Our mascot, the Phoenix, represents the 77 year old cutter Bangalore. Having cut her teeth on the great lakes, winning two consecutive Chicago Mackinac races (1939&1940) and winning her class on five other occasions, she fell into disrepair by the early 1980's. At this point, Bangalore was, for the most part, in service as a party boat for a consortium of individuals who were not respectful of her racing pedigree.
We took our first sail on her in 1982, fell in love, and purchased her with the intent of bringing her back to the long distance racing that had comprised such a significant part of her past. And she was brought east to Portsmouth, NH to begin her reappearance on the racing scene, this time on the Atlantic.
When we entered our first Newport to Bermuda race in 1990, our crew was green, our sails were white, and our fixes were by Sextant. We managed to finish in the top half of the fleet on that race, and as in golf when one hits a reasonably good shot, it is enough to keep you coming back.
Since that first race, we have attracted an extraordinary nucleus of crew that relish the complicated challenge of negotiating the weather and gulfstream head to head against the best sailors in the world in (usually) the oldest boat in the fleet. Having tasted near victory by finishing second overall in 2000, nothing seems to suppress the urge of coming back just one more time to have another crack at our dream of holding high the St Davids Head Light trophy at Governors House. And with Bermuda as our destination every two years, the addiction that this race has become for us will likely be impossible to kick.