How a 1969 Classic Boat won America’s great offshore classic

Old boat makes good stock. That is, deep down, maybe age doesn’t matter so much, not when the hull is good and the crew as well.

Or at least that is what emerged from the 53rd Newport Bermuda Race, won by a 48-foot 1969 lady, Carina.

Designed by McCurdy and Rhodes in ’68, launched in ’69, it won here as early as 1970, to repeat the feat four more times, in 1982, 2010, 2012 and, of course, in this 2024 edition. Numbers that, officially, with 5 wins make it the winningest hull in the entire history of the event (118 years…).

Carina, an impressive Classic Boat

It is not, however, the first time a classic boat has been able to make its mark by stripping far newer hulls. Already the very tough 2016 Sydney-Hobart had proven this, with the Sparkman & Stephens 34, Quikpoint Azzurro ranked 3rd overall IRC and class winner (find out the story here). Same thing risked getting a Ziggurat 995 (1981) at the 2022 Round Aeolian Race (story here), to bring themselves closer to home. In short, bottom line, who ever said that a Classic Boat can no longer race?

When the classics race.

With corrected time equivalent to 2g 15h 12m, Carina is officially the winner of the regatta for the fifth time in a row, the most wins ever, and third win with current owner, Rives Potts. Second, behind her, Summer Storm 52, none other than a TP52–in short, a Classic Boat that wins. But what is the secret? Certainly, the hand of the compensated always wants its own, but, quasi-complotist theories aside, looking at Carina ‘s palmares there is more that jumps out. A jump back in time to when it was launched.

Carina was born for the 1969 Admiral’s Cup, the year, moreover, of the first Italian participation. Here, Carina, scored a third place at the legendary Fastnet (whose score was worth triple), making a key contribution to the comeback of the American team, participating in the Admiral with her, Red Rooster (first at the Fastnet) and Palawan. A comeback that, among other things, undermined the three blue women from the podium, Mabelle, Levantades and La Meloria, who until before the test marked Italy as third in the standings.

Carina, in short, is a boat that has been running and winning podiums forever. And the answer is simple: it is kept as it deserves, well, it has all the equipment it deserves (including spinnaker and tangons), and it is a great hull. Then the human component, a crew that knows its stuff and knows how to make its boat walk, how to handle the weather, the fronts, taking advantage of every opportunity and dealing with obstacles as it should. In short, carina wins just as all other boats, new or old, win: because if a hull is good, using your head and giving it your all, the boat itself will do the rest of the work. And palmares and a thousand other examples can confirm this for us.

Certainly, on a long one it is more difficult, with time stretching and changing weather, but we also look at coastal examples. Look at the results of many zonals. There is no shortage of seeing 90s hulls clubbing projects 20 or 30 years younger, even in real. Perhaps an indication that, in the end, even the Classics can race, and not necessarily just to participate.

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