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Scuttlebutt News: Marian-Bermuda Race
Father-son Bermudian Team Take Line Honors
By Lynn Fitzpatrick
The first of approximately seventy entrants in the 30th Anniversary Marion to Bermuda Race crossed the line at about mid-day on Tuesday. Morgan’s Ghost, the scratch boat for A Division, not only took line honors, but it was the first Bermuda boat to finish. It has been two months since it was delivered and Morgan’s Ghost, hull #5 of the NY 42’s had another first. It was the first crossing of the Gulf Stream and first offshore race for William Hutchings, the 16-year old son of the boat’s owner, Preston Hutchings.
William has been sailing since he was nine and the family has had a keelboat for as long as he can remember. His family lives in Bermuda yet William attends Milton Academy in Massachusetts where he is on the sailing team. William is used to sailing double handed dinghies and had the choice to sail the US Youth Sailing Championships, which start on June 22nd, or sail the Marion to Bermuda Race. He chose the Marion to Bermuda Race because it’s not often that you can sail a long distance race with your father.
William Hutchings gets hug from his mother upon arrival at the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club |
William just finished school for the year and shared the same watch with his father. They spent a lot of time on the rail together over the past four days. While he had a lot of time to bond with his father, he was grateful that he brought an iPod along with him. William admitted, “I thought that it would be exciting and competitive throughout the entire race. In the beginning we were all up beyond our watches, but toward the end, if it wasn’t your watch, you were asleep down below.” The most excitement came at the end. At about 2:00 am on Monday when William was on his watch, he saw Kathleen off to the Northwest. While Kathleen was in Class A, she did not sail under spinnaker. Morgan’s Ghost sailed a higher line and eventually crossed Kathleen’s lane. At about 7:00 am Morgan’s Ghost found a lift, hoisted its spinnaker and took off to lead all of the boats to the finish line. Kathleen crossed the line nearly a half hour behind Morgan’s Ghost.
William is happy to have had the opportunity to join the rest of the crew and his dad in sailing their new boat home to Bermuda.
Race results and reports are at www.marionbermuda.com
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