Bermuda Race Strategies

This webinar will help you better understand the kind of weather and conditions you can expect as you prepare for a passage to Bermuda in an event such as the Newport to Bermuda Race. The goal of this webinar is to help you better understand how to create the most efficient route to Bermuda based on your particular campaign goals and the current weather and oceanographic conditions. A variety of topics are covered including tidal considerations, climatological implications, the structure and use of the Gulf Stream, and the frequency and current trends of both the high and low pressure systems in the region. Hosted by Bill Biewenga, this two-part webinar will feature guest speakers from Commanders' Weather and NOAA's Ocean Prediction Center.

The webinar environment will allow for attendees to ask questions, and the session will be recorded and made available to the attendees for later review. In addition to the webinar and recorded session, a thorough list of resources will be made available to the attendees for further research and review.

Session Descriptions

Session 1 - Long Range Climatology (Racing to Bermuda)

This three-hour session will discuss the weather and oceanographic features you will encounter at sea such as sea breezes, cloud formations, weather maps, and animated images of the Gulf Stream in the context of an upcoming offshore passage to Bermuda. You will participate in interactive case studies using actual examples of various weather and oceanographic scenarios encountered in past Newport to Bermuda races. You will create “solutions” to various routing problems. These exercises will be followed by discussion on the relative values of different solutions and whether others might also apply.

Session 2- Near Term Weather and Oceanographic Considerations

The goal of this session, delivered a week prior to the race start, is to update you on recent changes to the weather and oceanographic conditions to prepare your initial routing strategy for the Newport to Bermuda Race. Again hosted by Bill Biewenga, this three-hour session will cover various routing options for the conditions you will probably encounter during the race. You will create routing solutions for your particular campaign using the probable weather and oceanographic scenarios, as well as “what-if” and contingency plans for possible changes to conditions once under way. We will discuss the most recent changes and implications of the current weather forecasts for the Newport to Bermuda Race, using the tools we developed for understanding weather maps, satellite imagery and other forecasting and observational resources.

Guest speakers from Commanders' Weather and NOAA's Ocean Prediction Center will be joined by a renowned oceanographer to discuss the Gulf Stream and other oceanographic features.