The 2026 Newport Bermuda Race’s most prestigious prize, the St. David’s Lighthouse Trophy, went to Cal 40 Nicole, owned and skippered by Thomas Campbell for winning the St. David’s Lighthouse Division overall title.
Line honours, as well as the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Trophy and division title was secured by the largest boat in the race, Remon Vos’ 100 foot maxi yacht Black Jack 100. The yacht came within less than one hour of breaking the race’s time record set in 2016.
This year’s race will be remembered for its particularly tumultuous conditions and as one of the fastest approaches to and through the Gulf Stream.
The fleet headed out to open waters after a series of sporty starts on Friday, 19 June. The fastest boats in the fleet darted across the Gulf Stream and arrived on the Onion Patch—as Bermuda is lovingly known—between the pre-dawn hours of Sunday, 21 June and the evening of Monday, 22 June.
Black Jack 100 arrived first at St. David’s Lighthouse just before 1:00 a.m. EDT Sunday with an elapsed time of one day, 11 hours, 26 minutes and 46 seconds.
St. David’s Lighthouse Division
The St. David’s Lighthouse division is the largest division, with nearly 60% of the fleet competing. A close battle for the top spot was ultimately won by Thomas Campbell’s Nicole. Second was the McCurdy & Rhodes 38 Selkie skippered and owned by Bermuda Race legend Sheila McCurdy.
Gibbs Hill Light House Division
The Gibbs Hill Division is the no-holds-barred category, with no limits on crew composition or sail inventory. Both Line Honours and the overall division title went to Black Jack 100, skippered by Tristan Le Brun and owned by Remon Vos.
Bill McKinley’s brand new Mills 58 Denali 4 finished second in the division and Jesse Fielding and D. Greenstein’s Mills 68 Space Monkey rounded out the podium in third.
Finisterre Division (Formerly Cruising Class)
Taking the top spot in Finisterre was Argyll, a Hinckley SW 48 owned and skippered by Christopher Burnham. Second place went to the 2024 Finisterre champion Northeast Wind, a Hinckley 48 sloop belonging to Frank Sobchak. In third position for the division was Soren Schroder’s Bristol 477 Elixir.
Double-Handed Division
Victorious in that challenge this year were Tony Giarratana and Paul Kanev aboard Giarratana’s Hinckley SW 52 Bella. Joining Bella’s crew on the podium were Michael Kohler and Douglas Britton aboard the J/99 Eventyr in second and Kyle Wishart and John Plominski on J/40 Artemisia in third.
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