Surviving the Newport Bermuda

This year’s Newport-Bermuda saw a menagerie of conditions, and for Sail Magazine’s Lydia Mullan and her crew aboard J/122 Alliance, a disaster.

Day one on June 21 saw the race overcome by a mild, slow moving electrical storm that swelled over land during the start before spilling outwards, becalming the fleet during the early tactical decisions. New breeze carried us onwards towards Block Island and a series of decisions about new wind farms, which had been a source of much discussion leading up to the race. In addition to being an active construction site and an obstruction, the windmills have a massive wind shadow that’s best given a wide berth.

As night set in, we were treated to occasional views of the full strawberry moon, which was bright enough to backlight a spectacular cloudscape. In the small hours of the morning, the JV72 Proteus reported that they had dismasted in moderate conditions. Will Oxley, their navigator, confirmed that everyone was safe, and the rig was cut away before causing hull damage. They rerouted back to Newport under power. Roy Disney’s Pyewacket took an early lead, staying a bit north of the rhumb line initially, followed by the fleet’s only catamaran, Paul Larsen’s 84-foot Allegra – Full story