Race to Bermuda!
Marion Bermuda Race History
If you are interested in the history of the Marion Bermuda Race, the following was written by Bob Hlady for last years 30th Anniversary Racebook.
The equipment for the Marion-Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race keeps changing. The yachts get bigger. Innovations keep showing up at the starting line: trimarans, catamarans, carbon-fiber spars, asymmetrical spinnakers, satellite navigation systems. Snowy white Dacron sails are giving way to a rainbow of Kevlar, Mylar, and a host of other, once-exotic composites.
But the race itself never changes. Every yacht has to cross the open ocean. Somebody has to steer each yacht through at least three nights—maybe moonlit and glorious, maybe black as soot. And even an 80-foot yacht (the largest allowed this year) can feel mighty small, when the sea is, as Joshua Slocum memorably said, "in its grandest mood."
The race has been running, every other year, for 30 years now. What follows is a highly condensed history of those races, but you won't find answers here to any of the questions you really want to ask. For instance, this article won't tell you why more than 1,500 yachts and crews have gone through so much fuss and preparation and lost sleep and plain hard work. Why don't these people just fly to Bermuda instead?
If you want to learn the worthwhile stuff, the fun stuff, go down to the dock, or the registration table, or the bar, and ask some of the skippers and crew. Don't be shy—sailors are good people, and they love to tell stories. Some of them might even be true.
It began in 1975, while W. David Kingery, a member of the Beverly Yacht Club Board of Governors, was alone with his thoughts for a few days on a solo voyage to Bermuda. Upon making landfall, he looked up his friend at the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club, Dickie Bird, and pitched him the idea of organizing a race to Bermuda for cruising yachts and family sailors. Dickie Bird liked the idea. So did Leo Fallon, Commodore of the Blue Water Sailing Club in Boston.
By 1977, the race was on. One hundred four yachts jockeyed for position at the starting line. The Beverly Yacht Club hosted at one end, the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club hosted at the other, and enthusiastic volunteers from the Blue Water Sailing Club made themselves indispensable everywhere. The reward for two years' preparation and all that hard work was a light, perverse breeze that reduced what might have been a rollicking charge across the sea into something like a processional march. The very first winner of the Marion-Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race (first on corrected time and first short-handed) was a boat called SILKIE.
The wind had picked up again by the second race, in 1979, enough to dismast two entrants. Of the 128 yachts that started, 14 were beaten up badly enough to drop out. SILKIE won the short-handed trophy again, but GABRIELLA took first to finish and first on corrected time. ASTEROID won the newly created Family Trophy.
The race in 1981 had everything. Thirty-eight of 143 starters failed to finish. SATAN'S MERCY actually sank, but all hands were saved by WINDBURN. Some of the DNFs were damaged by a 45-knot gale that blew up early in the race. After the storm came a dead calm so endless that a number of racers fired up their engines in despair and chugged into Bermuda under power. WINDBURN, trying to feed her own crew and the rescued sailors from SATAN'S MERCY, powered up to the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club and, presumedly, sent everybody ashore for sandwiches. SILKIE once again took short-handed honors, while SLY MONGOOSE took line honors, EDELWEISS won on corrected time, and LEGEND took home the Family Trophy. Fifteen entrants ghosted in so late that their times were never recorded.
1983's winners were Ron Noonan's WILDFLOWER from Class G (first overall), ASTEROID (Family Trophy), and, yet again, Herb Marcus in SILKIE capturing the short-handed division.
After a long, slow march, the fleet had almost reached Bermuda in 1985 when a muscular sou'wester roared in with line after line of thunderstorms. Twenty-two boats withdrew, two were dismasted, and one, FLEETWING, had to be abandoned. The Air-Sea Rescue Team of the U.S. Naval Air Station, Bermuda, shared the Bavier Trophy with CARIOCA, one of the dismasted yachts. CHARISMA was first to finish, edged out on corrected time by PIRATE. LEGEND won the family prize. The seemingly unbeatable SILKIE once again took the short-handed trophy, for the last time.
