club, one of the oldest yacht clubs in the Western Hemisphere. The RBYC
has the greatest record of continuity with the Bermuda Race, having managed
the finish of every race. The RBYC has a handsome clubhouse on the harbor
in Hamilton that is the center of several days of après-race conviviality.
rbyc.bm
About the Author
Owen Smith has taken his boat, UPBEAT, in four Bermuda
Races.
© 2000 Newport Harbor Guide. All rights reserved.