George David’s Rambler 88 overcame a slow start to take line honours in the 51st Newport Bermuda Race.

The 88-foot Juan K-design yacht completed the 635-nautical mile race from Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, to St David’s Lighthouse at 5:51pm on Sunday in an elapsed time of 50hrs 31min 51sec.

“This race is typically a mid-sized boat race, and rarely a big-boat race, but this time it was,” David said. “It was almost like the ocean reached out and grabbed the smaller boats, one by one.’

Brad Butterworth, the tactician, added: “It was a pretty benign race. There was no water on the deck — at least not back where we were.

“Stan Honey gave us the right direction to head, and we pushed it hard.”

Rambler 88 held the Newport Bermuda Race record of 39:39:18 for four years before the 100-foot super-maxi, Comanche, helmed by skipper Ken Read, came along and broke it in 2016.

Comanche’s record of 34hr 42 min 53 sec still stands.

Meanwhile Jason Carroll’s multihull, Elvis, sailed into the history books after finishing first in the multihull division that is among the new additions to the race this year.

Paul Hubbard’s Oyster 435, Bermuda Oyster, and Dr Stephen Sherwin’s Corby 41.5, Nasty Medicine, are the only two Bermuda entries in the fleet and are both competing in the St David’s Lighthouse Division.

Hubbard, 74, is making what could be his final appearance in the biennial race.

• Emily Nagel and Team AkzoNobel moved into third in the overall Volvo Ocean Race in port series after producing a sixth podium display of the series at the penultimate event in Gothenburg, Sweden at the weekend.

Bermuda sailor Nagel and her team-mates finished second behind winners Vestas 11th Hour Racing with Mapfre finishing third to clinch the overall series with a race to spare.

Dutch syndicate Team AkzoNobel started Sunday’s race fourth in the standings. The eleventh and final offshore leg of the race around the world from Sweden to The Hague, Netherlands commences on June 30.

Only one point separates joint leaders Mapfre and Team Brunel from third placed Dongfeng Race Team with Team AkzoNobel a further 11 points back in fourth.