Celebrating sailing accomplishments from Bermuda to Alaska and looking forward to the Paris Games
by David Schmidt 2 Jul 23:00 HKT
July 2, 2024
53rd Newport Bermuda Race © Daniel Forster
As the United States prepares to celebrate its 248th birthday, the sailing world is also rife with accomplishments to celebrate and world-class events to look forward to. For starters, the Paris 2024 Olympics (July 26-August 11) starts in just 24 days, with the sailing events slated to unfurl on the waters off of Marseille, France. Both the USA and Canada have worked hard to field the strongest teams possible, and both squads have athletes who will hopefully find their way to the podium come the medal ceremonies.
Much closer to home, the 53rd Newport Bermuda officially wrapped up on June 29 at the conclusion of the award's ceremony. According to reports, 167 boats started the 636 nautical mile race that began on the waters off of Newport's Fort Adams, and 147 crossed the finishing line in Bermuda. Of the 15 boats that were forced to drop out, two were abandoned en route to the island nation, however all sailors safely arrived in Bermuda.
"I'm incredibly grateful for the 1400 plus sailors who participated in this Race, the preparation that they put in, and the seamanship and safety skills that they demonstrated," said race chair Andrew Kallfelz in an official race report. "I'm really grateful for the over 100 volunteers both in Newport and Bermuda that made this happen. Particularly the Fleet Communications Office, that managed an extraordinary number of events and the support they got from the Coast Guard and the Rescue Coordination Center here in Bermuda."
Not surprisingly, Roy Disney's Pyewacket 70, a turbo-charged Volvo Open 70 that sailed in the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse division, took line honors with a corrected time of two days, 11 hours, and 17 minutes (they crossed the finishing line at 0137 hours, local time, on Monday morning). This impressive feat earned them runner-up status in this hypercompetitive class, just astern of Andrew Berdon's Summer Storm, a Judel/Vrolijk-drawn 52.
Impressively, Chris "Lew" Lewis, who served as Summer Storm's navigator, also won the 2022 Newport Bermuda Race. A key call, Lew said, involved knowing when to exit the Gulf Stream, which was reportedly providing up to a five-knot push at times.
While there are numerous divisions in this historic race, each of which was proudly fought, Rives Potts's McCurdy and Rhodes 48, Carina,, which was skippered by W Barrett Holby, Jr., deserves special mention. The yacht was the overall winner of the St. David's Lighthouse division for the fifth time, with three of these wins (2010, 2012, and 2024) occurring under Potts' ownership. (N.B., Potts didn't race this year, but instead met the crew on the dock in Bermuda.)
"From five minutes before the start we just raced hard," said Holby in a race report. "We realized we were doing well, but we didn't think about that, we just kept racing... Everybody pulled their own—we had great food, great navigation, great sailors, and great helmsmen. Everything came together."
All told, Carina's corrected time was just two days, 16 hours, and 12 minutes.
Be sure to visit the Sail-World's website to get the full rundown on the different class winners, and to hear the story of one of the two rescues that unfurled en route to Bermuda.
Swapping blazers and Bermuda socks for battered fleece and beat-up Gore-Tex, Team Malolo won the 8th Race to Alaska, marking the first time that an all-Canadian team has claimed the $10,000 cash prize and first-place honors in this 750-mile adventure race that stretches from Port Townsend, Washington, to Ketchikan, Alaska. Skipper Duncan Gladman and his Team Malolo crew of Paul Gibson, Becky Kelly, and Matthew Macatee were clearly prepared for R2AK battle, and their custom-built 34'8" Cochrane-designed trimaran was the right tool for the job.
The second-place set of R2AK steak knives went to Douglas Walker and his Team Brio (Karl Krüger, Matt Scharl, and Daniel Joram), who hail from the sailing mecca (I jest) of Durango, Colorado, and who sailed aboard a Corsair 28CR.
While two previous R2AK editions (2022, 2023) allowed teams to either sail inside or outside of Vancouver Island, the 2024 race included a mandatory waypoint at Seymour Narrows, which is between Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia, meaning that all teams took the inside route.
Moving forward, the R2AK will move to an every-other-year format, meaning that the next time hungry teams will arrive at Ketchikan's storied Alaska Fish House will be 2026.
Finally, the 2024 edition of the New York Yacht Club's Women's Championship recently concluded on the waters off Newport, Rhode Island. The event involved 13 hard-fought races, which were contested aboard Sonars.
Once the finishing guns fell silent, skipper Hannah Swett and her crew of Melissa Purdy, Joan Porter, Sophia Hacket and Rachel Bryer, flying the NYYC colors, took top honors, followed by teams skippered by Cory Sertl and Carmen Cowles.
"It was still nerve racking," said Swett, in an official regatta report. "The energy is so fun at this event because there's so many people we've sailed against for so many years coming back together. So, it's a really good time. Everyone's excited to see each other and go sailing. It's a reunion of sorts."
Hats off to all of these great sailing accomplishments!
May the four winds blow you safely home.
David Schmidt
Sail-World.com North American Editor