Bermuda - Activities

Later this month more than 190 ships will set sail from Newport, Rhode Island carrying about 2000 sailors to Bermuda’s shores in the biennial Island invasion called the Newport Bermuda Race. Over that same weekend flights to the Island will be chock full of families, friends and return crews to bring the total invasion force to about 6,000 people, guests of Bermuda.

“Hospitality rules,” says Peter Shrubb, Commodore of race co-sponsors Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. “We’ll make Bermuda’s guests welcome. We want them to come back in two years . . . or sooner. Thanks to all the local volunteers in Bermuda who work from the finish line to the duty desk and behind the scenes, it all happens with style.”

Racing starts in Newport at 2.00 p.m. on June 18. Spectators can track the racing boats’ course to Bermuda online at www.iboattrack.com. And new for 2010, thanks to the new Gateway Bermuda Finish Line Cam, spectators watching the big screens at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club can watch boats finish 24/7.

All race details are updated on www.BermudaRace.com.

All those in Bermuda during the week is invited to join the fun at RBYC. Some of the most spectacular racing and cruising boats will berth in the club marina. Captains and crews are always willing to spin a sea-yarn or two with inquisitive guests. Winning boats are identified with appropriate signage. Shirts, caps and lots of logo race wear for men and women are available in the regatta store.

The RBYC Anniversary Regatta will be held on Friday, June 25 in the Great Sound and adjacent waters. The second race finishes off the Hamilton Princess in mid-afternoon. Up to 30 yachts from 37 to 90 feet long will be racing in Bermuda that Friday. It is the biggest offshore race in Bermuda all year.

If conditions are right for Newport Bermuda, the fastest boats, three 90 to 100 footers in the Open Division, could finish on Sunday afternoon. Alex Thomson’s Speedboat, first to finish in 2008, hopes to repeat but this year in record time. Ken Read on Puma, a Volvo 70, and Bermuda’s Argo Group CEO Mark Watson, sponsor and skipper of the US Merchant Marine Academy’s Dubois 90 Genuine Risk, both hope to snatch line honours and rain on his parade. The Open Division record was set in 2004 by Morning Glory with a time of 48 hours, 28 minutes and 31 seconds.

In the other divisions, competition is just as tight. The focus in the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division will be on Niklas Zennstrom’s JV72 Ran, winner of last year’s Rolex Fastnet Race and class winner in the Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race. Peter Rebovich in his Cal 40 Sinn Fein are going for a record tying three straight St. David’s Lighthouse Trophy wins.

In the Cruiser Division, Bermuda’s Paul Hubbard has his sights set on a repeat first place finish aboard Bermuda Oyster. The double-handers feature the biennial battle between Rich du Moulin’s Express 37 Lora Ann and Hewitt Gaynor’s J120 Mireille along with 25 other boats sailed by just two sailors.

Ewart Brown, Premier of Bermuda, today congratulated Phil Mickelson on winning his third Masters Tournament. With his three stroke victory over Lee Westwood, Mickelson has earned the honour of donning the coveted Green Jacket and secured an invitation to the 2010 PGA Grand Slam of Golf to be held in Bermuda.

Premier Brown said, “This was a fantastic Masters…..a golfer’s dream finish. Phil Mickelson played a wonderful round and deserved to win his third Green Jacket. For Bermuda and the PGA Grand Slam, the outcome could be hugely positive considering Phil’s immense popularity. In my meetings with the PGA here in Augusta, they were very upbeat about this year’s Grand Slam and I am hopeful that we will negotiate an extension of our agreement.”

The 2010 PGA Grand Slam of Golf will return to the Port Royal Golf Course in Southampton, Bermuda, October 18-20, where Lucas Glover posted a five-stroke triumph over Angel Cabrera in last year’s meeting of major champions.

With 196 entries, the 47th Newport Bermuda Race fleet is on track to be the third largest in the race’s history. “Despite the economic turmoil since the last start, we have a wonderful turnout from around the world, with many new boats and skippers,” said Race Chairman Bjorn Johnson. “This is a heartening confirmation of the value and importance not only of this race, but of sailing in general.”

