The predicted battle for the elapsed time victory in the Newport Bermuda Race between the three Mini-Maxis in the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division is coming to fruition. Based on the tracker report as of 5am on Saturday with 485 nautical miles to the finish, Bella Mente, Shockwave, and Caol Ila R are racing head to head, though at slower speeds (3 knots) than they were making before midnight. Some 20 miles astern are the 70 footers Kodiak, Rima 2, Irie 2, and Terrapin.
By 12noon Shockwave had taken the lead at 435nm from Bermuda. Caol Ila R and Bella Mente were close behind at 438nm and 442nm respectively. Shockwave's vmg from the start is reported as 9.2Kts.
The rest of the 163-boat fleet is in a large clump extending about 50 miles, where the wind may be a bit stronger. Wind under 10 knots are predicted for most of Saturday. Everybody is a few miles to the west of the rhumb line, indicating that they're all headed toward the favorable predicted current in the Gulf Stream, some 100 – 150 miles ahead. The sea is reported to be flat.
Right in the thick of things, the two yachts that have won all the St. David’s Lighthouse trophies since 2006, Rives Potts’ Carina and Peter Rebovich’s Sinn Fein, were well up in the pack. At the 10 AM report — tracking positions are still delayed for 4 hours — Sinn Fein in Class 1 was actually three miles ahead of the Class 3 Carina, 490nm from the lighthouse finish line.
Christopher Dragon, owned by Andrew Weiss, was the St David’s Lighthouse Division estimated elapsed time leader and was 477nm from the finish. Sinn Fein stood second.
Withdrawals
Toothface2, in the Double-Handed Division, returned to Newport Friday night. Michael Dreese, her captain, reported a broken pump in her water ballast system.
Next Boat, in the Double-Handed Division, owned by Mark Ellman, withdrew on Saturday morning due to concerns about possible damage and is returning to New York Harbor.
The first boat to start Friday was Spirit of Bermuda, the one entry in the Spirit of Tradition Division. She’s a replica of a traditional 19th century Bermudian commercial sailing vessel called a sloop (even though she has three masts). Launched in 2006 and used in youth training and sailing, she sailed in the 2012 Newport Bermuda and 2013 Marion to Bermuda races.
The first Russian entry in the race’s history started off Castle Hill. The J-120 Sunset Child, in Class 4 (St. David’s Lighthouse Division) is chartered by a group including skipper Dmitry Kondratyevis, Dmitry Konrat, Rodion Poloskin and other experienced sailors. They raced Sunset Child in the RORC Caribbean 600, finishing in the middle of the nearly 50-boat fleet.
