AMERICAN CLASSIC

THE NEWPORT BERMUDA RACE IS THE OLDEST OCEAN RACE IN THE WORLD. WILL SOFRIN TOOK PART IN THIS YEAR'S 636-MILE BLUEWATER CLASSIC

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I’ve been hiking out on the windward rail for over eight hours without a break as we battle our way upwind on a 600-mile starboard tack. With just 30 more miles to the finish line of the 53rd Newport Bermuda Race, the end is finally in sight. Exhausted, I’ve intentionally slowed down my digestive system after the seat of the boat’s head was sheared off on day two. But I don’t think I’ve been missing much in the way of culinary delights as I watch the rest of the crew load their freeze-dried food pouches with an ungodly amount of hot sauce to make it palatable.

We’re sailing on Final Final, an IRC41 racer designed by Mark Mills, and owned by Jon Desmond. I met Jon over 20 years ago, and we formed a lasting friendship on one of the best sails of my life when we delivered a Swan 48 from Antigua to Newport, Rhode Island. It’s been a long time since we last sailed together and I was excited to join him for my first Newport Bermuda Race. Desmond is no stranger to this event, having completed five previous races – but this was his first time competing on his own boat. Despite the lack of sleep and relentless beating, intensity and morale is high. We’re in position to take 3rd in class, but if we can push harder, we might be able to squeeze out a 2nd place.

THRASH TO THE ONION PATCH

Thomas Day, editor of The Rudder magazine, organised the first Bermuda Race in 1906 as an act of rebellion against established sentiment, to prove that amateur sailors could successfully race offshore. Crews were rumoured to have been given funeral wreaths for their own burials at sea, but two of the three starting boats successfully finished (the boat in 2nd crossed the finish line with a woman at the helm).

As John Rousmaniere notes in his book