In 1987, watched by a host of such distinguished spectators as Bermudan Premier Sir John Swan (himself an avid cruising sailor), the fleet of 149 entrants wallowed at the starting line in no wind. True to its reputation, Buzzards Bay summoned up a southwest breeze in the afternoon, which built to 25 knots and set the fleet on its way smartly. The winds remained strong, producing a fast race. The aptly named RUNAWAY captured line honors in Bermuda after only 80 hours of sailing. LEGEND carried away First Overall and the Family Trophy.
Fluke winds delayed the start of the 1989 Race several times, forcing a colossal fleet of 163 vessels to mill around and avoid one another at the starting line far longer than anyone would have liked. Good seamanship prevailed, however, and the fleet eventually got away cleanly. Warren Brown's WAR BABY smashed the previous year's record time, arriving in Bermuda after only 72 and ½ hours at sea. YUKON JACK, a 34-foot Class F sloop sailed by Beverly Yacht Club member John Elliot, won corrected time honors, edging out Commodore Jim Hayes of the Blue Water Sailing Club in the 40-foot Class E sloop SHAMBLES.
Then came the Race that has probably generated more pub stories than any other. Just as the fleet of 117 boats was entering the Gulf Stream in 1991, a storm estimated by some to have had a radius of 300 miles poured down from the northeast. Timing is everything, yes? The collision of cold wind and warm current produced near-hurricane conditions, with confused seas running 30-40 feet for many hours. Astonishingly, no one got seriously hurt—eloquent testimony to the seamanship and preparedness of the participants. Richard Carleton's Class E Pearson 36, ORION, won on corrected time. Francis Checkoski was awarded the Bavier Seamanship/Sportsmanship Trophy for his outstanding performance in bringing his vessel safely into Bermuda.
The 1993 Race began with a very stiff wind (20-30 knots) wrapped in dense fog. Not surprisingly, there were several groundings, some near misses, and one collision that forced the retirement of two boats. The Race Committee somehow shepherded the rest of the fleet out past Sow and Pigs without further incident. Once in the Gulf Stream, sailing conditions turned idyllic. Kirk Cooper's ALPHIDA claimed line honors, and set a new short-course record for the Marion-Bermuda Race. WAR BABY holds the long-course record to this day. Ron Noonan skippered WILDFLOWER to corrected time honors once again.
1995 produced a slightly strange race that had, for all intents and purposes, two starts: one at the head of Buzzards Bay, and another at mid-ocean. A smallish fleet of 77 yachts left Marion in perfect sailing conditions, but when they reached the Gulf Stream, the wind dropped dead and the sea turned to glass. The calm lasted more than 16 hours. Though adrift, however, the fleet remained together, so that when the wind reappeared, it was almost as though the Race was starting anew. First to finish was Dick Leather in COLUMBINE. Carter Cordner earned the overall winner's trophy in his Westsail 32, KEMANCHA.
That year also saw the inauguration of the Friends and Family Fun Race in Bermuda. Participants were free to take it as seriously as they liked, but the basic idea was to give everyone a day to admire Bermuda from the water and to be at least a little silly. E.g., Nelson Gifford's SUDIAN took top honors for "largest crew." He had 34—all dressed in pink. An immediate hit, the new race became an adjunct to future Marion-Bermuda Races.
1997 marked the 20th anniversary of the Marion-Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race. Eighty-four vessels headed out of Buzzards Bay. For the first time, Race rules gave the participants the option of using electronic navigation devices without restriction. About three out of four opted to rely on sextant and dead reckoning anyway. Alex Rosenbladt of Atlantic Highlands, NJ won time honors in AKKA. MAJEK, one of the smallest vessels in the fleet, won overall on corrected time, skippered by Abbot Fletcher of Bath, ME. MAJEK was more than 30 years old at the time, with a family crew.
For once, the fleet caught a break in 1999, when a downwind start saved 103 crews the trouble of beating their way out of Buzzards Bay. The down side was that there were no speed records broken, or even threatened that year. TEMPTRESS managed to wring some horsepower out of the anemic breeze, and took line honors. Most of the fleet was a day or two behind her. The winner on corrected time was DAKOTA, a Swan 46 skippered by Doug Ely of Milford, CT.
