--- title: Chasing Five Knots description: Follow Maddie Ammatuna's journey in the Newport Bermuda Race, where she learns about teamwork and perseverance while facing the challenges of offshore sailing. image: https://nbya.org/hubfs/Copy%20of%20NBYA.org%20Featured%20Image%201200x630%20-%202026-10-05T142727.046.png --- [Skip to content](https://nbya.org/news/chasing-five-knots#main-content) [![Narragansett Bay Yachting Association](https://nbya.org/hubfs/2025-10-21_Burgee_and_NBYA.svg)Homepage](https://nbya.org) - [JUNIOR SAILING](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing) - [Register on Clubspot](https://narragansettbayyachtingassociation.theclubspot.com/) - [Junior Mission](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-mission) - [Perpetual Awards and Special Events](https://nbya.org/junior-perpetual-trophies) - [Mary Rose Marshall Regatta](https://nbya.org/mary-rose-marshall-regatta) - [Junior News](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-news) - [Junior Calendar](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-calendar) - [Volunteer](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-volunteer) - [FAQs](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-faqs) - [Zero Tolerance Policy](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-zero-tolerance-policy) - [Scholarships & Grants](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#scholarships-and-grants) - [Sammis Scholarship](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#scholarships-and-grants) - [CJ Buckley Scholarship](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-CJ-Buckley-Scholarship) - [RACING & CRUISING](https://nbya.org/racing-cruising) - [Boat of the Year](https://nbya.org/boty) - [Bay Challenge](https://nbya.org/challenge) - [Women's Sailing](https://nbya.org/womens-sailing) - [Model Boat Racing](https://nbya.org/model-boat-racing) - [NEWS](https://nbya.org/news) - [Share Your Stories](https://nbya.org/share-stories) - [ABOUT](https://nbya.org/about) - [Member Organizations](https://nbya.org/member-organizations) - [History](https://nbya.org/history) - [Official Documents](https://nbya.org/official-documents) - JOIN - [Junior Membership](https://narragansettbayyachtingassociation.theclubspot.com/join) - [Adult Membership](https://payments-na1.hubspot.com/payments/p49gQGtzMMbyJw?referrer=PAYMENT_LINK) [CALENDAR](https://nbya.org/calendar) - [JUNIOR SAILING](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing) - [Register on Clubspot](https://narragansettbayyachtingassociation.theclubspot.com/) - [Junior Mission](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-mission) - [Perpetual Awards and Special Events](https://nbya.org/junior-perpetual-trophies) - [Mary Rose Marshall Regatta](https://nbya.org/mary-rose-marshall-regatta) - [Junior News](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-news) - [Junior Calendar](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-calendar) - [Volunteer](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-volunteer) - [FAQs](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-faqs) - [Zero Tolerance Policy](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-zero-tolerance-policy) - [Scholarships & Grants](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#scholarships-and-grants) - [Sammis Scholarship](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#scholarships-and-grants) - [CJ Buckley Scholarship](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-CJ-Buckley-Scholarship) - [RACING & CRUISING](https://nbya.org/racing-cruising) - [Boat of the Year](https://nbya.org/boty) - [Bay Challenge](https://nbya.org/challenge) - [Women's Sailing](https://nbya.org/womens-sailing) - [Model Boat Racing](https://nbya.org/model-boat-racing) - [NEWS](https://nbya.org/news) - [Share Your Stories](https://nbya.org/share-stories) - [ABOUT](https://nbya.org/about) - [Member Organizations](https://nbya.org/member-organizations) - [History](https://nbya.org/history) - [Official Documents](https://nbya.org/official-documents) - JOIN - [Junior Membership](https://narragansettbayyachtingassociation.theclubspot.com/join) - [Adult Membership](https://payments-na1.hubspot.com/payments/p49gQGtzMMbyJw?referrer=PAYMENT_LINK) [CALENDAR](https://nbya.org/calendar) ![](https://nbya.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Copy%20of%20NBYA.org%20Featured%20Image%201200x630%20-%202026-10-05T142727.046.png?width=1200&height=630&name=Copy%20of%20NBYA.org%20Featured%20Image%201200x630%20-%202026-10-05T142727.046.png) Junior PHRF In The News # Chasing Five Knots ![NBYA](https://nbya.org/hs-fs/hubfs/2026-01-03_NBYA_300x300.png?width=48&height=48&name=2026-01-03_NBYA_300x300.png) NBYA October 5, 2026 *Junior Sailor Author: Maddie "Tuna" Ammatuna, Editor: Chris Szepessy, republished with permission from WindCheck Magazine, October 2026* ### The first three days of the 2026 Newport Bermuda Race were pretty much everything I had hoped they would be. *Digger* was moving, the breeze was up, and we were doing exactly what we had come to do: sail fast. Then we saw the