Il Mostro looks the winner of Bermuda race

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'The Volvo 70 'Il Mostro' skippered by Ken Read and his Puma crew. Talbot Wilson/PPL COPYRIGHT RESTRICTED - 2008 Newport Bermuda Race' PPL Media &copy

On the basis of provisional results posted late Tuesday, Puma's Chairman Jochen Zeitz can brag about bringing Ken Read and his 'tough guy' squad good luck during the Bermuda Race.

For Zeitz, this was his first race on the Puma branded Volvo 70 yacht Il Mostro, which set an elapsed time of 69 hours, 33 minutes and 24 seconds and a corrected time of 61 hours, two minutes and 51 seconds to top the Open Division's leaderboard on corrected time. Il Mostro's corrected time was over an hour ahead of Ian Henderson's Privateer, a Cookson 50.

Speedboat, the Juan K 99 footer built by Cookson, was the first to the dock, but corrected out with a time of 64 hours, 42 minutes and 56 seconds to take third place in the Open Division. Joe Harris, a veteran of nine Newport Bermuda races, came fourth in Gryphon Solo, an Open 50 preparing for the Portimao Global Ocean Race in October.

Clayton Deutsch and his New England tribe on Chippewa look set to come out on top once again. After winning the IRC-2 Division of the New York YC Annual Regatta and leading the Onion Patch Series going into the Newport Bermuda Race, Chippewa, a Swan 68, topped the other 12 boats in Class 9 of the St David's Lighthouse Division. Her corrected time was 69hrs, 45mins, 24secs. Jim Madden's new J65, Brand New Day has been at the RBYC dock for the afternoon and sits in 2nd place with a corrected time of 73hrs, 22mins 23secs.

Zaraffa, a Reichel Pugh 66, is the first Naval Academy boat to finish. Zaraffa's crew of twenty naval cadets and coaches crossed the finish line at 4:23:50 ADT on Tuesday morning. Rising senior, Matt Hamlet, who formed his offshore crew this Spring, was very happy with his crew's performance during Zaraffa's first Newport Bermuda Race as a U.S. Naval Academy boat.

Skip Sheldon of Vermont donated the offshore boat to the Academy after winning the St David's Lighthouse Trophy in 2002, and it is now the pride and joy of the Naval Academy's offshore racing program. While the boat raced in the New England circuit last Fall, many of the crew joined the boat in March. Once the team was formed, Matt and his team practiced and even found themselves in a storm with gusts up to 55 knots this May as they sailed around the Delmarva Peninsula. The team had no racing practice prior to sailing the New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta, the first regatta within the Onion Patch Series.

Marveling at the program, Jahn Tihansky, Head Coach of the Naval Academy's Offshore Program said, 'Two thirds of the crew had never sailed before they came to the Academy. This program teaches them teamwork and leadership in addition to boat handling skills.' Jay Cavalieri, Director of Naval Academy Sailing said that he, Tihansky and Dan Rugg, Sailing Master of the Offshore Sail Training Squad were aboard as safety officers but left the decision making up to the crew.

When Matt Hamlet, Zaraffa's captain, was a freshman he packed spinnakers and serve sandwiches. As an upper classman, Matt's responsibilities have grown exponentially. 'It's a tremendous honor to be captain, especially during the Newport Bermuda Race,' said Matt before he went to the Duty Office at Royal Bermuda Yacht Club to clear Customs and to pick up the customary four neckties presented to each of the fully-crewed boats that finish. double handed boats get two.

His Excellency the Governor of Bermuda, Sir Richard Gozney, who visited will join the crew of Zaraffa in the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Anniversary Regatta on Friday June 27th. Friday's Anniversary Regatta is the largest offshore regatta of the year in Bermuda and the third event in the Onion Patch Series.

The U.S. Naval Academy entered two other boats in the Newport Bermuda Race. They are Swift and Defiance, both Navy 44's.