Bermuda race 1934

Headlines in the yachting press included "Sloops Spring Surprise in Bermuda Classic", "Edlu takes major honors; Baccarat, fresh water entry, is winner in small class", "Vamarie first to finish in record time" and "Strong southwester made for a fast race." Much of the following detail is adapted from an article in The Rudder of August 1934 by one of the participants, Alan Gray.

For the first time, according to the records, a sloop has won the ocean race to Bermuda. Under the experienced hand of Robert N. Bavier, one of the world’s ablest ocean racing skippers, Edlu, R.J. Schaefer’s new fifty-six foot sloop, drove through three days of hard southwesterly weather and arrived at the Islands in ample time to take major honors from much larger craft. Twelfth to cross the finish line, Edlu was only five hours astern of Vadim S. Makaroff’s seventy-foot staysail ketch Vamarie, the first yacht to be greeted by the whistle of the stake boat off St. David’s Head.

Vamarie, a powerful vessel, rating but slightly lower than the scratch boat, E. E. DuPont’s staysail schooner High Tide, completed the 650 mile run from Sarah’s Ledge, off New London, in three days, three hours, thirty-three minutes, thirty-two seconds, a record for the longer Bermuda course, but she was unable to save the time which she had to allow the rest of the fleet and placed no better than eighth on corrected standing.

Until shortly before the start of the race, which took place at 8:30 a. m. Eastern Standard Time, June 24, Vamarie was “scratch” boat of the fleet, with an allow- ance of thirty-four minutes thirty-seven seconds, but she secured a propeller allowance at the last minute which gave her one hour additional. This shift of figures put High Tide at the head of the list, a position which proved ruinous for her chances. High Tide is distinctly a light weather boat and as there was a breeze of no mean proportions throughout the entire course, she fell down badly, placing thirteenth on corrected time and trailing both Vamarie and Mistress in actual order of finish.

Conditions this year were quite similar to those which prevailed over the Gulf Stream course two years ago, with the single exception that the wind was freer and better suited to schooners than the results of the race might indicate. Light southerly airs prevailed at the start but before the fleet cleared Montauk Point the breeze had hardened and settled in the southwesterly quadrant. Class B was sent away first, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, followed half an hour later by the larger class A craft and the single class C entry, L. L. Reeves’ seventy-six foot ketch Astarte.

Twenty-nine craft made the run this year, two more starters than in the fleet of two years previous. Twenty- three yawls, ketches, sloops and schooners competed in class A, five in class B and one in the special class. In the main, it was the finest fleet of seagoing craft which has ever competed in this 650 mile thrash. In fact it is not too much to say that any one of the yachts could have negotiated a transatlantic passage with ease, with the possible exception of the valiant Dainty, which is getting on in years.

Of the twenty-nine participants, the majority were schooners, hailing from far and wide - Boston, Toronto, Baltimore, Nova Scotia, Bermuda, Maine, Delaware end elsewhere. Baccarat, a 40' sloop, winner of Class B, hailed from the Great Lakes, and led her salt-water companions with ease. There were relatively few new boats; Vamarie was less than a year old - and set the new course record - while Stormy Weather and Edlu, both designed by Olin Stephens, and the Paine-designed ketch Namsang had only been in the water for a month or so.

In the end, it was not shortening down that lost the race for bigger craft — it was staying shortened. Alan Gray, aboard one of the schooners, noted a gain on the invaluable Kenyon - a trailing log with a speed readout - when they gave her the lift that came with shortened canvas. He wrote: "we stopped burying and began to drive ahead to some purpose. Boats were never designed to sail on the lee sides of their trunk cabins and there are many times when it is profitable to shorten down to keep a vessel on her best sailing lines. It might be mentioned right here that no expert judgment yet noted can quite compare with the Kenyon log for accuracy in revealing gains or losses of speed. It was interesting to hear several crews state at the finish that they 'sailed by the Kenyon' most of the way down."

Start: Greenwich Mean Time
Class A —J une 24, 14h. 0m. 0s.
Class B — June 24, 13 h. 30 m. 0 s.
Class C — June 24, 14h. Om. 0s.