Bermuda Short-Handed Return
Indiana Jones once said, “It’s not the years, it’s the mileage.” While the context is completely different, Sara Stone would agree. As an aspiring around-the-world sailor, Stone knows offshore mileage is the most important number on her resume. So, when she was offered the opportunity to take the hard road back from Bermuda, doublehanded on a 33-foot Sunfast 3300, rather than sitting in coach at 40,000 feet, Stone didn’t hesitate.
“Glenn Walters and Bluenose Yachts, they raced Alchemist down and they wanted the boat to be raced back to Newport,” said Stone, on Friday. “They ideally wanted to have an all-female team. My name got thrown into the mix. It feels to me now like a little bit of luck that they were willing to back us and give us their boat. It was an amazing opportunity. We’re on Cloud 9 right now and really exhausted. It’s pretty awesome.”
The missing piece of information is that Stone, along with co-skipper Catherine “Cat” Hunt, sailed Alchemist (above, finishing off Newport) to an overall win in the inaugural edition of Bermuda Short-Handed Return, which was envisioned by the New York Yacht Club’s Seamanship Committee and co-sponsored by the New York Yacht Club, the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and the Cruising Club of America. The race, from Bermuda to Newport, starting nine days after the start of the 2022 Newport Bermuda Race, attracted 19 entries, 16 doublehanded and three singlehanded. Safe Harbor Marinassponsored the Yellow Brick tracking for the race.
Click here to view the results.