The race has a wide range of boats. Niklas Zennstrom’s Rán(Southampton, England) in her first year won the 2009 Fastnet Race and also took Class 1 in the Sydney-Hobart. This cutting-edge 72-footer is one of 63 entries making their first Bermuda Race. Meanwhile, Peter Rebovich (Metuchen, N.J.) will sail his seventh “thrash to the Onion Patch” in his 45-year-old Cal 40 racer-cruiser Sinn Fein, which he has owned since 1973. The St. David’s Lighthouse Trophy winner in 2006 and 2008, Sinn Fein is a victory away from matching one of sailing’s most hallowed records – 3 straight Bermuda Race wins by Carleton Mitchell’s Finisterre in 1956-60.

Sinn Fein can’t reprise her 2008 duel with Selkie because that boat’s skipper, Sheila McCurdy (Middletown, R.I.), has duties as Commodore of the Cruising Club of America, the race’s co-sponsor with the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. Two of Sinn Fein’s sistership Cal 40s will race. One is Douglas Jurrius’ Belle Aurore (Easton, Md.), the other Gone with the Wind, which Bill LeRoy (Tiburon, Cal.) is shipping east from San Francisco Bay. His navigator is Sally Lindsay Honey, who normally races a Cal 40 with her husband, Stan Honey.

The big fleet may get even bigger during the late entry period that expires May 15. The race record of 265 starters was set in the 2006 centennial Newport Bermuda Race, and the 2008 fleet numbered 198 boats. The next largest fleet was 182, in 2002.

Sinn Fein is not the only boat coming back from a victory in 2008.Bermuda Oyster, owned by Paul Hubbard (Pembroke, Bermuda), will defend the Carleton Mitchell Finisterre Trophy, the top prize in the Cruiser Division. The three-time Moxie Trophy winner in the Double-Handed Division, Richard du Moulin’s Lora Ann (Larchmont, N.Y.), returns in a fleet of two dozen shorthanded racers that include five Class 40 boats. One of them, Desafio Cabo Hornos, Felipe Cubillos (Santiago, Chile), finished second in the 2008-09 Portimão Global Ocean Race (winning the leg around Cape Horn), raced in last year’s Fastnet, and finished third in the 2009 Class 40 World Championship.

Two entries have been racing to Bermuda almost continuously since the 1970s. No boat has done more races under one owner, 16, than perennial high finisher Emily, Edwin S. Gaynor (Southport, Conn.). The record for most races by one boat, 18, is held by Carina, overall winner in her first Bermuda Race in 1970 under the late Richard S. Nye, and still winning silver under current owner, Rives Potts (Essex, Conn.). One of the awards that Carina is going after is the William L. Glenn Family Participation Prize for crews that include at least four members of the same family.

The three fastest boats in 2008 are coming back, too. First to finish was Speedboat, a 99-footer owned by Alex Jackson (Piedmont, Cal.). Second was the 90-foot Rambler, George David (Hartford, Conn.).Rambler is coming off an extremely successful 2009 with elapsed time and corrected time victories in both the Annapolis to Newport Race and the Marblehead to Halifax Race, plus the Northern Ocean Racing Trophy as top distance racing boat in the north-eastern United States. The third boat to finish in 2008 will also be on the starting line on June 18 – Il Mostro (Puma), second overall in the 2008-2009 Volvo Ocean Race and sailed by Ken Read (Newport, R.I.).Speedboat and Il Mostro sail in the Open Division for boats with canting keels, and Rambler is in the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division for boats with fixed keels. These two divisions have no limits on professional crews, unlike the St. David’s Lighthouse, Cruiser, and Double-Handed Divisions.

Among the non-U.S. entries are the overall winner of the recent Royal Ocean Racing Club Caribbean 600, Beau Geste, Cameron Ward (Sydney, Australia), and Sir Geoffrey Mulcahy’s Noonmark VI (Southampton, England), which is on an extended circumnavigation that includes the world’s major races. Another foreign entry is Hugo Boss, sailed by British ocean racer Alex Thomson (Gosport, England). “Newport Bermuda is one of the big classics,” said Thomson. “Having done many Fastnets and Sydney-Hobarts, I am very excited to present our new boat and represent our sponsor in this famous race.”

Visit www.BermudaRace.com for more about the Newport Bermuda Race, including entry forms, race rules, race history, and the official race program, which includes plenty of information about race preparations, navigation, the Gulf Stream, and things to do in Newport.

NBC Sports will be on Island later this month to film their brand new TV show Global Golf Adventure at the Port Royal Golf Course.

