Maryland To Us: Bermuda Ocean Race Underway

The Bermuda Ocean Race, a 750-mile Atlantic Ocean race from Annapolis, Maryland to St. George’s, is now underway. The race, which is expected to take six days, commenced from Chesapeake Bay on Friday June 11, with almost thirty boats taking part. The start of the race was delayed as organizers aimed for greater winds, even moving the start line from the Severn River to the Chesapeake Bay in hopes of improved conditions.

The start was not without further incident, with ‘Wind Spirits’ experiencing an electrical fire shortly after the start, and ‘Kuan Yin’ hitting a fish trap, damaging their bow pulpit and navigation light. Both boats and crew are safe, however unfortunately had to drop out.

This year’s Bermuda Ocean Race attracted a wide range of boats from ‘One Girl’s Ocean Challenge’, a 21-foot Mini Transat skippered by Diane Reid of Toronto, Canada to ‘Beau Geste’, a Farr 80-footer designed specifically to win offshore races while setting speed records. As of this writing, the Beau Geste leads the pack on the way to Bermuda.

The first Bermuda Ocean Race was in 1979 with seven yachts competing informally, and it has since grown into an official event held every two years.

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