The ''Spirit of Bermuda'' is a modern-built

Bermuda sloop The Bermuda sloop is a historical type of fore-and-aft rigged single-masted sailing vessel developed on the islands of Bermuda in the 17th century. Such vessels originally had gaff rigs with quadrilateral sails, but evolved to use the Bermuda ri ...

. She is a replica of a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

sloop-of-war, depicted in a well-known 1831 painting.

History of the Bermuda sloop

The

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

sloop was a type of small sailing ship built in Bermuda between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. Fitted with a

gaff rig Gaff rig is a sailing rig (configuration of sails, mast and stays) in which the sail is four-cornered, fore-and-aft rigged, controlled at its peak and, usually, its entire head by a spar (pole) called the ''gaff''. Because of the size and shape ...

, a combination of gaff and

square rig Square rig is a generic type of sail and rigging arrangement in which the primary driving sails are carried on horizontal spars which are perpendicular, or square, to the keel of the vessel and to the masts. These spars are called ''yards'' and ...

, or

Bermuda rig A Bermuda rig, Bermudian rig, or Marconi rig is a configuration of Mast (sailing), mast and rigging for a type of sailboat and is the typical configuration for most modern sailboats. This configuration was developed in Bermuda in the 1600s; the t ...

, they were used by Bermudian merchants, privateers and other seafarers. Their versatility, and their manoeuvrability and speed, especially upwind, meant they were also jealously sought after by non-Bermudian operators for both merchant and naval roles. Bermudians built large numbers of them for their own merchant fleet and for export before being obliged to turn to other trades in the nineteenth century. At the end of the twentieth century, no Bermuda sloop remained anywhere in the world, and most Bermudians had no practical or romantic connection to the island's long history as a maritime economy. These were among the facts that prompted the construction of a new Bermuda sloop, the ''Spirit of Bermuda'', and the creation of a sail training organisation, the Bermuda Sloop Foundation, to utilise her in instilling an awareness of the sea and of Bermuda's maritime heritage in her youth.

Design and construction of the ''Spirit of Bermuda''

Unlike the original vessel, which would have been built almost entirely from

Bermuda cedar ''Juniperus bermudiana'' is a species of juniper endemic to Bermuda. This species is most commonly known as Bermuda cedar, but is also referred to as Bermuda juniper (Bermudians refer to it simply as ''cedar''). Historically, this tree formed wo ...

, utilizing the plank-on-frame method of construction, the ''Spirit of Bermuda'' is constructed with more readily-available woods such as

Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three va ...

and

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicl ...

, utilizing the modern 'cold-molded' method of wooden boat fabrication. She was built in the US for the charitable

Bermuda Sloop Foundation ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

(BSF) to serve as a sail training ship for Bermuda's youths. Bermuda sloops were built with up to three masts. While the term 'sloop' nowadays refers to vessels having only a single mast, the term was used differently in the past. In the Royal Navy, the term referred more to the small size of the vessel and to the rank of her commanding officer; a sloop-of-war was an unrated vessel and did not warrant a

post captain Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of Captain (Royal Navy), captain in the Royal Navy. The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from: * Officers in command of a naval vessel, who were (and still are) ...

in command. The single masted ships, with their huge sails, and the tremendous wind energy they harnessed, were demanding to sail, and required large, experienced crews. The Royal Navy favoured multi-masted versions as it was perennially short of sailors, at the end of the eighteenth century, and such crew members as it had, particularly in the Western Atlantic (given the continuing wars with France for control of Europe), received insufficient training. The longer decks of the multi-masted vessels also had the advantage of allowing more guns to be carried. The Bermuda Sloop Foundation chose a three-masted design for one of the reasons the navy had: it was easier to handle and less dangerous for the inexperienced youths who would crew her. A design with

was also favoured, although the majority of Bermuda sloops historically built probably were fitted with a

. The final design, naval architecture and engineering of the vessel was accomplished in Newport, Rhode Island by Langan Design Associates, headed at the time by company founder

Bill Langan Michael William Langan, (Bill Langan), (June 9, 1955 – December 31, 2010) was an American yacht designer who practiced his trade in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. His designs, both as chief designer at Sparkman & Stephens and later as th ...

