Регата Ньюпорт-Бермуда: История и Традиции "Гонки к Луковому Пластырю"

The Newport Bermuda Race, commonly known as the Bermuda Race, is a biennial, 635 nautical miles (1175 km) sailing yacht race from Newport, Rhode Island to the British island of Bermuda. The Race is the oldest regularly scheduled ocean race in the world, and one of two regularly scheduled races "held almost entirely out of sight of land." The race is particularly popular among current and retired members of the United States Coast Guard, who regularly make up significant portions of the participants. Indian Harbor Yacht Club has recorded more entries in the Newport Bermuda Race than any other yacht club in the world. In a typical race, the fleet enters the Atlantic and the Gulf Stream, with rough water, giving the race its nickname, "The Thrash to the Onion Patch." Once through the rough Gulf Stream, the sailors press on to the finish off St. David's Lighthouse, then winding channel to Hamilton, Bermuda to the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. Along with Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race and the Fastnet Race, it is considered one of the classic big offshore races with each distance approximately
To quote Gary Jobson, "It’s a feather in every sailor’s cap to have done the race, and many consider the Lighthouse Trophy the most coveted trophy in distance racing."

The very first Bermuda Race was an act of rebellion. In 1906, the Establishment believed that it would be impossible for amateur sailors to race offshore in boats under 80 feet. Thomas Fleming Day, editor of The Rudder magazine, disagreed, insisting, "The danger of the sea for generations has been preached by the ignorant." Certain that an ocean race would be enjoyable and safe – and also develop better sailors and better boats – Day founded one on his own. The Brooklyn Yacht Club started the race in New York Bay, in Bermuda, the RBYC finished it off at St. David’s Head. The smallest entry then (and in Bermuda Race history) was the 28 foot sloop Gauntlet. She was notorious for her size, and also for her crew because it included a woman, 20 year old Thora Lund Robinson. Having outpaced Gauntlet and another boat which dropped out, and the winner was the 38 foot yawl Tamerlane, with Thomas Fleming Day himself as sailing master. The yacht club provided a special anchorage off White’s Island for the race boats, set aside rooms for the skippers and navigators in the clubhouse, and laid on many parties culminating with a traditional turtle dinner at the prize banquet. There were four more races before the sailors decided it was too much to ask that the race be held annually. After World War I, RBYC Vice Commodore Eldon Trimingham went up to New York to stir up a revival of the race, to much agreement. After 22 boats started in 1923 at New London, Connecticut, and every boat finished. Three years later, the RBYC and the Cruising Club of America teamed up to host the race. Since 1923 to this day, the task of inspecting boats, arranging for trophies, the starting and finishing lines, and maintaining the race’s emphasis on safe seamanship falls on volunteer members of both clubs. In 45 races over a century, only two boats have been lost, one on Bermuda’s reef, and the other in a deadly fire in 1932 that also claimed the Bermuda Race’s first loss of life.

At 4:22:53EDT on 19 June 2016, James H. Clark's 100 Foot Comanche, with skipper Ken Read and navigator Stan Honey, crossed the finish line in Bermuda with an elapsed time of 34h 52m 53s, breaking George David's Rambler record by more than 4h 36s. The 2016 Bermuda Race was the 50th running of the race. More than 195 boats were sanctioned by the Bermuda Race Organizing Committee as qualified entries in the 50th Newport Bermuda Race. An International fleet competed in the biennial race that began on 17 June. There was also the Onion Patch Series, a parallel inter club and international team race event. The 2016 Newport Bermuda Race had seven divisions, each with its divisional and class prizes. The race has no single winner. Except Super Yachts, each division is rated under the Offshore Racing Rule (ORR).

In the first race since 2018 Jason Carroll of Larchmont Yacht Club and the crew of the MOD70 trimaran Argo won line honors and established a new overall race record when they completed the 52nd edition Saturday night local time. Argo’s elapsed time of 33 hours, 0 minutes, 9 seconds. This was fast enough to achieve the first ever Saturday night finish in the history of the Bermuda Race. Unfortunately 2022 saw the race’s second loss of life when the captain of the Morgan of Marietta, a 42 foot sloop, fell overboard during strong conditions.

St. David’s Lighthouse Division: cruiser racers with amateur helmsmen. Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division: racers with professional helmsmen permitted. Finisterre Division cruisers/passagemakers with amateur helmsmen. Double Handed Division: one crew may be a professional. Open Division: cant keel racers with professional helmsmen permitted. Super Yacht Division: 90 plus feet long, International Super Yacht Rule. Spirit of Tradition Division: replicas and other traditional boats.

Year Yacht Make Owner Club Affiliation2004 Alliance Swan 45 Dominick Porco New York Yacht Club2006 Sinn Fein Cal 40 Peter S. Rebovich Sr. Raritan Yacht Club2008 Sinn Fein Cal 40 Peter S. Rebovich Sr. Raritan Yacht Club2010 Carina Custom 40 Rives Potts Cruising Club of America2012 Kodiak Custom 65 E. Llwyd Ecclestone Cruising Club of America2014 Actaea Hinckley Bermuda 40 Michael Cone Cruising Club of America2016 Warrior Won Xp 44 Christopher Sheehan Larchmont Yacht Club2018 Grundoon Columbia 50 James Grundy New York Yacht Club2022 Illusion Cal 40 Sally and Stan Honey Palo Alto Ca

Year Yacht Owner Designer Elapsed Time2002 PyewacketRoy E. DisneyReichel/Pugh 7567h 54m 22s2004 Morning GloryHasso PlattnerMaxi Z8662h 48m 31s2006 Bella MenteHap FouthJudel/Vrolijk 66 111h 12m 18s2008 SpeedboatAlex JacksonJuan Kouyoumdjian 100 64h 42m 56s2010 SpeedboatAlex JacksonJuan Kouyoumdjian 100 59h 17m 56s2012 Med Spirit Michael DAmelio Welbourn 92 45h 26m 28s2014 Shockwave George Sakellaris Reichel/Pugh 63h 04m 11s2016 Comanche James H. Clark and Kristy Hinze VPLP design 34h 42m 53s2018 Rambler 88 George David Juan Kouyoumdjian 50h 31m 51s2022 Argo Jason Carroll MOD70 Trimaran 33h 0m 9s

In 2012, it was announced that the Race had committed to seeking certification as a "clean regatta", encouraging participants "to adopt a number of best practices for the health of the oceans, including reducing plastic bottle use, following a leave no trace approach to dealing with trash, promoting the use of non toxic cleaning products and bottom paint, and preventing oil spills."