From Brokerage to Bluewater – Reflections on the Newport–Bermuda Race and the Boats That Get Us There

BY PETER HOUGHTON, BERTHON USA

There are worse places in the world to work than Newport, Rhode Island. On any given morning the harbor glints like a polished winch handle, the gulls conduct their usual committee meetings over Bannister’s Wharf, and someone somewhere is polishing brightwork with the kind of devotion usually reserved for vintage violins. It’s the sort of place that reminds you daily why sailing people are the way they are: incurably optimistic and slightly allergic to staying on land.

Having been a professional yacht captain for 30+ years, I am now a yacht broker with Berthon USA, based here in Newport, the American outpost of Berthon International, whose headquarters sit comfortably across the Atlantic in the United Kingdom. Our business is helping sailors find boats capable of going places, real places, across real oceans. In brokerage terms we call them “bluewater boats”. In sailor terms we call them “the ones that won’t let you down at three in the morning”.

And if there’s one race that reminds you exactly why that matters, it’s the Newport to Bermuda Race.

A Race That Began with a Bet

The Newport–Bermuda Race traces its origins back to 1906, when a rather lively debate broke out among members of the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club on Long Island. One faction believed offshore racing should be done in large, professionally crewed yachts. Another thought amateur sailors in modest boats could manage just fine, thank you very much.

^ The crew aboard Moody 54DS, SOUTHERN CROSS
From left to right: Grek Drake (crew) / Tommi Salli (crew) / Ryan Yost (crew) / Peter Houghton (Berthon USA) Peter Lacoste (Owner & Captain) / Alan Baines (Berthon USA)

Enter Thomas Fleming Day, editor of The Rudder magazine and a man who had little patience for the idea that ordinary sailors weren’t capable of extraordinary passages. Day proposed a race from Newport, Rhode Island, to Bermuda; about 635 nautical miles across the sometimes gentle and sometimes highly educational waters of the North Atlantic.

Three boats started that first race. Three boats finished.

That small beginning turned into one of the great offshore sailing traditions in the world. Today, the Newport–Bermuda Race runs every two years, organised by the Cruising Club of America and the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, and attracts fleets ranging from sleek carbon racers to stalwart cruising yachts with coffee grinders that still look suspiciously like coffee grinders.

The course itself is deceptively simple: start off Newport, head southeast, and keep going until Bermuda appears on the horizon like a postcard you’ve finally sailed into.

Of course, the Atlantic rarely cooperates with simplicity.

Lessons from the Gulf Stream

Anyone who has sailed the race knows the real personality in the event isn’t the wind; it’s the Gulf Stream. That warm river in the ocean runs north at several knots and loves to rearrange sailors’ plans with the enthusiasm of a Labrador retriever redecorating a living room.

^ 2024 Newport to Bermuda Race
Photo Credit: BRF Stephen R Cloutier

As was the case in 2024, you might leave the harbor with no wind, reach the Gulf Stream with conditions tearing at your sails, and finish in Bermuda under a sky so blue it looks freshly painted. Or the opposite. Or something entirely different. Offshore racing has a way of reminding us that while we may design clever routing software, the ocean still enjoys improvisation.

Having had the privilege of participating in the race myself, I can attest to one universal truth: somewhere around 0200 on the second night, when the boat is humming along and the stars look close enough to grab, you remember why sailors put up with cold spray, watch schedules, and freeze-dried dinners.

^ 2024 Newport to Bermuda Race
Photo Credit: BRF Stephen R Cloutier

Moments like that are also why the boats themselves matter so much.

The Boats that go the Distance

At Berthon, bluewater sailing yachts are our bread and butter. We specialize in vessels designed not just to sail well, but to sail far; boats built with the kind of integrity that inspires confidence when the nearest land is a few hundred miles behind you.

Our company’s roots stretch back to 1877, when Edward Lyon Berthon, a British naval officer, inventor, and clergyman, founded the original yard in Lymington on England’s south coast. Berthon himself was a character of the best maritime variety; curious, practical, and apparently unable to stop designing things.

