Lewes skippers to compete in Annapolis to Bermuda Race
Three Lewes Yacht Club skippers and their crews will compete in one of the longest ocean races on the East Coast.
Nick Carter, Hattie Warwick-Smith and Oskar Sandursky will take part in the 753-mile Annapolis to Bermuda Ocean Race, which starts in Annapolis Friday, June 3.
In addition, there is a family twist to the race. Nick's son, Frank Carter, is competing on a U.S. Naval Academy crew.
The U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis is a Carter family tradition. Frank is a member of the Class of 2024, while Nick graduated in 1970, and his father and grandfather were also Naval Academy graduates.
Frank will be crewing on Defiance, a Navy 44.
Nick will be competing in a new boat called Legacy, a French Beneteau First 40, which he has been busy getting ready for the ocean race over the past few months.
It will end up as a 1,500-mile journey, as the three skippers will have to sail back to Lewes from Bermuda after the awards ceremony Saturday, June 11. The whole adventure will take about three weeks.
All three skippers are active competitors in Lewes Yacht Club, racing during the summer and fall season.
Warwick-Smith competed in last year's 470-mile Annapolis to Newport, R.I., Race in her 34-foot Tartan 34C sailboat called Iris.
Adding to the challenge of the race is an 11-hour or more crossing of the Gulf Stream, she said.
The race dates back to 1979, when seven yachts competed. It's now held every other year and is sponsored by Eastport Yacht Club in Annapolis and the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club in Bermuda.
Carter's crew includes Dave Cerney, Joe Horst, Rob Witsil, Xavier Wauters and Tony Graciano.
Sandursky, who is racing in Leopolus, a 41.5-foot Performance Cruiser, lives in Pennsylvania and is a native of Ukraine with several relatives living in the country. His crew comprises John Buck, Bohdan Flis, Ilya Shpolsky, Andrii Smoliak and Ihor Yurkevych.
Warwick-Smith's crew is made up of two of her regular Lewes crew members, Liz Hinkle and Josh Getka, and Annapolis-area sailors Matin Leslie, Eric Linder and Charlotte Silverman.
For more information about the race, go to bermudaoceanrace.com and yachtscoring.com/boatdetail.cfm?Yacht_ID=241478.
