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Bermuda: Sports and Spectator Sports
By Mary Johnson Tweedy
BERMUDA'S mild climate, blue water and fine beaches make it, to start with, a natural for sports, but add to that the legendary British enthusiasm for athletics and it is not surprising that courts, links and playing fields are scattered throughout the Islands. Nothing is mandatory in leisurely Bermuda, not even sports, but few visitors resist the temptation to enjoy them either as a spectator or a participant. The variety at hand, so easily available in any season, rarely fails to stir even the most latent enthusiasm.
CYCLING
Cycle liveries are all over the Islands, and they rent out bicycles by the hour, day, week or month at reasonable rates. Your guest house or hotel can reserve one for you or direct you to a near-by bicycle shop. The bicycles are of English make but equipped with both English hand brakes and American coaster brakes. They all have the unique Bermuda baskets that have become almost a trademark the Colony, and little wicker or metal seats can be affixed to the rear mudguard for towing moppets.
Leg muscles may ache for the first day or so and caution is advisable until you get the hang of it. Try a short distance the first day rather than attempt to travel from Somerset to St. George and back.
If your bride has never learned to cycle, rent a tandem and give her a ride on a bicycle-built-for-two until she can navigate for herself. It is impossible to get very lost, so the newest arrivals can turn off and explore any cart road or narrow path without worry.
Those who want to cover ground with less expenditure of energy may rent a one-horsepower "auxiliary bicycle."
BEACHES, PICNICS AND SWIMMING
The sand of Bermuda's beaches actually is pinkish. And it doesn't just look pink because of an enthusiastic Chamber of Commerce. Sand in the United States is basically composed of quartz and other minerals, but the delicate pink-colored particles in Bermuda's beaches are tiny pieces of coral ground fine by the action of the waves.
The entire South Shore is dotted with beaches, from Somerset to Tucker's Town and St. George's. Some are long sweeps of unbroken sand, others are divided by romantic coral ramparts into protected little coves that you may temporarily stake out as your own. One of the most inexpensive treats is to cycle along the South Shore of Paget, Warwick or Southampton and pick out your own picnic spot (see map on inside cover). Take along a box lunch (which your hotel or guest house will prepare) and a thermos of cold drinks, and you can sun and swim and build sand castles all day.
Even on chilly days, the South Shore is surprisingly good for a dip if the sun is bright. Native Bermudians seem rarely to swim except from May to October, and they quizzically regard American tourists who go in on good days around the calendar. Despite the relative mildness of winter there are many days when a brisk game of golf or tennis may have much greater appeal than a beautiful beach, but there are surprisingly few days when the beaches are abandoned.
The big hotels have swimming pools, inside at the St. George, and protected against the wind at the Castle Harbour, Princess and Belmont Manor. The B. A. A. pool is near the Eagle's Nest Hotel and open to the public. These salt-water pool are invigorating in the summer and in winter can be used on days when a walk into the sea might be somewhat too stimulating.
The North Shore has no sand or beaches to compare with the South Shore but there are fair beaches at Spanish Point, the Flatts, Shelly Bay, and St. George. Bathing in Harrington Sound, Hamilton Harbor or the Great Sound is attractive and fun in warm weather, but the South Shore is a better bet when swimming at all takes courage. Sea temperatures range from 62° in January, February and March to 84° in summer months. Have no hesitation about swimming in the Harbor waters. They are clean and uncluttered.
A dip before breakfast can banish fatigue of head or muscle, and in the summer months a moonlight swim creates memories that will linger.
GOLF
Bermuda's climate might have been designed for golf, and apparently its grass was. Fairways literally shed water and a really wet course is a novelty. Golfers who have played all over the world are hard-pressed to name courses with scenery that can top Mid-Ocean, Riddell's Bay, Belmont Manor or St. George. From the tees there are intoxicating views of deep blue water and of white surf breaking over the reefs, and along the fairways there are glimpses of colorful houses with hibiscus hedges.
Both the scratch golfer and the duffer will find the courses well designed and sporting, and one of the four is within easy reach wherever you stay. Mid-Ocean, Riddell's Bay and Belmont Manor have good pros and often the colored caddies are suprisingly good tutors. Clubs can be rented as a rule, but the enthusiastic golfer who plans to play frequently is well advised to have his own. Clubs, balls and equipment are available at the clubs and in Hamilton shops. Players use either the regulation American ball or the smaller English one which can travel a little farther and a little straighter, particularly in a breeze.
TENNIS
Tennis was introduced to the United States by Bermuda! The game was brought from England in 1873 as a new fad and was first played at "Clermont" in Paget. Mary Outerbridge of New York became enthusiastic about the game while visiting relatives in the Colony, and when she went home persuaded the Staten Island Cricket Club to build the first tennis court in America in 1874.
Tennis is a popular year-round sport. Its center of activity is the Bermuda Tennis Stadium in Pembroke on an extension of Burnaby Street, a few minutes' walk or cycle from Front Street. A resident professional is available for lessons either to beginners or those who want to polish up their game.