He invented the famous Berthon folding lifeboat, an ingenious craft that could be collapsed for storage and quickly deployed in an emergency. Victorian ships adopted them widely, which meant that even in the 19th century the Berthon name was already associated with safety and seaworthiness.

^ Peter Houghton (Berthon USA)

Over the decades the company evolved from boatbuilding into brokerage and yacht services, building an international reputation for expertise in serious sailing yachts. Today Berthon International operates offices in several countries, but the mission remains remarkably consistent; connect capable sailors with capable boats.

In Newport, that mission feels particularly appropriate.

Why Newport Makes Sense

Newport has long been one of the great crossroads of sailing. The America’s Cup lived here for decades, classic yachts fill the harbor each summer, and the offshore racing community remains as energetic as ever. It’s also the starting line for the Newport–Bermuda Race, which means every other June the docks are alive with crews provisioning boats, double-checking rigging, and debating weather models over coffee.

For a yacht broker, it’s like working inside a living sailing museum, except the exhibits keep leaving the dock.

^ The start of the 54th Newport Bermuda Race from Castle Hill
From left to right: Jennifer Yost (wife of crew) / Kim Wald (partner of crew) / Jennifer Stewart (Berthon USA) / Jean Houghton (Berthon USA)

Many of the boats we represent are precisely the sort that sailors dream about taking across oceans; Oyster, Hallberg-Rassy, Swan, Discovery, Moody and Solaris and other builders known for creating yachts that combine comfort with genuine offshore capability. These are boats designed not only for races like Newport–Bermuda, but also for passages far longer. Newport to the Azores, Bermuda to the Caribbean, or perhaps a slow lap of the Atlantic.

And occasionally, we meet owners who have already done all that and are ready to pass their boat on to the next adventurer.

Brokerage Stories from the Dock

One of the joys of brokerage is that every boat comes with a story. Some arrive after decades of family cruising, logbooks filled with children’s drawings and tide tables scribbled in pencil. Others are freshly prepared expedition yachts ready for their first Atlantic crossing. Every once in a while a boat shows up that has raced to Bermuda
multiple times and looks like it could happily do it again tomorrow.

The conversations that follow are rarely just about specifications.

Prospective buyers want to know how a boat behaves offshore. How it balances under reefed sails. Whether the cockpit stays dry when the wind pipes up. These are the questions that come from sailors who understand that bluewater sailing isn’t about speed alone, but about reliability, comfort, and trust.

^ Post race Royal Bermuda Yacht Club

Having raced offshore myself, including the Newport–Bermuda Race, I always enjoy those conversations. The experience of standing a night watch while a boat settles into her stride teaches you quickly what good design and solid construction really mean. A capable yacht feels alive in the best possible way; confident, predictable, and eager to keep moving.

Bermuda on the Horizon

The finish of the Newport–Bermuda Race is one of sailing’s great arrivals. After days offshore, Bermuda’s green hills appear, the water turns an impossible shade of turquoise, and the scent of land drifts across the cockpit.Soon the fleet gathers in Hamilton Harbour, stories grow slightly more heroic with each retelling, and sailors who swore they’d sleep for a week somehow find themselves celebrating late into the night.

It’s the sort of moment that reinforces why offshore sailing traditions endure.

And for those of us in the yacht brokerage world, it’s also a reminder that behind every race, passage, or cruising dream stands a well-found boat and the people who care deeply about them.

Looking Ahead

Working for Berthon USA in Newport places me at a fascinating intersection, centuries
of maritime tradition, a global network of sailors, and a steady stream of remarkable yachts passing through the harbor.

Every now and then, while walking the docks at sunset, I’ll spot a boat preparing for her next voyage, lines coiled, sails stowed, perhaps a crew studying charts in the cockpit.

There’s always a moment when the halyards start clinking again, the engine turns over, and another adventure begins.

And if that adventure happens to involve a certain 635-mile sail to Bermuda, well… I can’t think of a better way to test both sailor and yacht.

After all, as the founders of the Newport–Bermuda Race proved back in 1906, sometimes the best way to settle a debate is simply to go sailing.

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