Spirit of Bermuda will be among the local entries in the 2015 Marion to Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race.

Businessman Jim Butterfield has chartered the triple masted sloop for the 645 nautical mile race that starts on June 19 in Buzzards Bay off Marion, Massachusetts. Spirit, the only tall ship registered so far, is competing in the Founders Division.

Butterfield, who rowed in the single sculls at the 1972 Munich Olympics, has chartered the ship in support of Bermuda Sloop Foundation’s award winning character development programme.

“We want to support Spirit of Bermuda and the Bermuda Sloop Foundation because we believe that it does such a good job for the youth development of Bermuda,” Butterfield said. “We see that just getting stronger and stronger as the programme gains more traction year after year.”

Diana Martin, the BSF chief executive, added: “Bermuda Sloop Foundation truly appreciates the Jim Butterfield family’s continued support for our youth experiential learning and character development programme on board Spirit of Bermuda.”

Last year Butterfield chartered the Spirit of Bermuda for the Newport to Bermuda Race. Prior to arriving in Newport, he invited Butterfield and Vallis staff to sail with him from Bermuda to New York, and has done so again this year.

“After seeing the benefits of the staff members that went from Bermuda to New York last year, we are encouraged and excited that we are doing it again,” Butterfield said.

“We we will be going through the same exercise of advising our staff to show interest and then the tough selection process starts because we cannot weaken any one division. We will be taking the same amount [ten] to New York and then they will fly back and the racing group will come down.

“I’ve yet to put together the crew that will come back [from Newport]. We are going to spend more time working on that and I have reached out to the navigator, Larry Rosenfeld.”

The only other local yacht registered in the upcoming race is Bermuda Oyster, owned by experienced offshore racer Paul Hubbard, that is also competing in the Founders Division.