The first leg of this year’s Bermuda One-Two Yacht race is officially over following the awards and dinner evening, held at the St George’s Dinghy and Sports Club on Tuesday.

Nineteen boats finished the first leg of the biennial race with an additional two having motored, for an overall total of 21 boats arriving in Bermuda from a fleet of 23 that departed from Newport, Rhode Island, under the auspices of the Newport Yacht Club, on June 4.

Dragon, skippered by Michael Hennessey not only won his class (class 5) but was also first to finish for the second successive time, having achieved the same feat in 2019. meanwhile, Corvus, sailed by Chris Terajewicz, proved victorious in class 2 and was second overall on corrected time, just as he was two years ago.

Also noteworthy was the number of skippers who were competing in the race for the first time and managed to place in the first leg.

Among them, Jim Hammitt, skipper of Reveille, who was first overall on corrected time and also managed to win class 3. All of the placings in class 3 were debut competitors to the race with Matthew Breuer, sailing Dauntless, finishing second and Lance Ryley, skipper of Glory completing the top-three places.

There was also a debutant winner in class 1, where David Southwell, skipper of Alchemy took first place, while fellow new skipper, Phil Haydon, of Cepheus, claimed a respectable third.

In class 2, first time entrants, Peter Becker, skipper of Young American, took the top honours, while Topaz, skippered by Loren Brindze finished third. There was also a respectable third-place finish from debutant Jonathan Bixby, skipper of Highlander, in class 4.

As its name portends, the first leg consists of a lone skipper navigating their way to the island and, after a brief layover, they are joined by a co-skipper for the double-handed return leg to Newport. This year, an additional boat in Bermuda, Luna, sailed by skipper Alessandro Pagani, will be joining the fleet for the second leg, which was due to begin yesterday.