One quarter of Marion Bermuda fleet retires

Twelve boats have dropped out of the Marion Bermuda Race, while 36 vessels remain on course for Bermuda. According to a press release from the race, by Bermuda noon on Monday, a dozen of the original 48 entries in the Marion to Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race were out of the competition. Four did not start to begin with, and seven have retired down the course in the face of big seas and big westerly winds.
 
The non-starters were Paul Hubbard’s Bermuda Oyster (Hamilton, Bermuda), Stafano Pacini’s Galileo (Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts), Por Dos sailed by Mark Monwood (Bedford, Massachusetts) and Shooting Star sailed by David Kingsbury (Orange, Connecticut).
 
Yachts that have retired from the race so far that were on the course are Jonathan Baxter’s Pond Prowler (BER20, St. George’s, Bermuda) Maren Erskin’s Cayenne (Bearsville, New York), Alan Benet’s La Retreat (Basking Ridge, New Jersey), Tom Bowler’s Nightwind (West Simsbury, Connecticut), Bill Ferguson’s Sea Fever (Milford, Massachusetts), and Falcor sailed by Steve Gross (Scotch Plains, New Jersey). Bremer Speck (Ron Hiemann West Newberry, Massachusetts) has not officially retired; but according to iBoattrack, she was sailing north at 1.2 knots.
 
Meanwhile, Jonathan Brewin’s Big Bear (Warwick, Bermuda) continues to lead the diminishing fleet in the Marion to Bermuda Race. If all goes well for the bears on the last third of the course, the big, black J160 should be home by mid-afternoon on Tuesday.
 
Crescendo (Martin Jacobson, Newport Rhode Island) and Triple Lindy (Joseph Mele, New York, New York) are locked in a duel for Class B line honors.  Avalon (Barry Feldman, Newton Centre, Massachusetts) and Katrinka (Andrew Norris, New Canaan, Connecticut) are leading Class C.
 
Class D leaders, Silhouette (David Caso, Duxbury, Massachusetts), Shearwater (Daniel Biemesderfer, Guilford, Connecticut), Fiona Rois (Mike Ryan, Bass Harbor, Maine) and Thai Hot (Robert Fleno, Stirling, New Jersey) are tied up in a four-way knot some 300 miles from the finish off St. David’s Lighthouse, Bermuda.

Race and activity information for the 2009 Marion to Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race is on-line at http://www.marionbermuda.com.

By Ocean Navigator