Dear Sailors,

Newport Bermuda Race 2016The 2016 Newport Bermuda Race will include new opportunities for high-performance yachts to compete in celebration of the 50th Thrash to the Onion Patch.

We are making a slight change to the St. David’s Lighthouse Division description to accommodate a surge in interest from boats with amateur helmsmen and mostly-amateur crews. These boats would have been assigned to the Gibbs Hill Division in 2014 due only to their Performance Screen value.

In anticipation of these and other entries, the 2016 race will also include a special competition for the highest performance boats in the fleet across the St. David’s, Gibbs Hill, and Open Divisions. Meanwhile, sailors can expect the race’s historic traditions of safe, Corinthian, blue water sailing to continue.

While we draft the Notice of Race to include [various] improvements, we welcome your feedback and interest. We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you on the starting line on June 17, 2016.

Kind regards,

A. J. Evans, 2016 Bermuda Race Chairman