island. That should have been the exciting part. After about 108 hours at sea, finally seeing Bermuda should have meant the end was in sight. Instead, the wind went to zero. The mast unit literally read “00.” We were drifting in circles with boats from all classes all around us, and we were seconds away from second place. After racing across the Atlantic for five days, we were now sitting there watching the breeze disappear. At that point, all I wanted was a shower, a bed, and to get off the boat. It was a pretty different feeling from the one I had leaving Newport. Before we started the race, I remember standing on the bow of *Digger*, a J/44, looking out at the boats around us. One of the boats that really caught my attention was *Black Jack 100*. I had actually gotten the chance to tour the boat and meet some of the crew while she was in Newport before the race, thanks to my high school sailing coach, Joe Cooper. Seeing her out on the starting line was pretty surreal. Here I was, a 17-year-old girl about to start the race I had been dreaming about for years, surrounded by some of the best offshore racing boats and sailors in the fleet. When the starting horn blared, I remember leaning over the side and thinking, “*Well, there is no turning back now.”* I had been thinking about doing the Newport Bermuda Race since 2018. I had done three Ida Lewis Distance Races and the 2026 Sam Wetherill Trophy Race, and I had delivered *Digger* back from Bermuda after the 2024 race, but this was the real deal. This was the dream. It was more than just a bucket-list race for me. And now I was finally on the starting line. The weather forecast had everyone paying attention. The conditions were supposed to be sporty, and they were. We started in a solid southwest breeze of around 15–20 knots with choppy seas. *Digger* felt incredible. She was controlled and comfortable, even when the conditions got rough. I always compare driving her to driving a luxury car with great suspension over the Newport Bridge: smooth.   ![](https://www.windcheckmagazine.com/app/uploads/2026/09/post-1_image1-12-1024x768.jpg) *From left to right after the finish on the docks at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club are Digger crew members Noah Johnston (age 13), Maddie Ammatuna (17), and Vincent McAteer IV (17).* My main job on the boat was pit, but I also spent a lot of time driving and trimming. There were nine of us on board, and I was the only girl. We also had one of the youngest sailors in the race with us, 13-year-old Noah Johnston. It was amazing to see such a young sailor so passionate about sailing and offshore racing. I wasn’t thinking about any of that when the race started, though. I was just excited. I kept thinking about the younger version of myself who had decided this was something she wanted to do and had spent the last few years working toward it. Then the first night happened. I love sailing at night. Everything gets quieter and more focused. It is just the boat, the numbers, and the stars. The water was full of bioluminescence, and the sunsets and sunrises were gorgeous. Every time I looked over the side, it felt like the ocean was glowing. The sailing itself was fast and physical. The wind built to around 20–25 knots, and the seas were getting bigger. *Digger* was moving, and for the first couple of days, it felt like we were exactly where we wanted to be. But after about the third day, the race started to change. The wind became much more inconsistent. We would have periods where *Digger* was moving really well, followed by stretches where the breeze faded and the boat slowed down. Then the wind would fill back in and we would be racing again. It became a constant game of trying to find pressure and make the most of whatever the ocean gave us. And then we lost the A3. The Tylaska popped off, we lost the sheet, and suddenly the sail was in the water. I was in the pit when I was told to blow the tack line. When I did, the line ran completely out of the boat, then pulled the halyard out of my hand. The sail and all the lines disappeared into the water. It happened fast, and everyone had to react. That was one of the moments when the race stopped being just about sailing fast and became about keeping the boat and the crew under control.   For the first few days, though, I was having the time of my life. We saw dolphins, flying fish, and a whale. We ate well that race, like we always do on *Digger*. And on one of the last nights, I remember all of us kids being on deck playing multiple rounds of Imposter. I don’t think I had laughed that hard in a while. It sounds almost too comfortable for an offshore race. It wasn’t. The hardest part for me wasn’t the heavy wind. I never really got scared or worried. I trusted our crew, and I especially trusted the boat owner and skipper, James Phyfe, who is one of the best people I have ever met in the sailing community. He has given me so many opportunities when it comes to keelboat sailing, and I could not be more grateful. The hardest part for me was actually the light air. When you’re moving fast, the adrenaline