Most of the big hotels have tennis courts and one or two have resident professionals. Some of the best tennis is found at the Coral Beach and Tennis Club, which has an excellent pro. Guests must be introduced to the club by an annual member. Guests at Cambridge Beaches play at the Somerset Lawn Tennis Club and other visitors can if introduced by a permanent member. The club has tennis teas on Thursday and Sunday afternoons, and although neither the tennis nor the clay courts are of professional quality, afternoons here are among the most pleasant you can spend. The courts are an easy walk or cycle from the Somerset ferry landing.
Rackets can usually be rented but it is a good idea to bring your own or buy an English racket here. Warm-up tournaments are held each spring before the big ones (see Spectator Sports), and better-than-average players frequently plan their vacations so they can play in them. For dates write: The Sports Director, Trade Development Board, Hamilton.
Sailing in Bermuda can be all things to all people. Depending on your experience you can perhaps crew in an International One-Design in a race in the Great Sound or for a few dollars an hour charter a graceful sloop with a competent and colorful boatman who will take you for a short sail around the Islands of Hamilton Harbor or for a leisurely day's excursion down to St. George. In between, you can rent a little you-sail-it by the hour, day or week, or a somewhat larger craft with a crew who leaves you to it when he sees you can sail. Manage at least one sail if you can. It is a delightful way to see the Harbor and Great Sound.
To a yachtsman, conditions for sailing and racing are nearperfect. There are no fogs or troublesome currents; the wind is true and the classes sailed are excellent for the local conditions.
Bermudians of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries won fame manning privateer and clipper ships. Their descendants are such able sailing men that they have established a reputation for the tiny Colony that is recognized in yachting circles the world over. The biennial "Bermuda Race" from Newport, R. I., for the Bermuda Trophy is an event in the world of yachting. To participate either as the fortunate owner of a yacht big enough to make the run or as an amateur member of the crew is one of the great ambitions of yachtsmen throughout the world.
Three classes of smaller yachts are raced on Thursdays and Sundays throughout the year: International One-Designs, International 14' dinghies, and Luder 16's. There are various class races each year here, in the United States and in Canada between teams from Bermuda and the United States, Canada and England or all of them. Unlike the big yachts of the Bermuda Race, smaller ones are carried back and forth in state on the deck of the Queen of Bermuda.
The Bermuda class that is regarded with a combination of awe and delight by yachtsmen is the Bermuda Fitted Dinghy (not to be confused with the 14-foot Internationals). The deckless 14-foot craft carries more sail for its size than any other recognized class and some call it "acrobatic sailing." It takes one man aboard just to keep it upright alongside the dock. In a normal crew of five to seven one man bails continually, usually with a washpan.
As its name implies, the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club is the patriarch of Bermuda racing. It was founded in 1844 and, as it deserves to be, is very proud of its distinguished history. Prince Albert was its first Royal Patron and King George VI is the present one. It is far and away the most exclusive club in the Colony. Bermuda's most prominent men belong to it and its membership comes primarily from the FFB's. † The club has an impressive location on Albuoy's Point in Hamilton Harbor, and members meet there daily for lunch and cocktails and perhaps a bit of "slosh," the traditional billiard game of the club.
There are several other sailing clubs with somewhat less tradition and fame. The Bermuda Sailboat Club, on White's Island in the Harbor, is headquarters for the Dinghy fleet. Other clubs are the Hamilton Dinghy Club on Reid Street, the Sandys (Somerset) Boat Club, The Southampton Boat and Sports Club, St. George's Dinghy and Sports Club and the Spanish Point Club. Members of recognized foreign yacht clubs are usually granted guest privileges after application to the secretary of a club.
If you have sufficient confidence and knowledge to sail alone and want to rent a small boat, call Lusher's Sail-It-Yourself boat livery in Warwick. Here you can charter a conventional boat by the hour, day or week and be entirely on your own. Other sailboats and launches for hire cruise the Harbor in slack times looking for charters, or you can call Darrell Bros. Marine Slip in Warwick or the Red Hole Boat Slip in Paget. Otherwise leave a message for these or others with the Visitors' Service Bureau. These boats always come with a colored boatman who stays aboard but will turn over the tiller or wheel if convinced you are a good risk. They are amusing guides to the lore of Bermuda as well as competent sailors. You can go for a day trip or a romantic moonlight sail with a swim at one of the little islands.
If you are good enough and want to race, talk to the secretary of a yacht club and perhaps he can fix you up with a berth in a boat for one of the Thursday or Sunday races.
FISHING
Game fishing is a year-round sport and Bermuda ranks as one of the great deep-sea fishing centers of the world. In all, 335 varieties have been caught along the reefs and 267 in the open sea. Even the rankest amateur is always assured of catching "something," and perhaps even one of the really big ones. World record amberjack, bonefish and bonito have been taken from Bermuda waters, and eminently respectable catches of marlin, tuna, rockfish and wahoo are frequent events. Bermuda chub, sometimes weighing twenty pounds, are considered by many to be the gamest light-tackle fish in the Atlantic.
