LATEST NEWS

Fall MudRatz is in full swing! 🤙🏻 Opti, 420 & Laser, and Sportboat Dark Programs are all loving the breeze this fall! Great to see so many new faces on the water! 😊

Thank you to @nianticbaysailingacademy for hosting us again and to our amazing coaches for teaching these kids so much every week! 👏🏻

Every coach has been a part of the MudRatz programs over the years, and it’s awesome to see the #realprosgiveback momentum that keeps on giving. 💙 ...

A huge CONGRATZ to the Sportboat team for an awesome Donzo Wednesday Night Spring Series, finishing in 3rd place overall! 👏🏻

Could not have done it without the awesome sportboat coaches this summer, @evan_saplding, @zach_champney and @chansen006! Thank you for your time and give back to the program! ⛵️

HUGE shoutout to @spicersbrokeragesales for getting us to the starting line every week! 😊 ...

MudRatz recently competed in the 2022 Prince Henry Race and finished 7th overall! Team had a great time and learned a ton. Thank you to Offshore MudRatz @peter_cr & @alexbowdler for volunteering there time as coaches for this event. Thank you @twentyhundredclub for a great event! #realprosgiveback ...

Today some MudRatz spent the morning cleaning Grape Bay Beach on Bermuda. We are saddened by the amount of trash and plastic we found all over the beach. As a team, we took many small steps to get to Bermuda sustainably.

1️⃣ Reusable water bottles
2️⃣ Wash and dispose of freeze dried food packages through @terracycle in the US
3️⃣ Use reusable sporks on the boat during the race
4️⃣ Skip the straw at the bar 🍹

Small steps like this will lead us to a better future. It takes all of us to fight plastic pollution, we hope you will join us to create change.

@keepbermudabeautiful 🌊

📸: @croninjp ...

MEET THE @bermudarace CREW 🇧🇲

Morgan Buffum, 27, from Westerly, RI will be competing in his 2nd race with the MudRatz starting today. He has been involved with the MudRatz since the Bermuda Race in 2018 where SV Dreamcatcher won there class. He currently works at Safe Harbor in Jamestown, RI and plans to do a bunch of sailing around work this summer. We are super excited to have Morgan back on board for this edition of the race!

Iain Jaeger, 21, from Basking Ridge, NJ learned to sail dinghies at New England Science and Sailing and sport boats/offshore with the MudRatz. He has been a participating member of several MudRatz programs since 2017. Currently, Iain is a rising senior and member of the club sailing team at the University of Rhode Island. He is a finance major with minors in mathematics and philosophy. Iain has spent 3 summers coaching sailing at NESS varying from new to experienced sailors. This summer, he hopes to compete in Laser Nationals this July.

“I have never been to Bermuda, I have had a promise to myself for a few years now that I have to race to Bermuda before flying to it, so I’m most excited to see Bermuda on the horizon from the waves.” ...

MEET THE @bermudarace CREW 🇧🇲

Lily Flack, 19, from Stonington, CT grew up sailing at the Wadawanuck Yacht Club in Stonington, CT. She joined the MudRatz as one of the OG’s when the program started in 2013. She has been part of all the programs the MudRatz have to offer, including being a prior captain of Melges 24 Equal Opportunity. A graduate from the Marine Science Magnet High School in Groton, CT, she now attends St. Mary’s College of Maryland as a member of the varsity sailing team. In school, she is currently studying environmental studies with a minor in biology. This summer will be her 3rd year coaching sailing, and her first year as the head instructor at Fishers Island Yacht Club. She plans to spend time after work on the water laser sailing in preparation for single-handed college regattas this fall for St. Mary’s. This will be her first Bermuda Race, and she is excited to spend time with a great group of people and looking out for wildlife in the gulf stream!

Braedon Hansen, 19, is from Stonington, CT. He first learned to sail at American Yacht Club in Rye, NY and Ithaca Yacht Club. He started sailing with NESS in 2011 and he joined the Mudratz in 2014. He has participated in many programs from dinghy sailing to sportboat and has been eagerly awaiting this opportunity for offshore distance racing. Braedon attended high school at The Williams School in New London, where he sailed for the varsity team for 4 years. He is currently a rising sophomore at The University of California, Davis, where he is studying Electrical Engineering. He is a top performer on the sailing team and was elected co-captain for the 2022-2023 season. Braedon worked as a sailing coach at the Wadanack Club in Stonington for the past 2 summers. This summer after the Newport-Bermuda race, he will complete an internship at the Naval Underwater Research Center in Newport, RI. He also plans to continue coaching sailing on the weekends. He is really excited to be able to compete in the N2B race, since he has been waiting for 2 years after the last one was canceled due to covid! ...

MEET THE @bermudarace CREW

Super excited to have these two college roommates join the team for this edition of the race.

