History
The roots of the Charleston to Bermuda Race first took hold in the dreams of two local sailing enthusiasts-David Browder and Rick Hennigar-both racing sailors and marine industry professionals. In the mid 1990s, these two shared a conviction that Charleston, with its rich sailing and maritime heritage, would be the perfect starting point for a race across the Atlantic to the beautiful island of Bermuda. Browder wrote at the time: "The thought of an island paradise just seven hundred miles due east over the horizon, so easily attainable by simply sailing three to six days, is incentive enough for staging an event." With the support of a handful of local co-organizers, and the endorsement of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, the duo put their shared vision into action and staged the first race to Bermuda in May of 1997.
Hennigar and Browder spent much of the months leading up to the mid-May start of that event meeting with volunteer committees and ironing out the myriad details for this inaugural event. Though they put a lot of effort into securing in-kind and financial support for the event, this was most certainly a grass-roots effort, albeit one with big aspirations.
That inaugural race began on Mother's Day, with a small crowd of spectators on hand to bid the five entries farewell from Charleston's Waterfront Park as the starting cannon resounded from the deck of a US Coast Guard vessel. The weather in the Lowcountry was mild that day, but the racers soon encountered less desirable conditions at sea.
Hennigar and Browder were aboard the latter's Cook 40 Wahoo, and Hennigar later recalled that the winds for that six-day passage ranged from zero to 49 knots. It rained most of the way across, with intermittent squalls. Despite the challenging conditions, everyone in the fleet eventually made it safely into St. Georges Harbor on the north end of Bermuda.
The winner of that seminal event turned out to be smallest entry-David Scully's Quest 30 Hot Glue Gun. Sailing double-handed with Robbie Freeman as his crew, Scully put his considerable experience as a single-handed, round-the-world racer to work and piloted his craft across the 777 nautical mile span of ocean in just under five days.
The race finished at St. David's Head off the northern end of Bermuda. Due to a low- pressure system that had stalled over the island, wind and rain pelted the region for several days, including the afternoon when Hot Glue Gun approached the finish. Spectators on shore saw the boat come out of the mist on a tight reach, sailing toward the finish line with its masthead spinnaker up and drawing well. Just after crossing the line, the boat broached in a big gust, and everyone learned later that one of Hot Glue Gun's twin rudders had sheared off in the mishap.
Days later, at the awards ceremony on the rear terrace of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, Scully and Freeman collected several of the 14 handcrafted trophies that had been donated by race sponsor Bauer International, including the award for line honors and the Navigator's Trophy. Ken Bauer, the founder and president of that company, was on hand to present some of the trophies, but not only as a key sponsor of the event-he had also participated in the race, sailing on board Wahoo. That festive occasion was attended by officers from the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club as well as a few dignitaries from the island's government. And joining Scully, Freeman, and Bauer were the skippers and most of the crew of the other entrants, which included Russ Brigham's 42-foot Contest Spindrift, Norm Dawley's 48-foot sloop Pursuit, Bruce Miller's Columbia 38, along with Browder's Wahoo.
Building on the success of that seminal event, two years later Browder and Hennigar amplified their efforts and teamed up with the Leukemia Society of America, making the race a benefit for that organization. The race officially became the Leukemia Ocean Challenge for a Cure. Through an overwhelming response by sponsors and participants, the two sailors effectively raised over $77,000 for the cause.
Among the entries in the race that year, there were three boats that had competed in the inaugural event-Wahoo, Pursuit, and Spindrift. The fleet for this race-nine boats in all-ranged in size from Ron Corbin's Olson 30 Still Crazy to John Fritz's Beneteau 461 Mandolin Wind. First-to-finish honors that year, with a time of three days, 23 hours, 57 minutes, and 39 seconds, went to Norm Dawley and his crew on board Pursuit. Teddy Turner's 40-foot trimaran Aiki led the fleet most of the way after the first day, but suffered when the winds went light near the finish. The multihull had struck a whale en route, losing most of its centerboard, which made maneuvering in the light airs difficult. Turner and his crew crossed the finish line just under two hours after Dawley's team. After the handicaps were factored in and all the numbers crunched, first place overall was awarded to Mike Rouzee and his crew aboard the Crealock 44 Northstar. Rouzee's crew finished just over 15 hours behind Aiki. The other two entries competing in the event were Dan Dorneanu's J/35 Fantasia and Ken Johnstone's Morris 34 Andiamo.
