Trans Pac 52 ROSEBUD takes Gibb’s Hill Lighthouse Trophy
By Talbot Wilson

The two coveted Lighthouse trophies found new owners today as late finishers ran out of time to replace either leader in the 44th biennial Bermuda Race. Based on unofficial results, Roger Sturgeon from Hyannis MA and his ROSEBUD crew nailed down the Gibb’s Hill Lighthouse prize late Tuesday. Wednesday with the smaller Class 1 boats still racing, ALLIANCE, the Swan 45 owned by Dominick Porco, has settled in as the unofficial winner of the IMS Cruiser/Racer Division to take the 2004 St. David’s Lighthouse Trophy.

Some smart sailing, coupled with 16+ knot surfs down ocean rollers during a dream ride across the Gulf Stream, bought ALLIANCE her victory. New Yorker Dominick Porco and crew sailed the Swan 45 to Bermuda in 84hr 18min 40sec to win IMS Cruiser Racer Class 6 and take first place over 101 other yachts in the IMS Cruiser Racer Division. This was Porco’s first Bermuda Race as an owner and his third try at the 635 mile course.

Bud Darr, Porco’s navigator, played a key role in the victory but was quick to praise Porco and the rest of his crewmates. Darr, finishing his seventh Bermuda Race, said, “We came out of the Gulf Stream locked in a duel with BETTER THAN, (a sister Swan 45) They went to the right and we went left. As we separated, the crew took the challenge and decided that we would do better than BETTER THAN. They broke watches, got up on the rail and made all the sail changes and kept a very positive attitude. They worked extra hard for the last 18 hours and that helped us to win.”

Speaking about Darr’s pre-race planning, crewmate Andrew Waine said, “This was the first time ever where we made a plan - and stuck to it. It worked out perfect!”

In the four parts of the race, Darr planned to go a little East of the Newport/Bermuda Rhumb line at first to get better wind, then climb to the right to reach the entry point at the top of the Gulf Stream meander. The plan for part two was to ride the Gulf Stream as long and fast as possible and to keep West of the rhumb line to do it. Part three was to cross back to the East to catch a ride on an eddy midway from the stream to Bermuda and to hook into favorable winds and climb back to the rhumb line close to the finish. “The watch captains concentrated on sailing max polars and VMG to that point, Darr said, “then in part four we worked with the winds given us on the final approach to Bermuda.”

Darr said, “We did not want to be coming into Bermuda from West of the rhumb line for the last 50 miles. We wanted to be a little East to get better pressure and to be able to sail down with the header that we expected.” Commenting on the warm eddy feature north of Bermuda, Darr said it happened to be along their way to get to the new wind down the course. They got over a knot of positive current from the feature and were “pleasantly surprised.” Darr also said they got a little help from an ENE to WSW flowing current for forty of the last fifty miles to the finish.

“I think weather is the deciding factor,” Darr added. “People tend to over-emphasize the current. Putting the Gulf Stream first is backwards. You have to mind the wind and be in the right position to take advantage of changes you think are coming.”

Over the 98 years that the Bermuda ocean race has been sailed, there have been big boat races and there have been small boat races. The victory of ALLIANCE was a smart boat race.

And ROSEBUD sailed smart, too. ” It was an intensely tactical race,” commented owner Roger Sturgeon. ” It was all about good preparation, clever sailing, sharp use of the wind and sharp use of the Gulf Stream.”

For Sturgeon, this was his first Bermuda Race. “This was my first time. One race, one trophy isn’t bad,” he commented. “It has been a lifelong dream to compete in this race. The Bermuda Race is really a fabulous event.”

“All three of our sister Transpac 52’s have similar speed and we really had to sail smart to make sure we beat the opposition. At roll call every day we got the positions of the other boats and had to try to work out what they were up to. It was a real team effort – they are a great crew and it was a real team effort.”

ROSEBUD finished with an elapse time of 68hrs 24min 43sec and on corrected time she was almost two hours ahead of second place finisher BRIGHT STAR, a TP52 owned by Richard Breeden of Greenwich CT.

More than 80 prizes will be awarded at the prizegiving party Saturday evening on the front lawn at Government House, Bermuda.

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