The slowest Marion-Bermuda Race on record set out June 21, 2001. First to finish was Phil Hutchinson's VERITAS, with a time of five and a half days. Needless to say, there was a problem with the breeze. Once beyond the Gulf Stream, the fleet ran into a patch of doldrums that eventually drove the dropout rate to 30%. People can take only so much frustration. But seamanship is all about what you do in BAD conditions. Anybody can sail when the wind is fair. SOLACE, a Tachiba 40 captained by David Owen from Northport, NY, won the RHADC "Past Commodores" trophy for best performance among electronically navigated yachts. SPINACHE, an Island Packet 35, sailed away with the Beverly Yacht Club's "Polaris" trophy for best performance in the celestial navigation class, as well as First Overall.
Fortune turned her wheel, and 2003 produced the very fastest Marion-Bermuda Race of all time. No individual records fell, but the fleet as a whole made the crossing as if on wings. The LAST boat to cross the finish line in 2003 beat the time of the first-to-finish winner from 2001. It was the first year in which asymmetrical spinnakers were allowed, and a northeast breeze sent all 78 yachts roaring away from the starting line with kites flying. First overall and first in Class D2 were won by GORGEOUS GIRL, a Pacific Seacraft 40 cutter under the command of Guy S. Jones from Annapolis. The same boat captured the RHADC Past Commodore's trophy for best performance by an electronically navigated yacht. Roy Greenwald's Valiant 42 CORDELIA won the BYC Polaris trophy for celestially navigated yachts. CORDELIA was navigated by Roy's wife, Gail, who won the Navigator's trophy. Line honors went to STARR TRAIL, a Farr 72 skippered by Robert Mulderig of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. Her elapsed time was just over 74 hours.
The 2005 Race had a staggered start. Sixty-eight monohulls set out on June 17, and six trimarans and one catamaran gave chase the following day. The chase bogged down around mid-course as the fleet ran into dead air between weather systems. Picking their way among cat's paws and fluky breezes, the fleet eventually found the wind again and bore down on St. David's Lighthouse in Bermuda. First to finish were HEARTSEASE LARUS ROC (multihulls) from St. Maarten, and the U.S. Naval Academy's MAMELUKE (monohulls). For all the awards in all classes, consult the Race Results printed in the back of this program.
The equipment for the Marion-Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race keeps changing. The yachts get bigger. Innovations keep showing up at the starting line: trimarans, catamarans, carbon-fiber spars, asymmetrical spinnakers, satellite navigation systems. Snowy white Dacron sails are giving way to a rainbow of Kevlar, Mylar, and a host of other, once-exotic composites.
But the race itself never changes. Every yacht has to cross the open ocean. Somebody has to steer each yacht through at least three nights—maybe moonlit and glorious, maybe black as soot. And even an 80-foot yacht (the largest allowed this year) can feel mighty small, when the sea is, as Joshua Slocum memorably said, "in its grandest mood."
The race has been running, every other year, for 30 years now. What follows is a highly condensed history of those races, but you won't find answers here to any of the questions you really want to ask. For instance, this article won't tell you why more than 1,500 yachts and crews have gone through so much fuss and preparation and lost sleep and plain hard work. Why don't these people just fly to Bermuda instead?
If you want to learn the worthwhile stuff, the fun stuff, go down to the dock, or the registration table, or the bar, and ask some of the skippers and crew. Don't be shy—sailors are good people, and they love to tell stories. Some of them might even be true.
It began in 1975, while W. David Kingery, a member of the Beverly Yacht Club Board of Governors, was alone with his thoughts for a few days on a solo voyage to Bermuda. Upon making landfall, he looked up his friend at the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club, Dickie Bird, and pitched him the idea of organizing a race to Bermuda for cruising yachts and family sailors. Dickie Bird liked the idea. So did Leo Fallon, Commodore of the Blue Water Sailing Club in Boston.
By 1977, the race was on. One hundred four yachts jockeyed for position at the starting line. The Beverly Yacht Club hosted at one end, the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club hosted at the other, and enthusiastic volunteers from the Blue Water Sailing Club made themselves indispensable everywhere. The reward for two years' preparation and all that hard work was a light, perverse breeze that reduced what might have been a rollicking charge across the sea into something like a processional march. The very first winner of the Marion-Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race (first on corrected time and first short-handed) was a boat called SILKIE.