Peter Cronin, 21, is from Ledyard, CT. As a charter member, he has sailed with the Mudratz in every program they have offered from the 420 program all the way to the offshore program. Peter was a watch captain on the Newport to Bermuda Race back in 2018 and in the Marblehead-to-Halifax race in 2019 on board Dreamcatcher with the Mudratz and has been sailing various boats in Newport harbor since. He recently graduated Salve Regina University in Newport, RI with a Business Administration degree. This summer he is a boat captain for Charter Tabasco based out of The Landing in Newport. He is highly anticipating this years N2B race as he hasn’t been offshore in over a year due to Covid complications.

Alex Bowdler, 22 is from Stonington, CT. Alex grew up sailing at the Wadawanuck Club, NESS and with the MudRatz. He recently graduated from Salve Regina University where he was a member of the sailing team for all four years, his senior year being team captain. He now has a job in Newport, RI where he plans to spend most of his time this summer. This summer, he plans to race J/24s in Newport on Thursday nights, as well as competing with Sail for ALS to raise awareness and money for the ALS association. He plans to compete in short handed coastal distance races in Narragansett Bay and Long Island Sound. An instructor at NESS for over three summers, he coached 420 and keelboat classes. Moreover, he was a coach of the MudRatz 420 and Opti programs. Alex became an active member of the MudRatz in 2021 where he, Peter and Lily were program leaders maintaining a J105 to teach younger sailors safe sail handling when offshore and other seamanship techniques.

“I am excited to experience open ocean sailing and all that comes with it. Also to bomb downwind on a sweet boat and to learn from extremely experienced offshore sailors.” ...

MEET THE @bermudarace CREW

SV Spitfire sets off tomorrow at 3:20pm EST for Bermuda! First off we are introducing our two youngest and most enthusiastic members of the team.

Ellie Menezes, 15, from Groton, CT grew up learning to sail at GLPYC in a small wooden Sea Shell built by her grandfather. After Sea Shells, she learned to race at NESS in Opti’s/C420s. She joined the MudRatz as a core member in 2016. Currently, she is a rising junior at Fitch High School in Groton, CT. She recently co-founded the Fitch Sailing Team this past spring season and is looking forward to racing in the fall. This summer, she will travel as a member of Team One United for the C420 Triple Crown Series and take lessons at NESS. She is also the current captain of Equal Opportunity, a MudRatz Melges 24. Moreover, she loves to volunteer her time as a junior sailing instructor at NESS and specifically loves working with the adaptive sailing program. In her words, the one thing she is looking forward to for this year's Bermuda Race is EVERYTHING!!! As the youngest member of our crew, this will be her first race and she could not be more excited.

Charlie Bergendahl, 16, from Noank, CT learned to sail at Ram Island Yacht Club and NESS. He joined the MudRatz as a C420/Sportboat sailor in 2017. Charlie co-founded the Fitch Sailing Team alongside teammate Ellie Menezes this spring and is looking forward to competing as a junior next fall! Currently, he is a rising junior at the Marine Science Magnet High School in Groton, CT. This summer, Charlie will be sailing on Team One United for the C420 Triple Crown Series and take lessons at NESS. Moreover, he plans to race Wednesday Night’s with his dad aboard Melges 24 Committed. Charlie also enjoys volunteering his time in the summer as a junior sailing instructor at Ram Island Yacht Club. This will be his first Bermuda Race, and he is most looking forward to “The mind-blowing experience of being hundreds to miles out on the open ocean, with nothing but wind in your sails. It sounds absolutely amazing.”

📸: @croninjp ...

Successful practice today with Team Spitfire 🔥 preparing for the @bermudarace

- Safety Drills including Storm Jib check and Man Overboard Drill
- (Many) Sail Changes
- Crew Work and Communication Skills
- Learning. A TON.

Thank you to Coach @taylorthesailor90 for keeping us in ship shape.

Everyday, we make huge steps as a team and we are super excited with our progress. 1️⃣ week till the start line! 🌴

📸: @_jamestomlinson_ @taylorthesailor90 ...

2 days later and we finished the work list for the weekend with a day to spare! 📝

• Sanded the hull to prep for bottom paint
• Faired the keel
• Wiped hull with @pettitpaint primer
• Taped the waterline
• Applied coat #1 of @pettitpaint
• Applied coat #2 of @pettitpaint
• Checked thru hulls before launch this week

Ate some 🍕 in between it all..

We are making great progress towards the @newportbermudarace starting line! Please consider making a donation to help us get there via the MudRatz website.

Lastly, HUGE thank you to @safeharbormarinas for your hospitality and support of our program. 😊 ...

📸 #1 - Spitfire is starting to come together and the Bermuda Race is looking good for our future! Thank you @safeharbormarinas for your continued support of our program!

📸 #2 - Mudratz @edm._.wags keeping up with how Mudhead Laura Grondin is doing at @worldofmelges24 Worlds! ...

And just like that, another spring sportboat season is underway! Thank you to @spicersbrokeragesales for your constant help and support of our program. Looking forward to first practice race of the season this Wednesday! 🙌🏻 ...