In four weeks, a fleet of approximately 200 yachts will set off on the 52nd Newport Bermuda Race, the original ocean race. For many the lure of the Bermuda Race is the challenge of ocean racing with the promise of landing at an idyllic oasis in the Atlantic Ocean. For one Bermudian crew, the motivation is all of the above, as well as the answer to the question, “Why not?”
Dr. Stephen Sherwin will make his ninth start as skipper since 2000 when his Corby 41.5 Nasty Medicine takes the start on Friday, June 17. Representing the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, which has hosted the finish of all 52 editions of the race, Sherwin is one of the more successful Bermudian skippers to compete in the storied race, having scored two class wins (2000 and 2014) and a third place (2008). His class win in 2000 also captured the Americap Classic Division overall.
“It’s a great race; I’m looking forward to it immensely,” said the 67-year-old Sherwin, a family physician. “It’ll be nice to be back on the water. Nasty Medicine’s an ocean-going boat, and if you don’t use it in the ocean, you don’t get that sensation of being tossed around belowdecks in unbearable weather.”
Sherwin’s Nasty Medicine is one of three boats entered from the destination island of Bermuda. Also entered is the J/125 Crossfire, owned by Brian Hillier (Hamilton, Bermuda), and the Bermuda Sloop Foundation’s sail-training vessel Spirit of Bermuda, the three-masted 112-foot schooner captained by Alexander Peacock (Newmarket, N.H.), which will be racing for the fourth time with a crew of more than 30.
|
