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RACE President Devin Santa Honored to be Part of the
2024 Newport Bermuda Race Carina Crew

Carina from Tanker .jpg

Carina photographed by a crossing tanker. This is the 5th overall St. David’s Lighthouse win for Carina, 3rd win under the ownership of Rives Potts.

Hosted by the Cruising Club of America and the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, the biennial Newport to Bermuda Race is one of the world’s more challenging ocean races. It’s a 636-mile race through the Gulf Stream to the reef protected, low lying island in the Atlantic.

Carina, a McMurdy & Rhodes 48’ built in 1969, placed first overall in the 96-boat St. David’s Lighthouse Division. In the 118 history of the Race, Carina now is the most-winning yacht with five victories: 1970, 1982, 2010, 2012, and 2024.  

 

Carina is owned by Rives Potts, President of Safe Harbors Marinas. “It’s through two of my favorite things, Connecticut’s marine industry and racing in the ocean, that I met Rives and was presented with opportunities to be part of Carina’s legacy,” said Devin.

 

Devin’s role on Carina was as navigator.  In this position he was responsible for weather and gulfstream routing and analysis in addition to plotting the course to Bermuda. There are many similarities between the analyses used in the Coastal Engineering profession and modern navigation. Devin has sailed extensively as navigator on Carina, including a Transatlantic Race, Fastnet Race, and 3 Newport-Bermuda Races.  Winning the St. Davids Trophy has been a goal of Devin’s since his first Bermuda Race 30 years ago.  Since that time Devin has sailed this race 14 times.

Rives Devin Bermuda.jpg

Rives Potts (left) and Devin Santa in Bermuda (Photo Courtesy of Bermuda Race/Daniel Forster).

“It's an honor to be part of the Carina Team!  Rives is a phenomenal leader and mentor and, as anyone who has sailed on Carina can attest, being part of this program is very special. Achieving the result that we did with this Team was an amazing life experience,” says Devin.

Devin’s passion for being on the water has shaped his career. In addition to growing up sailing and spending summers on the beaches of Stratford, CT, Devin worked as a sailmaker, naval architect, yacht captain, a waterfront engineer and coastal engineering company President. He grew his company, RACE Coastal Engineering, by building a team of water enthusiasts – each who continue to grow stronger every day because of their passions too.  

In addition to Carina's overall victory, there were several additional trophies awarded to the Team for their results:

  • Corinthian Trophy (Best performance by an all amateur team)

  • Dorade Trophy (Best performance by a vintage yacht)

  • Finlay Trophy (Yacht older than 15 years with best corrected time)

Also, Devin was awarded the George Mixter Trophy as navigator of the St. Davids Lighthouse winning boat.

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Carina Team with their awards in the 2024 Bermuda Race.

A video recap of the race can be viewed here:

Newport Bermuda Race Start Recap and Full Broadcast - Newport Bermuda Race

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RACE Coastal Engineering expertise embraces modern coastal engineering practices that are supported by a broad range of engineering disciplines including geotechnical and structural engineering as well as regulatory expertise. Our professional services include: coastal engineering, shoreline restoration and protection, inspections and rehabilitation of existing structures, design and planning of new marine structures, environmental permitting, hydrographic surveys, dredging planning and design, and marine construction administration.

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