Newport Bermuda: One down, finally

Hamilton, Bermuda (June 19, 2018) – The 51st edition of the biennial Newport Bermuda Race continues to crawl toward the finish, with the multitude of divisions still very much unsettled for the 635nm course. However, for the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division, which caters to the high(er)-tech, faster boats which have no limitation on the number of pros aboard, their scorecard is now confirmed.

All twelve teams are now docked, with Dave and Peter Askew’s Volvo Open 70 Wizard holding on to its corrected time margin for the win, followed by George Sakellaris’ Maxi 72 Proteus in second and elapsed time winner Rambler 88, George David’s Juan K 88-footer, in third.

Race organizers slice and dice the range of entrants to create Divisions catering to their unique and differentiating characteristics. The technical details are defined precisely in the Notice of Race, but here’s a quick summary:

– The St. David’s Lighthouse Division is the amateur helmsman racer/cruiser division.
– The Finisterre Division (previously known as the Cruiser Division) is a performance cruising division with amateur helmsman and limits on spinnakers and other downwind sails.
– The Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division is for high(er)-tech, faster boats and with no limitation on the number of pros aboard.
– The Superyacht Division is for yachts over 80 feet.
– The Open Division is for high-tech and experimental boats that don’t fit into other divisions due to features such as lifting foils.
– The Spirit of Tradition division is for “traditional” vessels over 55 feet, such as the Bermudian training sloop Spirit of Bermuda and the schooner America.
– The Double-Handed division is for 2-person crewed yachts.
– The new Multihull division is for catamarans and trimarans 58 feet or larger.

Event information – Race details – Tracker – Results – Facebook