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Thursday, July 09, 2026
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Bermuda Launch Inaugural National Team Racing Championship
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Bermuda's burgeoning team racing community is set to mark a historic milestone this weekend as the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club hosts the island’s first ever Bermuda Team Racing National Championships.
The landmark event represents the first major domestic initiative launched by the Bermuda Team Racing Association, a body formed last autumn following the island's performance at the Global Team Race Regatta in October.
Organizers are expecting high-intensity action on the water, with three two-boat teams—comprising six to eight sailors per squad—set to battle for the inaugural national title in J80 keelboats.
The tournament format will see the teams compete in one or more round-robin stages, with the top two teams advancing to a winner-takes-all, first-to-three-wins grand final.
While domestic silverware is at stake this Saturday, the creation of the National Championships serves a much larger strategic purpose. The entire enterprise has been designed to prepare Bermuda’s elite sailors for a high-profile assault on the upcoming 2026 Team Racing World Championships, which will take place in Stockholm, Sweden, from August 12 to 16.
With the global showpiece in Sweden also being contested in J80s, the national event offers invaluable, sharp competitive minutes for the official Bermuda national squad, which was selected back in April.
The national team heading to Stockholm features two settled crews:
Boat One: Joshua Greenslade (skipper), Amelia Lewis, Emily Davis, and Aiden Young.
Boat Two: Alan Frith (skipper), Cecilia Wollman, Samantha Dill, and Sebastian Round.
Saturday's racing promises to provide the perfect high-pressure environment as Bermuda tunes up to take on the world’s best next month.
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Wednesday, July 08, 2026
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Thrash Win Week 13 of Wednesday Night Sailing Series
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Week 13 of the Wednesday Night Sailing Series delivered another reminder that in handicap racing, crossing the finish line first doesn't always mean taking home the honors.
Nasty Medicine looked every bit the boat to beat as it stormed across the finish line first, posting a blistering elapsed time of 1:10:12. But once the handicap calculations were applied, the leaderboard told a different story. Their corrected time of 1:17:00 dropped them to sixth, leaving the door wide open for the rest of the fleet.
Crossfire wasn't far behind on the water, finishing second across the line in 1:11:01, but the handicap system proved unforgiving. A corrected time of 1:18:20 saw them tumble to 13th, one of the night's biggest swings between elapsed and corrected standings.
The third boat home, Airforce, showed exactly why consistency and smart sailing matter in handicap competition. Despite an elapsed time of 1:20:08, their corrected time of 1:15:50 vaulted them into second place, narrowly missing out on the weekly victory.
That honor belonged to Thrash, whose superb corrected time of 1:15:30 edged the competition to claim the Week 13 crown. It was a composed, efficient performance that proved enough to top a tightly contested fleet.
Scatteraction secured the final podium spot with a corrected time of 1:16:27, finishing just ahead of Celerity, whose 1:16:36 was good enough for fourth in another razor-close battle. Vrengen completed the top five on corrected time, rounding out the leaders with a corrected time of 1:30:52.
Week 13 showcased everything that makes the Wednesday Night Sailing Series so compelling. While raw speed earned Nasty Medicine the bragging rights for line honors, it was Thrash that mastered the handicap formula, turning strategy and execution into victory. With only seconds separating several of the top finishers on corrected time, the championship battle continues to tighten as the series heads into its final stretch.
Wednesday Night Sailing Series Race Day 13
1:15:30 Thrash
1:15:50 Airforce
1:16:27 Scatteraction
1:16:36 Celerity
1:16:54 Vrengen
1:17:00 Nasty Medicine
1:17:00 Back in Black
1:17:07 Fat Tuesday
1:17:57 Peppercorn
1:18:08 Windfire
1:18:13 Solna II
1:18:17 Tiburon
1:18:20 Crossfire
1:18:24 Lorato Makato
1:18:42 Privateer
1:19:24 Jitterbug
1:21:05 RS 21 3 LEACH
1:21:14 Menace
1:22:18 Shogun
1:22:46 Lix
1:23:35 RS 21 2 REDBURN
1:23:51 RS 21 1 NEAME
1:24:04 RS 21 6 SAVAGE
1:24:39 Shadow
1:24:49 RS 21 4 REID
1:25:15 RS 21 5 FRANK
1:31:48 Severn
RET Grace
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Thursday, July 02, 2026
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Bermuda Gold Cup to Sail New Boats
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The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC) has officially released the Notice of Race for the 2026 Bermuda Gold Cup, taking place from October 13-18, 2026. A premier championship stage on the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT), this year's regatta features a $50,000 prize purse and marks the highly anticipated racing debut of RBYC’s brand-new fleet of Fareast 28R match racing boats.
