The 20th Marion to Bermuda Race was a memorable experience for race rookie George Fergusson.

The Governor was among the crew aboard the schooner Spirit of Bermuda that was fourth in line honours.

Spirit completed the 645-mile race in 3 days, 17hrs, 28mins and 51secs and after everything was over the Governor declared that he would “love” to do it all over again.

“Maybe not tomorrow, but one day I’d love to,” he said. “It was great, excellent.”

En route to Bermuda Spirit encountered heavy weather through the Gulf Stream.

The remnants of Tropical Depression Bill hooked up with a frontal system moving east into the Atlantic, stirring up 30 knot winds and nearly ten foot waves, which made the conditions challenging.

“It was interesting seeing the Gulf Stream from the middle,” Fergusson said. “It’s a bit lumpier in the middle. The wind was 30 knots in the Gulf Stream with the waves coming from various directions.

“We had the mizzen down, a couple of reefs and main and did without the jib.

“When we took the mizzen down we actually didn’t lose any speed. We were doing eleven or so knots going through the Gulf Stream.”

Businessman Jim Butterfield, who chartered Spirit for the race, said the challenging conditions through the Gulf Stream was a “good test for the boat”.

“She’s had more extreme tests I’m sure,” Butterfield said. “But for 48 hours we were in the thick of it.”

Spirit picked up an additional three knots of speed after catching a ride on a favourable current in the Gulf Stream that pushed the boat further down the racetrack.

“The navigator (Larry Rosenfeld) was good,” Butterfield said. “He went well west of the rhumb line and then we were off to an easier sail into Bermuda for the last 24 hours. It was a great sail and a lot of fun.”

Taking line honours in this year’s Marion to Bermuda Race was Charles Cahill’s Meriton 65, Mischievous, while Greg Marston’s 36ft sloop, TI, captured overall honours on corrected time.

Mike Crawford’s Hunter 380, Bacchanal, brought the curtain down on the race after being the last boat to cross the finish line off St David’s Lighthouse on Thursday afternoon.