The incidents that took place during and after this year’s Newport Bermuda Race are being thoroughly investigated in the hope of helping to prevent them from recurring in future.

The Bermuda Race Organising Committee in collaboration with the Cruising Club of America and US Sailing is actively reviewing the safety incidents that occurred during the 635-mile race from Narragansett Bay to St David’s Lighthouse and over return passages. Since the race concluded in June, the partners have been gathering information and assessing the events to understand the circumstances and implications, which include but are not limited to the multiple boat sinkings that resulted in no loss of life or injury.

“Our interest is in finding the facts of all safety incidents that occurred during the race so lessons can be learnt for the sport and safety in the future," race chairman Andrew Kallfelz said in a press release.

The BROC, the CCA and US Sailing are leveraging their combined expertise to ensure a thorough and objective review with the hope that the findings and lessons learnt will guide safety measures and protocols in future races.

“What we do know now is that safety-at-sea training was vital to the successful outcome for the rescue of all sailors," Kallfelz added.

“While offshore sailing, especially in the Gulf Stream, is inherently unpredictable, we can and should manage the things that are within our control. That includes building a culture of safety, our safety preparation and on-board behaviours."

Among the casualties in this year’s race was Brian Hillier, of Bermuda, who was forced to abandon the race after suffering damage to the steering on his J125 Crossfire.

Hillier and crew Ruairi Brown, Michael Wollmann, Peter Dill, Chris Adderley, William Thompson and Jason Owen were not injured in the mishap and continued the rest of their way to the island with their boat’s engine switched on.

“We were really doing well prior to the rudder issue, but once that happened we had to play the safety role,” Hillier told The Royal Gazette.

The crew on board Eric Irwin and Mary Martin’s J121 Alliance USA 52770 were also forced to abandon ship owing to water ingress via a rudder post.

George Sakellaris’s JV 72, Proteus, was dismasted in moderate conditions because of a failure at its base. The rig was cut away and the unharmed crew safely returned to Newport.

The BROC will continue to collect incident data and encourages anyone who participated in the race this year to contribute their experiences via the provided feedback form.

All input is invaluable in helping race officials to achieve a comprehensive understanding of all incidents to help shape the safety preparation for future races.

• For more information, contact race chairman Andrew Kallfelz at chair@bermudarace.com