The Bermuda Sloop Foundation

The Bermuda Sloop Foundation was founded in 1996 by Malcolm Kirkland, Alan Burland and Jay Kempe. During the next eight years, the foundation grew as donations were sought, and the design decided upon. Bermudian singer-songwriter

Heather Nova Heather Nova (born Heather Allison Frith, July 6, 1968) is a Bermuda, Bermudian singer-songwriter and poet. , she has released eleven full-length albums, six EPs and twelve singles. Biography Heather Nova was born Heather Allison Frith on Berm ...

recorded the single ''Together As One'' to raise funds for the project. Rockport Marine, in

Rockport, Maine Rockport is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. It is thirty-five miles southeast of Augusta. The population was 3,644 at the 2020 census. Rockport is a popular tourist destination and art colony. History Rockport, or "the River", was ...

, was contracted to build the ship in 2004. The ''Spirit of Bermuda'' was completed in August, 2006, and sailed to Bermuda that October. Since then she has operated locally and internationally on sail training cruises. The name of the ''Spirit of Bermuda'' commemorates that of a fifteen foot, Bermuda-rigged sloop, also equipped with oars, which was sailed by cousins Eric Johnson and Carl Holmes from Bermuda to New York City, departing on the 27 May and arriving on the 15, June, 1935. The duo received a farewell telephone call from Admiral the Honorable Sir Matthew Robert Best, Commander-in-Chief of the

America and West Indies Station The North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 1745 to 1956. The North American Station was separate from the Jamaica Station until 1830 when the t ...

, and were seen off from the City of Hamilton by the

Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Bermuda The Governor of Bermuda (fully the ''Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Somers Isles (alias the Islands of Bermuda)'') is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Bermuda. For the purposes of this a ...

, Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Astley-Cubitt, and large crowds on shore and afloat. They were greeted by a large crowd on their arrival at The Battery on

Manhattan Island Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. The cousins had expected to complete their journey within a week, but had to fight their way through three storms over nineteen days. By their first night on the ocean, both were so seasick neither could steer and they lashed the tiller. On the 30 May the boat was capsized by a gust of wind while Johnson was up the mast. Both men were thrown overboard, but were able to reboard and right their vessel. After six days of reasonable weather, they ran into the worst of the storms on the 10th of June, which lasted for two nights and a day with the ocean washing over the deck. They jettisoned everything not required for survival while fighting these storms, but arrived in New York still with four days provisions and fifteen of the thirty-five gallons of fresh water they had left Bermuda with. They subsequently sailed the Spirit of Bermuda to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

for display at the

Canadian National Exhibition The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), also known as The Exhibition or The Ex, is an annual event that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the third Friday of August leading up to and including Canadian Labour Day, ...

. Built by Johnson, their sloop was double-ended, with a beam of five feet, a draft of two feet, and 270 square feet of sail.''2 FROM BERMUDA HERE IN TINY BOAT; 15-Foot Sloop Makes Perilous Trip Through 3 Storms in 20 Days.'' The

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

, 16 June 1935.

Gallery

Image:Royal Navy - Bermuda Sloop2.jpeg, The 1831 painting, by John Lynn, of the Bermuda sloop of the

upon which the ''Spirit of Bermuda'' was modelled File:The Spirit of Bermuda of the Bermuda Sloop Foundation.jpeg, The ''Spirit of Bermuda'' of the Bermuda Sloop Foundation File:The Bermuda Sloop Spirit of Bermuda at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club.jpeg, The Bermuda Sloop ''Spirit of Bermuda'' at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club File:Spirit of Bermuda.jpg, ''Spirit of Bermuda'' on a visit overseas. File:The Bermuda cedar (Juniperus bermudiana) transom of Spirit of Bermuda, 2016.jpg, The

transom of the Spirit of Bermuda

References

{{commons category, Spirit of Bermuda (ship, 2006) History of Bermuda Sail training ships Training ships of the United Kingdom History of the Royal Navy 2006 ships