keeps you going. When the wind shuts off, you suddenly realize how tired you actually are. After days at sea, those slow periods became mentally exhausting. I noticed it most while driving. With nothing happening and the boat barely moving, I had to work to keep myself mentally in the race. One of my favorite moments of the race happened during one of those periods. It was pitch black, there was almost no wind, and I was driving with one goal: keep *Digger* above five knots. That’s it. I locked into the numbers and got into this rhythm with the boat, communicating with my jib trimmer at the time, Vincent McAteer IV, and mainsail trimmer Paul Adams. I don’t think I have ever been more focused in my life. There was nothing else to think about. Just keeping the boat moving. Eventually, after days of changing conditions and nothing but ocean around us, we saw Bermuda. I was so happy. But the final few hours were some of the hardest of the entire race. We could see where we were going, but the breeze was basically gone. After spending so much of the race dealing with wind that came and went, we were now stuck in the worst kind of light air: absolutely nothing. We eventually crossed the finish line and finished sixth in St. David’s Lighthouse Division 5. The result mattered, but it wasn’t really why I was there. I would have been happy even if we finished last. I had wanted to do this race for years, and now I had done it. When we crossed the line, we immediately started getting the boat cleaned up. Sails came down, were flaked, bagged, and covered. When we finally finished the two-hour motor to the dock, I jumped off the boat to hug my sister and my parents. And then came the Bermuda welcome. I’ll leave it at that. That was when it finally hit me. “*Holy shit. I just did that.”* For five days, Bermuda had been a place on a chart. Now I was standing on the dock. And in just a few days, I would turn 18. Looking back, the thing I’m most proud of isn’t our result. It’s the crew. Everyone worked together, and when somebody was tired or struggling, somebody else stepped up. Nobody had to make a big deal about it. We just kept going. That’s probably what I learned most from the race: how to be a better crewmate. The entire race has almost turned into one really long day in my memory now that I am reflecting on it, which is one reason I wish I had journaled while we were out there. But I remember enough. I remember the A3 disappearing into the Atlantic. I remember the beauty of the ocean and sky, with the help of a few photos. I remember trying to keep *Digger* above five knots in complete darkness. I remember seeing Bermuda. I remember watching the wind disappear when we were seconds from second place. And I remember jumping onto the dock and hugging my family. I had been working toward this race since 2018. It took years of sailing, training, and putting myself out there to get to that starting line. The biggest thing the race taught me is pretty simple: if you want something badly enough, you can make it happen. You just have to put in the work. Would I do the Newport Bermuda Race again? Absolutely. A thousand times over.And if I could go back to myself before the start, I would tell her the same thing I told myself throughout the race: **Embrace the suck. Power through the pain. Don’t lose motivation. There’s one hell of a place at the finish line.** ■   *A freshman SUNY Maritime, Maddie Ammatuna is the Young Member Committee Chair at East Greenwich Yacht Club in East Greenwich, RI.* ## Share this post [mailto:https%3A%2F%2Fnbya.org%2Fnews%2Fchasing-five-knots](mailto:https%3A%2F%2Fnbya.org%2Fnews%2Fchasing-five-knots) ## Keep reading ### [![](https://nbya.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Copy%20of%20NBYA.org%20Featured%20Image%201200x630%20-%202026-10-05T142405.853.png?width=1200&height=630&name=Copy%20of%20NBYA.org%20Featured%20Image%201200x630%20-%202026-10-05T142405.853.png) Junior PHRF In The News Yellow Brick Road to BDA](https://nbya.org/news/yellow-brick-road-to-bda) ### [![](https://nbya.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Copy%20of%20NBYA.org%20Featured%20Image%201200x630%20-%202026-09-28T160018.032.png?width=1200&height=630&name=Copy%20of%20NBYA.org%20Featured%20Image%201200x630%20-%202026-09-28T160018.032.png) Junior PHRF One Junior Sailor's Around the Island Experience](https://nbya.org/news/junior-sailors-around-the-island-experience) - [Home](https://nbya.org) - [Junior Sailing](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing) - [Racing & Cruising](https://nbya.org/racing-cruising) - [News](https://nbya.org/news) - [About](https://nbya.org/about) - [Calendar](https://nbya.org/calendar) --- [![Narragansett Bay Yachting Association (NBYA)](https://nbya.org/hs-fs/hubfs/2025-10-21_Burgee_and_NBYA_white.png?width=300&height=92&name=2025-10-21_Burgee_and_NBYA_white.png "Narragansett Bay Yachting Association (NBYA)")](https://nbya.org) ###### Narragansett Bay Yachting Association (NBYA) works to support and grow sailing in Greater Rhode Island. 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