Director of Tourism Mr. William Griffith said, “We are delighted that NBC has chosen Bermuda and our newly renovated Port Royal Golf Course to film this new program. I am sure that we will see an increase in the number of golf vacations to Bermuda after the show airs.”

Global Golf Adventure is a ground breaking, first of its kind golf and travel show for US Network television. The show is a 30 minute fast paced golf and travel show hosted by NBC Sports’ Mark Rolfing. Each show highlights a unique destination and its adventures for active golf travellers, including an interview with a celebrity guest. The celebrity guest for the Bermuda segment is 2009 Open Championship winner Stewart Cink.

“I am happy to create a show that is long overdue for network television. I am especially excited to showcase Bermuda. This will be my first visit but I’ve heard so many great things about the island from the participants in the Grand Slam.” said Rolfing.

NBC Sports will film in Bermuda March 27th – 30th, 2010 and the show will air on NBC on May 8, 2010 at 2:30pm (AST).

Mark Rolfing, NBC Sports

The Bermuda Race Organizing Committee has announced that the pre-start race headquarters for the 47th Newport Bermuda Race will be the Sailing Center at the New York Yacht Club’s Newport clubhouse, Harbour Court. Crews may use the clubhouse and its facilities before the race’s start on June 18, 2010.

The announcement was made by Bjorn Johnson, chairman of the Bermuda Race Organizing Committee. “After an intensive selection process we chose the New York Yacht Club’s Sailing Center as the best possible site for our Newport headquarters. The club’s generous offer is only the most recent event in a long, healthy relationship between the NYYC and the Newport Bermuda Race. For years the race has been started by the club’s race committee, and many NYYC members (including me) have raced to Bermuda.”

Since opening in 2008, the Sailing Center has served as headquarters for numerous regattas, including the NYYC Invitational Cup in September 2009.

NYYC Commodore David K. Elwell Jr. congratulated the Cruising Club of America and the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, the race’s organizers, on their ocean racing classic. “Having raced in ten Bermuda Races myself, I understand how important the race is to sailors and also how valuable a good central operations center can be.” He called the partnership between the race and the NYYC “a natural.” “This is exactly the job we had in mind for the Sailing Center when we built it as a facility for all the things that sailors, race officials, and the press have to do before they head out on the water for the start.”

Built in memory of former NYYC Commodore Robert G. Stone Jr., a veteran of 24 Bermuda Races, the Sailing Center has extensive office and meeting space, as well as press facilities, showers, and ready access to parking.

The Bermuda International Race Weekend attracted six hundred and fifty-one people to Bermuda last week!

Premier and Minister of Tourism and Transport, Dr. the Hon. Ewart Brown said, “This is great news! Hats off to the leadership of the Bermuda Track and Field Association (BTFA) for their stellar work. With the support of Tourism, they have produced a record number of visitors for the Race Weekend. This is what we have been looking for and we are delighted. The results are even more impressive when one considers the condition of the global economy.”

The Bermuda Department of Tourism (BDOT) partnered with Bart Yasso Chief Running Officer from Runners World; Jan Seeley the Publisher of Marathon & Beyond magazine; Skip Cleaver from coolrunnings.com; and Douglas Wakihuri, Dick Beardsley, Jay Glassman, Thom Gilligan and Brooks Johnson who are all well recognized in the running community for their work in race promotion. Dr. Joe Vigil and Andy Ferrara came to the Island to add their knowledge and expertise for the clinics held as an added value to visitors and residents.

Director of Tourism William Griffith said, “Race week is the perfect mix of sports and tourism in Bermuda. The athletes have the chance to test their skills in Bermuda’s temperate climate and scenic yet challenging terrain; while their friends and family have the opportunity to explore our premier shopping establishments, exceptional restaurants, award winning golf courses or one of our many spas. Mr. Griffith went on to say, “The partnerships BDOT has built over the years will ensure Bermuda International Race Week evolves into an event that is the envy of the world. We expect the event to be even bigger next year”

International Race Week could not happen without the strong support of the local community, the Race Weekend volunteers and additional sponsorship. In that respect, the Department of Tourism has offered their congratulations to BTFA President Ms. Donna Watson, Race Director Anthony Raynor, Race Operations Manager Clarence Smith as well as Mrs. Joanne Macphee from KPMG.