The introduction of the high-performance Fareast 28R fleet represents a transformative milestone for this historic event, stepping into the shoes of the iconic International One Design (IOD) fleet that defined the Gold Cup's legacy for decades. Transitioning from the heavy, traditional full-keel IODs, the modern Fareast 28R racing platforms are renowned for their lightweight agility, high planing speeds, and strict one-design uniformity. This evolution from classic displacement sailing to high-speed racing will present a fresh, highly dynamic tactical challenge on Hamilton Harbour. Crucially, the lighter handling underpins a strong commitment to diversity, with organizers aiming to fill the 12-team roster with a minimum of four top-tier women’s teams, showcasing the highest level of female talent on the world tour.
This world-class sporting spectacle is made possible through the generous and longstanding support of sponsors; the Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA) and RenaissanceRe. Their partnership ensures that Bermuda continues to stand out as a premier global destination for competitive sailing, while fostering opportunities for top athletes from across the globe.
With the Notice of Race now published, the skipper selection process has formally commenced. Due to high demand for the 12 available spots, interested teams are encouraged to urgently submit their requests for an invitation by contacting the RBYC sailing office at sailing@rbyc.bm
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Wednesday, July 01, 2026
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Airforce edge thriller to claim Race Day 12 victory
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Airforce snatched a dramatic victory on handicap as the Wednesday Night Sailing Series produced a tactical masterclass for Race Day 12.
In a fleet where line honours counted for little, it was a battle of corrected times across the racecourse.
Crossfire was the first boat to physically cross the finish line, clocking a blistering elapsed time of 1 hour 12 minutes 24 seconds. However, once the handicaps were applied, their corrected time of 1:19:51 saw them pushed down to third place on the night.
It was a similar story of frustration for Nasty Medicine. Despite chasing the leaders home to finish as the second boat across the line (1:13:52), their corrected time of 1:21:01 left them fifth overall.
Instead, the night belonged to Airforce. Despite crossing the line third in real-time with an elapsed 1:24:02, their superb handicap advantage yielded a winning corrected time of 1:19:32.
Victory was secured by the absolute barest of margins, with Airforce finishing just a solitary second ahead of a relentless Thrash, who took second place with a corrected time of 1:19:33.
Scatteraction completed the top four, locking in a corrected time of 1:20:44.
Wednesday Night Sailing Race Day 12
1:19:32 Airforce
1:19:33 Thrash
1:19:51 Crossfire
1:20:44 Scatteraction
1:21:01 Nasty Medicine
1:21:03 Critter
1:21:18 Back in Black
1:21:41 Fat Tuesday
1:22:32 Tiburon
1:22:32 Solna II
1:22:38 Encore
1:23:29 Vrengen
1:23:55 Privateer
1:24:02 RS 21 6 SAVAGE
1:24:32 Windfire
1:25:00 Stormy
1:22:47 Lorato Makato
1:26:32 Menace
1:26:33 Shogun
1:26:35 Jitterbug
1:26:46 RS 21 2 REDBURN
1:27:04 Lix
1:27:47 RS 21 3 LEACH
1:28:39 RS 21 1 NEAME
1:29:36 RS 21 4 REID
1:33:47 RS 21 5 FRANK
RET Grace
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Monday, June 29, 2026
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Kempe Crowns himself Canadian National Champion
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Bermuda’s rising sailing star Sebastian Kempe produced a brilliant display of tactical consistency to capture the prestigious 2026 ILCA 7 Canadian National Championship title.
Hosted by CORK/Sail Kingston, the regatta saw the young Bermudian out-maneuver a highly competitive 34-boat international fleet over a grueling seven-race series on Lake Ontario.
Kempe secured the coveted crown with a superb net score of 15 points, demonstrating impeccable damage control across shifting inland conditions.
The championship showcase was a masterclass in elite-level consistency. Kempe kept himself firmly at the business end of the fleet in almost every race, carding one race victory, two second-place finishes, two third-places, and a steady fourth.
Proving the ultimate value of a discard race in a tight regatta layout, Kempe was able to throw out his worst score of the week—a 12th-place finish—to safely seal a historic victory for Bermuda on the global stage.
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