The trio of Bermuda boats competing in the 49th Newport Bermuda Race are all moored back in local waters.

Dr Stephen Sherwin’s Corby 41.5, Nasty Medicine, and Brian Hillier’s J-125, Crossfire, arrived on Tuesday and Wednesday. And joining them yesterday was the Spirit of Bermuda that crossed the finish line off St David’s Lighthouse in the early hours of the morning.

The triple masted sloop, helmed by captain Karen McDonald, completed the 635-mile race at 1.59am in an elapsed time of 132hr, 59min and 23sec.

The sail-training ship is the sole entry in the Spirit of Tradition Division and is making her second straight appearance in the biennial race that started a week ago today in Newport, Rhode Island.

Chartering Spirit for the race was local businessman, Olympian and Bermuda Sports Hall of Fame inductee, Jim Butterfield who, despite the fickle breezes that made for a slow journey, had an absolute blast.

“It was really great,” said Butterfield, who sailed with son Spencer. “We knew from weather predictions going in that we would be in very light air — and that is what happened.

“We were hoping for 25-30 knots of breeze because that is what Spirit of Bermuda needs to move her. We were constantly playing with the sails to get every little bit of wind and even if it was four knots we felt pretty darn good about that.

“We are all a bit tired because of the length of the journey and the watch system. But everyone had a really good time.

“It was such a pleasing experience and the captain and her crew did an amazing job.”