The wind had picked up again by the second race, in 1979, enough to dismast two entrants. Of the 128 yachts that started, 14 were beaten up badly enough to drop out. SILKIE won the short-handed trophy again, but GABRIELLA took first to finish and first on corrected time. ASTEROID won the newly created Family Trophy.
The race in 1981 had everything. Thirty-eight of 143 starters failed to finish. SATAN'S MERCY actually sank, but all hands were saved by WINDBURN. Some of the DNFs were damaged by a 45-knot gale that blew up early in the race. After the storm came a dead calm so endless that a number of racers fired up their engines in despair and chugged into Bermuda under power. WINDBURN, trying to feed her own crew and the rescued sailors from SATAN'S MERCY, powered up to the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club and, presumedly, sent everybody ashore for sandwiches. SILKIE once again took short-handed honors, while SLY MONGOOSE took line honors, EDELWEISS won on corrected time, and LEGEND took home the Family Trophy. Fifteen entrants ghosted in so late that their times were never recorded.
1983's winners were Ron Noonan's WILDFLOWER from Class G (first overall), ASTEROID (Family Trophy), and, yet again, Herb Marcus in SILKIE capturing the short-handed division.
After a long, slow march, the fleet had almost reached Bermuda in 1985 when a muscular sou'wester roared in with line after line of thunderstorms. Twenty-two boats withdrew, two were dismasted, and one, FLEETWING, had to be abandoned. The Air-Sea Rescue Team of the U.S. Naval Air Station, Bermuda, shared the Bavier Trophy with CARIOCA, one of the dismasted yachts. CHARISMA was first to finish, edged out on corrected time by PIRATE. LEGEND won the family prize. The seemingly unbeatable SILKIE once again took the short-handed trophy, for the last time.
In 1987, watched by a host of such distinguished spectators as Bermudan Premier Sir John Swan (himself an avid cruising sailor), the fleet of 149 entrants wallowed at the starting line in no wind. True to its reputation, Buzzards Bay summoned up a southwest breeze in the afternoon, which built to 25 knots and set the fleet on its way smartly. The winds remained strong, producing a fast race. The aptly named RUNAWAY captured line honors in Bermuda after only 80 hours of sailing. LEGEND carried away First Overall and the Family Trophy.
Fluke winds delayed the start of the 1989 Race several times, forcing a colossal fleet of 163 vessels to mill around and avoid one another at the starting line far longer than anyone would have liked. Good seamanship prevailed, however, and the fleet eventually got away cleanly. Warren Brown's WAR BABY smashed the previous year's record time, arriving in Bermuda after only 72 and ½ hours at sea. YUKON JACK, a 34-foot Class F sloop sailed by Beverly Yacht Club member John Elliot, won corrected time honors, edging out Commodore Jim Hayes of the Blue Water Sailing Club in the 40-foot Class E sloop SHAMBLES.
Then came the Race that has probably generated more pub stories than any other. Just as the fleet of 117 boats was entering the Gulf Stream in 1991, a storm estimated by some to have had a radius of 300 miles poured down from the northeast. Timing is everything, yes? The collision of cold wind and warm current produced near-hurricane conditions, with confused seas running 30-40 feet for many hours. Astonishingly, no one got seriously hurt—eloquent testimony to the seamanship and preparedness of the participants. Richard Carleton's Class E Pearson 36, ORION, won on corrected time. Francis Checkoski was awarded the Bavier Seamanship/Sportsmanship Trophy for his outstanding performance in bringing his vessel safely into Bermuda.
The 1993 Race began with a very stiff wind (20-30 knots) wrapped in dense fog. Not surprisingly, there were several groundings, some near misses, and one collision that forced the retirement of two boats. The Race Committee somehow shepherded the rest of the fleet out past Sow and Pigs without further incident. Once in the Gulf Stream, sailing conditions turned idyllic. Kirk Cooper's ALPHIDA claimed line honors, and set a new short-course record for the Marion-Bermuda Race. WAR BABY holds the long-course record to this day. Ron Noonan skippered WILDFLOWER to corrected time honors once again.
