Newport to Bermuda Race

Newport to Bermuda Race

June in even-numbered years

One of the oldest sailing races in the international calendar, the race from Newport, Rhode Island, to Bermuda was initiated by Thomas Fleming Day, editor and founder of Rudder magazine. At the time, most existing ocean races were for yachts of more than 100 feet, and Day wanted to see a race for smaller yachts (less than 40 feet overall). The first such race, in 1904, was run from Brooklyn, New York, to Marblehead, Massachusetts, a distance of 330 nautical miles. The following year it went from Brooklyn to Hampton Roads, Virginia (250 miles). In 1906, the finish was in Bermuda.
The Bermuda races died out in 1910, but they were revived in 1923 under the sponsorship of the Cruising Club of America (CCA). Since 1924 the race has been sailed biennially in June. The starting point was moved from New London, Connecticut, to Montauk, Long Island. But now the race is run from Narragansett Bay off Newport to St. David's Head, Bermuda—a distance of 635 nautical miles. Sponsored jointly by the CCA and the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, the Newport to Bermuda Race is now part of the Onion Patch trophy series, which consists of this and three local, unnamed races.

CONTACTS:
Bermuda Race Organizing Committee
580 Thames St., Ste. 418
Newport, RI 02840
772-584-1055; fax: 401-537-9155
www.bermudarace.com