Marion to Bermuda Race: Last finishers arrive

(June 25, 2015; Day 7) – By late afternoon Atlantic Daylight time all of the yachts that had continued racing in the 2015 Marion to Bermuda Race had finished in Bermuda. ‘Bacchanal’ a Hunter 380 Skippered by Mike Crawford won the final Cook’s Trophy for being the last Class C boat to physically finish the race and the last boat to finish overall.

Other Cook’s Trophy winners were ‘Icebear’ in Class A with an elapse time of 108:43:06, ‘Eagle’ in Class B with an elapse time of 108:01:31, and ‘Gemini’ a Shannon 39 skippered by Mark Competiello with an elapse time of 121:19:27.

‘TI’ skippered by Greg Marston was confirmed Wednesday as overall winner of the 2015 Marion Bermuda Race Founders Division. ‘TI’, an Alden Mistral 36 sailed under Celestial Navigation by a family crew to take the big prize. Her corrected time was 86hrs :35min :56sec.

The crew of ‘TI’ consisted of the skipper Greg Marston, navigators Andrew Howe and Chase Marston, Watch Captain Peter Snoops, and crewmembers John Omeara and Jake Marston. They are all related, and all are from Falmouth Maine.

Looking back to Monday, ‘Mischievous’, sailing for the Massachusetts Maritime Academy grabbed line honors in the 645-mile race. She crossed the finish line at St. David’s Lighthouse Bermuda during the twilight Lighthouse Committee cocktail party at the finish tower on Monday evening at 6:42 EDT.

‘Spirit of Bermuda’, the Bermuda Sloop Foundation’s sail training vessel chartered by Jim Butterfield for an employee team building adventure, had a strong fourth for line honors and first in the Classic Division. This is her best showing ever in a Bermuda Ocean Race by ‘Spirit of Bermuda’.

The fleet from the fastest to slowest boats experienced many hours of gale force winds with sustained winds noted at 40-50kts. One late arrival, Joe Cummings skipper of a Tashiba 40 ‘Shuang Hsi’, asked his navigator Skip Gresko what the top wind speed was. Gresko confirmed they saw 120 on their dial.

Cummings said that may have been caused by recovering quickly from a knock down when they were in an intense white-out squall. “The rain was horizontal, like bullets,” Cummings said. “We had sustained winds of 40-50kts.”

All of the positions are preliminary. Thirty-nine boats have finished. ‘Gemini’ and ‘Bacchanal’ have finished, but have not reported their times. They are not listed in the finishers chart.

Six boats have retired and one did not start, Class A boat ‘Kiva’ an Aerodyne 47 ripped her mainsail and ‘Free Range Chicken’ had a rigging failure. Both returned to the US.

‘Legacy V’ from Class B retired after one of her crew, Bill Fasnacht, died of natural causes. His crewmates could not revive him after an hour of CPR. ‘Legacy V’ has returned to Connecticut. ‘Restive’ also from Class B also retired.

‘Swell’, Class C, did not start and Class D entry ‘Is Fearr Cara’ retired earlier and returned to Maine while classmate ‘Shuang Hsi’ motored to Bermuda.

Race website: www.marionbermuda.com

Report by Talbot Wilson

Background: The 20th edition of the Marion to Bermuda Race attracted 45 boats which started the 645 nm contest on Friday, June 19. Since its inception in 1977, the biennial race seeks to appeal to a broad range of cruising and racing enthusiasts. The spirit of the race is one focused on Family and Fun, and all yachts and crew are participating for the joy and pleasure of sailing, competition, and the camaraderie that accompanies an offshore event. The race is sponsored by Beverly Yacht Club, The Blue Water Sailing Club and the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club.