National Pride: Spirit of Bermuda has won an international race around Prince Edward Island.The Spirit of Bermuda has won a race around Canada's Prince Edward Island – and landed $40,000 in prize money.
The sloop and her 24-strong crew set off at noon on Thursday and finished the 360 mile race at 7 a.m Saturday.
She crossed the finish line some six hours ahead of the other four vessels in the fleet. When time handicaps were worked out based on different boat sizes, her winning margin was calculated to be one hour and 20 minutes.
Alan Burland, chairman of the Bermuda Sloop Foundation which manages the sail training vessel, was a member of the crew which also featured several young Bermudians on the Spirit crew.
"It was an absolutely wonderful experience – young and old, black and white, all working together. It was a really interesting race," he said.
The vessel underwent such varied conditions that at one point she was becalmed while at others she raced along in 30 knot winds. Fish pots proved a particular hazard, meaning a crew member had to be stationed on the bowsprit each night with an infrared telescope to spot them.
It was all worthwhile when the Spirit came in ahead of well-respected vessels such as the Pride of Baltimore in the event which was run under the auspices of the American Sail Training Association.
"We were very much the dark horse," he said. "We were delighted with our performance of the vessel and even more delighted with the camaraderie and team spirit."
The prize money will go towards meeting the annual running costs of the vessel.