1995 produced a slightly strange race that had, for all intents and purposes, two starts: one at the head of Buzzards Bay, and another at mid-ocean. A smallish fleet of 77 yachts left Marion in perfect sailing conditions, but when they reached the Gulf Stream, the wind dropped dead and the sea turned to glass. The calm lasted more than 16 hours. Though adrift, however, the fleet remained together, so that when the wind reappeared, it was almost as though the Race was starting anew. First to finish was Dick Leather in COLUMBINE. Carter Cordner earned the overall winner's trophy in his Westsail 32, KEMANCHA.
That year also saw the inauguration of the Friends and Family Fun Race in Bermuda. Participants were free to take it as seriously as they liked, but the basic idea was to give everyone a day to admire Bermuda from the water and to be at least a little silly. E.g., Nelson Gifford's SUDIAN took top honors for "largest crew." He had 34—all dressed in pink. An immediate hit, the new race became an adjunct to future Marion-Bermuda Races.
1997 marked the 20th anniversary of the Marion-Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race. Eighty-four vessels headed out of Buzzards Bay. For the first time, Race rules gave the participants the option of using electronic navigation devices without restriction. About three out of four opted to rely on sextant and dead reckoning anyway. Alex Rosenbladt of Atlantic Highlands, NJ won time honors in AKKA. MAJEK, one of the smallest vessels in the fleet, won overall on corrected time, skippered by Abbot Fletcher of Bath, ME. MAJEK was more than 30 years old at the time, with a family crew.
For once, the fleet caught a break in 1999, when a downwind start saved 103 crews the trouble of beating their way out of Buzzards Bay. The down side was that there were no speed records broken, or even threatened that year. TEMPTRESS managed to wring some horsepower out of the anemic breeze, and took line honors. Most of the fleet was a day or two behind her. The winner on corrected time was DAKOTA, a Swan 46 skippered by Doug Ely of Milford, CT.
The slowest Marion-Bermuda Race on record set out June 21, 2001. First to finish was Phil Hutchinson's VERITAS, with a time of five and a half days. Needless to say, there was a problem with the breeze. Once beyond the Gulf Stream, the fleet ran into a patch of doldrums that eventually drove the dropout rate to 30%. People can take only so much frustration. But seamanship is all about what you do in BAD conditions. Anybody can sail when the wind is fair. SOLACE, a Tachiba 40 captained by David Owen from Northport, NY, won the RHADC "Past Commodores" trophy for best performance among electronically navigated yachts. SPINACHE, an Island Packet 35, sailed away with the Beverly Yacht Club's "Polaris" trophy for best performance in the celestial navigation class, as well as First Overall.
Fortune turned her wheel, and 2003 produced the very fastest Marion-Bermuda Race of all time. No individual records fell, but the fleet as a whole made the crossing as if on wings. The LAST boat to cross the finish line in 2003 beat the time of the first-to-finish winner from 2001. It was the first year in which asymmetrical spinnakers were allowed, and a northeast breeze sent all 78 yachts roaring away from the starting line with kites flying. First overall and first in Class D2 were won by GORGEOUS GIRL, a Pacific Seacraft 40 cutter under the command of Guy S. Jones from Annapolis. The same boat captured the RHADC Past Commodore's trophy for best performance by an electronically navigated yacht. Roy Greenwald's Valiant 42 CORDELIA won the BYC Polaris trophy for celestially navigated yachts. CORDELIA was navigated by Roy's wife, Gail, who won the Navigator's trophy. Line honors went to STARR TRAIL, a Farr 72 skippered by Robert Mulderig of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. Her elapsed time was just over 74 hours.
The 2005 Race had a staggered start. Sixty-eight monohulls set out on June 17, and six trimarans and one catamaran gave chase the following day. The chase bogged down around mid-course as the fleet ran into dead air between weather systems. Picking their way among cat's paws and fluky breezes, the fleet eventually found the wind again and bore down on St. David's Lighthouse in Bermuda. First to finish were HEARTSEASE LARUS ROC (multihulls) from St. Maarten, and the U.S. Naval Academy's MAMELUKE (monohulls). For all the awards in all classes, consult the Race Results printed in the back of this program.
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