For the race's third edition, in 2001, there were just six entrants, but it was the most diverse fleet that had ever assembled for this contest. Turner was back with his speedy trimaran, repainted and racing this time under the name Troika. But he had strong competition for line honors in the form of a titan-Richard Orchard's Andrews 68 Grins. With skipper Chris Bierne leading a talented team of local sailors, Grins covered over 500 miles in the first 24 hours and then ran out of wind. She was unable to sail faster than 10 knots for the remainder of the race, but nonetheless set a course record that unofficially stands at 73 hours. (This figure is tabulated from existing information that is not as precise as C2B organizers would like.) Among the six boats competing that year were Hank Hofford and Susan Ford's Hinckley Bermuda 40 JHenry, which placed third, Robin Team's J/120 Teamwork, Dick Erlier's Cabo Rico 38 Tico Time, and Aubrey Vaughan's Jeanneau 40 Wind Vane.
Hofford was so enthusiastic about his experience in the 2001 race that he became one of the principal organizers for the 2003 event. "David Browder and Rick Hennigar hit upon something truly exciting when they founded this unique event," Hofford said at the time. "With their blessing, the South Carolina Maritime Heritage Foundation has taken over the organization of this race. It's exciting because this race is pulling together the Charleston sailing community in a way that has never happened before, and it's exciting because it's generating a lot of awareness about the Spirit of South Carolina tall ship that's being built by the Foundation."
Hofford, who also serves as the chairman of the board for the SCMHF, expressed strong enthusiasm that all proceeds generated by all future editions of the Charleston to Bermuda Race would benefit the SCMHF. He said that organization's board of directors vowed to carry on the best traditions of the Charleston to Bermuda Race, and add a few of its own. "We hope to enhance the race by including new sponsors, additional funding, and some new ideas that will foster its continued growth and success."
In part due to the fresh energy of Hofford and his supporters, the 2003 edition of the event saw entries surge up to 20 at one stage, but ultimately, a fleet of 18 boats started on a brisk Saturday in Charleston. The entries were diverse, including a Sabre 38, a Hinckley Bermuda 40, a 1998-vintage Open 60, a wooden 10-Meter, a Gulfstar 50 ketch, and two trimarans, among others. The winds, which many feared might not materialize in time for the start, surged in from the southeast at 20 to 25 knots just after the boats crossed the starting line near Castle Pinckney Island in front of hundreds of shore-side onlookers with some 100 spectator vessels on hand.
Almost immediately the fleet was challenged. Ken Sawyer's beautiful 48-foot wooden sloop Lionheart had its headstay pull out of the deck and the vessel nearly lost its mast. Shortly afterward, the mainsail on board Rex Conn's 51-foot trimaran Alacrity shredded, and his crew had to settle for sailing the race with the undersized delivery mainsail.
This race was long for everyone involved because the headwinds persisted, rarely varying from their easterly quadrant. Within the first 24 hours, five boats had dropped out and headed back to Charleston. For the remainder of the fleet, the Gulf Stream was mostly benign, but there were stories of large waves and some squalls. On board Dr. Mike Finn's J/160 Kativa, the crew discovered late one night, midway through the race, that the boat's bow compartment was full of water. They hastily bailed it out and managed to keep the boat from further damage.
Kativa's crew was the first to cross the finish line, some five days and change after the start. Conn's team on Alacrity finished second only hours later, with Turner and company coming in later the next day. Despite a valiant effort to cross the line before the deadline expired, Turner's group missed it by mere moments. There was worse news for the remainder of the fleet because many were becalmed, still more than a day's sail to Bermuda. Nonetheless, everyone ultimately enjoyed superb hospitality at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, including a Saturday cruise up to St. Georges to witness the famed spring competition of the Bermuda Fitted Dinghies.
For the 2005 edition of the Charleston to Bermuda Race, there were 15 entries in the fleet, with a trio of them participating as part of an advanced learn-to-sail program. The Ocean Sailing Academy, based in Charleston, had entered three boats with two instructors and six adults pupils on board each one. And, for the first time in the event's history, there was also an entry from Bermuda-Richard Hartley's Bermuda 40 Alice K.
Hank Hofford and his wife Susan Ford-both two-time veterans of the race-took an all business approach to the competition by purchasing a used Santa Cruz 70, which they christened Midnight Rider. With a crew of 15, including solo-sailor Brad Van Liew as navigator, the boat managed to cross the 777-mile course in 3 days, 15 hours, 45 minutes and 0 seconds to take line honors. Their nearest rival was James Wilmot's team on board the Swan 44 Crescendo, but that boat didn't finish close enough to Midnight Rider to save its time.
Ultimately, Midnight Rider's crew took home the overall honors for first place, followed by Zippity Do Dah, an Island Packet 40 in 2nd overall and Weed, a Bristol 40 in 3rd overall.