BDOT acknowledged Mr. Sid Howard, who has chosen to return to Bermuda and compete in the International Race Weekend for the 31st time. Mr. Howard and many others come back time and time again. Their commitment and dedication to this event and Bermuda has not gone unnoticed.

The Bermuda Department of Tourism is delighted to announce that Bermuda has won first place for Wreck Diving and third place for both Snorkeling and Diving for Beginners in Scuba Diving magazine’s 2010 Reader’s Choice Awards.

Premier and Minister of Tourism and Transport Dr. the Hon. Ewart Brown said, “We consider it an honour for Bermuda to be recognized by the readers of Scuba Diving magazine. This is also reminder to all Bermudians that we must respect and preserve our beautiful reefs and wrecks for all to enjoy.”

The survey was conducted in 2009 with over 5,000 Scuba Diving readers from all over the globe submitted their rankings.

Bermuda has over 400 historic wrecks, with some dating back to the 15th century. Popular sites include:

• The Constellation – 4-masted wooden schooner built in 1918. She sank in 1943 while en route from New York to Venezuela with a cargo that included cement, whisky, and drug ampoules. She was the inspiration for the Goliath in Peter Benchley’s novel The Deep.
• L’Herminie – French 3-masted wooden warship that sank in 1838 while sailing from France to Cuba.
• Hermes – US Navy freighter built in WWII and scuttled by the government in 1985 for use as a dive site.

Two of the best places for snorkelling in Bermuda are Church Bay in Southampton Parish and Tobacco Bay in St George’s Parish.

Tobacco Bay is shown in the video below:

A new restaurant has opened at the recently renovated Port Royal Golf Course, the venue for the PGA Grand Slam of Golf.

The 64 Degrees Bar & Grill is part of Claudio Vigilante’s Fresco’s Group and is named after Bermuda’s geographical location at 64 degrees longitude.

Australian head chef Troy Smith has previously worked with Vigilante at Aqua, Ariel Sands.

Other restaurants in the Fresco’s Group are Fresco’s, Silk, Opus, and Aqua (at the Surf Side Beach Club).

Ben Ainslie got the gold he’s been chasing all week. In the Argo Group Gold Cup final today, the three time Olympic gold medal winner (plus one silver), Ben Ainslie (GBR) took the finals 3-1. He has finally etched his name on the coveted King Edward VII Gold Cup along with a host of match race sailing legends. Ainslie and Team Origin also take home the first place prize purse of $50,000. Ainslie sailed for Team Origin with his crew of Matt Cornwell, Iain Percy, and Christian Kamp.

“We had two good races at the beginning today,” Ainslie commented. ” There were big splits out there and the crew were helping and we got it right in those two races. In the third race we didn’t slow down enough to avoid a confrontation with Adam. We have found out some of our tactical weaknesses and the Team and I have some areas to work on.”

When asked how winning the King Edward VII Gold Cup compared to winning Olympic gold, Ainlie quipped, “Bermuda has a lot better atmosphere and I know more people here.”

When he was down 0-2 and carrying a penalty Adam Minoprio made it a match and pulled a classic match racing manoeuvre to gybe on the approach to the finish, get a luffing overlap on Ainslie and push him away from the pin end of the finish line. Minoprio was barely able to turn away from Ainslie and clear his stern and wipe out the penalty on his tack and make it back to the line first for the win. But Ainslie was on his game today and that one win wasn’t enough.

Adam Minoprio (NZL), ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing skipper, and his team of Tom Powrie, David Swete and Nick Blackman took second place. Minoprio is the top skipper in the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) rankings and was second in the World Match Racing Tour going into the Argo Group Gold Cup. He is back on top of the Tour rankings now and headed for the ISAF Match Racing World Championship at the Monsoon Cup with $20,000 in his pocket for coming second.

Ian Williams (GBR and Eric Monnin (SUI) matched up earlier in the Petit Finals. For winning two races out of two, Williams took third place in quick order and his $10,000 prize while Monnin stands in fourth and has a cheque for $7,000.

Williams expressed the thanks from all the skippers and crews for the special hospitality extended to all of the sailors by the people of Bermuda. He especially thanked the team’s hosts who take them into their homes as guests. “Staying in homes as guests, Williams said, “is just one of the things that makes the Argo Group Gold Cup a unique event on the Tour.”

