Newport Bermuda Race
| Newport Bermuda Race | |
|---|---|
| Date | Starts Biennally on the Third Friday in June |
| Location | Newport, RI |
| Event type | Ocean Racing |
| Distance | 635 nautical miles |
| Primary sponsor | Bermuda |
| Established | 1906, 119 years ago |
| Course records | 33 hours (2022) and |
| Official site | bermudarace |
The Newport Bermuda Race, commonly known as the Bermuda Race, is a biennial, 635 nautical miles (1175 km) sailing yacht race from Newport, Rhode Island to the British island of Bermuda. The Race is the oldest regularly scheduled ocean race in the world, and one of two regularly scheduled races "held almost entirely out of sight of land." The race is particularly popular among current and retired members of the United States Coast Guard, who regularly make up significant portions of the participants.
Indian Harbor Yacht Club has recorded more entries in the Newport Bermuda Race than any other yacht club in the world.
In a typical race, the fleet enters the Atlantic and the Gulf Stream, with rough water, giving the race its nickname, "The Thrash to the Onion Patch." Once through the rough Gulf Stream, the sailors press on to the finish off St. David's Lighthouse, then winding channel to Hamilton, Bermuda to the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club.
Along with Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race and the Fastnet Race, it is considered one of the classic big offshore races with each distance approximately 625 nautical miles (719 mi; 1,158 km).
To quote Gary Jobson, "It’s a feather in every sailor’s cap to have done the race, and many consider the Lighthouse Trophy the most coveted trophy in distance racing."