Newport → Bermuda · 636 nm
Lupo Di Mare
Italia 12.98 Fuoriserie racing the 2026 Newport Bermuda Race
USA 12985
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The Race
636 nm, Newport to Bermuda
The Newport Bermuda Race has been run every two years since 1906. The fleet starts off Castle Hill Light in Newport, sails south-southeast across the open Atlantic, and finishes off St. David's Lighthouse on the northeast corner of Bermuda.
Most passages take three to four days. Crews stand watches around the clock and decide when and where to cross the Gulf Stream.
The 2026 race starts June 19 at 1300 EDT.
Race at a glance
- Course
- Newport → Bermuda
- Distance
- 636 nm
- Rhumb heading
- ~150° T
- Start
- Jun 19 2026 · 1300 EDT
- First run
- 1906 · biennial
- Finish
- St. David's Light
The Course
What 636 nautical miles looks like
South-southeast from Castle Hill in Newport to St. David's Lighthouse on the northeast tip of Bermuda. The dashed line is the rhumb-line course; in practice the boat will route around weather and current, so the actual track will curve.
The Challenge
Crossing the Gulf Stream
A river in the ocean, warm and vivid blue, running northeast across the race course. Cross it at the wrong angle and you give back hours. Catch a favorable eddy spinning off the north wall and you gain miles the rest of the fleet never sees.
The Stream is constantly moving. Its edges show up as sharp jumps in water temperature and sudden changes in color, and routing decisions on day two often decide where the boat finishes on day four.
The Boat
A Matteo Polli design built by Italia Yachts. The Fuoriserie is the race-oriented version of the 12.98 line: Axxon carbon mast and boom, a deep performance keel, and an asymmetric offshore inventory set up for ORC racing.
It is a performance cruiser-racer built to be pushed offshore but still managed by tired humans over three or four days at sea. Over a passage that long, behavior under load matters as much as the polar numbers.
The 2026 Newport Bermuda Race is Lupo Di Mare's first Bermuda Race.
Design & origin
- Designer
- Matteo Polli
- Builder
- Italia Yachts
- Sail number
- USA 12985
- Built
- 2023 · ex-Querencia
- Rating
- ORC offshore
Race Prep
Boat in Newport, crew across time zones
Lupo Di Mare was recently acquired by Shaun Wood of Chicago. The boat stays on the East Coast through 2026 and moves to the Great Lakes in 2027. This is a first Newport Bermuda Race for both the boat and the crew.
The boat is already in Newport. Crew joins from the Great Lakes, Los Angeles, and San Diego, so most prep happens remotely: watch plans, gear lists, sail crossover charts, safety notes, and weather and current research.
Plan: show up prepared, sail the boat hard and safely, look after each other.
Crew & logistics
- Owner
- Shaun Wood
- Boat base
- Newport, RI
- Crew from
- Great Lakes · LA · SD
- 2027 home
- Great Lakes
The Destination
150° True to Bermuda
South of the Stream the course bends toward the eastern end of Bermuda, 636 nautical miles in all from Castle Hill. The finish is timed off St. David's Lighthouse on the rocks at the island's northeast tip. The last hundred miles, in shifting wind with the island finally on the bow, can reshuffle the fleet.
Race Tracker
Follow the boat to Bermuda
Live tracking opens on race day, June 19, 2026. Until then, the 2024 replay shows the last fleet's run to Bermuda.
Opens the YB Races app on phones, or the web viewer on desktop. No app? ybtracking.com ↗
For Family & Friends
What's normal on the tracker
Tracker lag
Positions update every few minutes, not in real time. A stale point doesn't mean anything is wrong.
Course changes
The boat will not sail a straight line. Routing around weather, current, and Gulf Stream eddies is expected.
Silence offshore
No texts, calls, or social media from the boat. Communication is limited to safety traffic until we reach Bermuda.
Speed changes
Boat speed rises and falls with wind and current. A slow stretch is not a problem; a fast stretch is not a finish-line guarantee.