In yesterday’s consolation matches to decide the 5th through 8th places, Bermudian Blythe Walker and his Max Re team lost their first match to Mathieu Richard (FRA) representing the French Match Racing Team. Last year’s King Edward VII Gold Cup winner Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team won their first match against Torvar Mirsky.

The second matches of the consolations saw Berntsson defeat Richard for fifth place, so Richard took sixth place. Blythe Walker had a win against Mirsky for seventh place pushing Mirsky into eighth.

Fifth place takes home $ 5,500. Sixth place gets $ 4,000. Seventh place earns $2,500 Eighth place $ 1,000

Final Results
Ben Ainslie 3 v. Adam Minoprio 1

Petit Final
Ian Williams 2 v. Eric Monnin 0

Semifinal Results
Ben Ainslie 3 v. Ian Williams 1
Adam Minoprio 3 v. Eric Monnin 0

Consolation Results
5- Johnie Berntsson
6- Mathieu Richard
7- Blythe Walker
8- Torvar Mirsky

Quarter final Results

QF1 Eric Monnin 3 – Blythe Walker 1
QF2 Ben Ainslie 3 – Torvar Mirsky 2
QF3 Ian Williams 3 – Johnie Berntsson 1
QF4 Adam Minoprio 3 – Mathieu Richard 2

Results from Day 4
Group 4- Repechage
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 5-0
Blythe Walker (BER) 3-2
Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team 2-3
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Alandia Sailing Team 2-3
Dave Perry (USA) 1-4
Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing Team 1-4

Results from Day 3

GROUP 1
Eric Monnin (SUI) Search.ch 6-1
Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar sponsored by Argo Group 6-1
Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team 4-3
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 4-3
Reuben Corbett (NZL) 3-4
Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing 2-5
Ian Evans (USA) 1-6
Robbie Allam (GBR) 1-6

GROUP 2
Ben Ainslie (GBR) Team Origin 7-0
Adam Minoprio (NZL) Emirates Team New Zealand/BlackMatch Racing 4-3
Dave Perry (USA) 4-3
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Alandia Sailing Team 4-3
Sebastien Col (FRA) French Match Racing Team/K Challenge 4-3
Rasmus Viltoft (DEN) 3-4
Alvaro Marinho (POR) Seth Sailing Team 2-5
Paula Lewin Crews (BDA) 8-0

GROUP 3
Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team 6-1
Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 6-1
Blythe Walker (BDA) 4-3
Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing Team 4-3
Mattias Rahm (SWE) Stena Bulk Sailing Team 3-4
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 3-4
Charlie Enright (USA) 1-6
Donald Wilson (USA) 1-6

Tour Standings
(After 8 of 9 events)
1. Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 100 Points
2. Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 88 Points
3. Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar 75 Points
4. Mathieu Richard (FRA), French Match Racing Team Racing 74 Points
5. Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR 71 Points
6. Ben Ainslie, (GBR) Team Origin 65 Points
7. Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team 48 Points
8. Sebastien Col, (FRA) French Match Racing Team 41 Points.

The Willowbank hotel, in association with Brosius Golf Occasions, announces their inaugural golf vacation package, to be centred around the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, October 20-24, 2009 on the beautiful island of Bermuda.

The ‘Grand Slam Package’ is an attractively priced vacation package that includes four night’s deluxe accommodations, breakfast and dinner daily, and tickets to the final round of the PGA Grand Slam of Golf. Also included are participation in a clinic taught by a PGA teaching professional and two rounds of golf, including play at the Port Royal Course, site of the PGA Grand Slam of Golf. ‘Spectator Packages’ for those not wanting to play golf are also available.

The PGA Grand Slam of Golf is a 36-hole championship to be held October 20, 21, 2009, at the recently renovated Port Royal Golf Course in Bermuda.

TNT will nationally televise the event that is scheduled to feature the 2009 Major Champions; Angel Cabrera, winner of The Masters, U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover, Stewart Cink, winner of The British Open, and Y.E. Yang the winner of the recently held PGA Championship.

Willowbank is a non-profit, non-denominational, Christian owned and operated hotel and conference centre situated on the scenic peninsula overlooking picturesque Ely’s Harbour in Sandys Parish, Bermuda. In existence since 1960, the 170 room hotel features panoramic views of the ocean, food prepared daily by world-class chefs, recreational activities and a recently completed 250-seat conference centre.