Marblehad to Halifax and Bermuda 1-2, two offshore races with Monhegan particpants.
Wild Blue heading out the Hussey after the start of the 2024 Monhegan.
Today 50 boats will leave Marblehead, Massachusetts and cross the Gulf of Maine in the biennial 2025 Marblehead to Halifax Race. PYC member John Wilkinson’s J122 Wild Blue (2024 Monhegan line honors winner) and Andrew Clark’s J122, Zig Zag (2023 Monhegan course winner) will take on the 361 mile course. This is one of the classic ocean races held every other year. Known for fog, sometimes lighter air conditions, challenging tides and amazing wildlife, this race has a lot of similarities to Monhegan. Follow along on the tracker as the boats head over to Canada! Updated 7/11 - Zig Zag finished 2nd in ORR missing 1st by 1:40 corrected time. Wild Blue was 9th in Class and 23rd in ORR division. It was a fast race with record breaking times!
Pat Dionne on Chicama at the start of the 2024 Monhegan.
On June 25, Pat Dionne’s Beneteau 36.7 Chicama (winner 2024 Monhegan DoubleHanded) finished the 25th edition of the Bermuda 1-2 race. This race follows the Newport to Bermuda race course, but boats compete in 2 legs, the first is single handed race down to Bermuda, then they rest, recuperate, and then compete in a double-handed return race. This year saw very challenging routing on both legs with light air and upwind conditions. Long term strategy played a key role in the eventual race winners. Pat sailed through squalls, becalming, the Gulf Stream (with 3-4 knots of current crossing the course) and beautiful offshore conditions to finish 3rd in his class and 5th overall.
Throughout the years boats have used Monhegan as an introduction to offshore racing and then gone on to race in the longer classic ocean races like Marblehead to Halifax, Newport to Bermuda, Marion to Bermuda and the Bermuda 1-2. The Monhegan race experience provides sailors an introduction to racing at night, a variety of weather, navigational challenges, and crew work that will be needed for a longer offshore event.