Bonito, barracuda, mackerel, dolphin, wahoo, bonefish and chub are taken on light tackle (usually construed here as 6 oz. tip with 9-thread line). Bluefin and Allison tuna, white, blue and black marlin and amberjack are taken with heavy tackle. The fishing grounds for these big ones are off Challenger Bank, Argus Bank, N.E. Point and St. David's Lighthouse, from thirty minutes to two hours from Hamilton or St. George. Charter boats from 28 to 40 feet in length come complete with tackle and bait, and the owner-guides who skipper them are experienced local men who know their business and will almost always produce a good day's sport and catch.
The annual Bermuda Game Fishing Tournament is well known in Atlantic waters and creates great rivalry among resident and visiting fishermen. The tournament runs from April to October and awards are made for prize catches of various species on both light and heavy tackle. Visitors who wish to enter can secure forms and full information on rules from the Sports Director of the Bermuda Trade Development Board. There are no fees involved.
Surf casting for pompano and snapper is good sport on any of the beaches along the South Shore but you should bring along your own rod or buy an English one here.
Look down into the clear water from docks on the Great Sound or Hamilton Harbor and you will be amazed at the number and size of the fish you can see. If you just want to catch a fish sit on your dock and dangle a hook and line weighted with a bit of coral and baited with a little dough mixed with rum and cotton to pull in grunts and gray snappers.
If you merely want to look at fins from sea horses to sharks the world-famous Aquarium has all of them. Or late any afternoon you can stroll down to the Old Yacht Club steps opposite Butterfield's Bank on Front Street where the commercial fishermen take their catch. This informal fish market with its bargaining over prices and the weighing in of the colorful catch is always interesting.
WATER SKIING
Bermuda's protected waters--so good for sailing--are excellent for water skiing, and the sport has become increasingly popular since the war. A speed boat and equipment can be rented by the hour. Ask at the Visitors' Service Bureau, your hotel or guest house.
DEEP-SEA DIVING
A trip to the Aquarium can conveniently be combined with a first-hand look at the fascinating fish and coral of the ocean bed. The experience of donning a diving helmet is inexpensive and exciting. Ask directions at the Aquarium and don't forget to take your bathing suit along.
HORSEBACK RIDING
Saddle horses may be rented from various stables, and your hotel or guest house or the Visitors' Service Bureau can put you in touch with one. There is a project under discussion to convert the old railroad right-of-way into a cycle and bridle path but meanwhile there are cart roads to explore and one or two riding rings.
TARGET SHOOTING
There are numerous rifle clubs, and visitors (who want to bring their rifles with them) are welcome to the various shoots; the Visitors' Service Bureau can give you information on local clubs. After arrival you must get a police permit for your gun. Several hotels have skeet or trap shooting.
SPECTATOR SPORTS
CRICKET
"Sand lot" cricket is a popular summer sport with almost all white and colored boys, and regular matches between adult teams of Bermudians or the British Services are played several times a week in the summer. It is no great problem for a visitor to find a match, but for an American to understand the game is something else again. If you can, go to your first cricket match with a Bermudian or an Englishman.
During the summer months cricket is usually played on Thursday and Sunday afternoons in Somerset, at the Bermuda Athletic Association field in Pembroke, just outside Hamilton, and on numerous club fields. The Visitors' Service Bureau, the local papers or your hotel or guest house can confirm playing times.
Even if you don't understand cricket don't miss the "Cup Match" if you are here in late July or early August. Played between colored teams from Somerset and St. George the Cup Match is a Bermuda institution and the leading colored sports event of the year.
FOOTBALL (SOCCER)
Soccer is the most widely played football game in the world although Americans have always shown a marked lack of enthusiasm for it. It is popular throughout the Islands, and matches are played on Thursday and Sunday afternoons in cool weather. Some of the best games are held at the B.A.A. ( Bermuda Athletic Association) Field in Pembroke near Hamilton.
RUGBY
Rugby, or rugger, or rugby football can be seen at various times in Bermuda but it is a "must" during Rugby Week. This is designed to coincide with spring vacations in eastern American universities, and teams from Yale, Harvard, Princeton and other colleges come to Bermuda where they play British service teams, local Bermuda teams and each other. The game seems mild compared to American football, and, at first, American boys usually dwarf the Britishers, but after a few minutes of play they know they are involved in a rough, fast game of organized mayhem without the fortification of shoulder pads and other "armor" of American football.
HORSE RACING
Horse racing at Shelly Bay is a fall and winter sport. Take a box lunch which can be supplemented at the bar. You wouldn't expect to find famed rockets of the track in the middle of the Atlantic and you won't. On Thursdays and holidays there are both trotting and running races with pari-mutuel betting at the half-mile track in Hamilton Parish near the Aquarium. Boxing Day (the day after Christmas and a traditional English holiday) is one of the biggest race meetings of the year.
WATER CARNIVALS
Geographically it is impossible for a Bermuda baby to be born more than a mile from the water, and many learn to swim early and well. Bermuda entered a swimming team in the 1948 Olympic Games at London and placed tenth in diving! On a population basis Bermuda's entry is comparable to one from Poughkeepsie, N. Y., competing with teams from England, France and the United States.
Water carnivals, including water polo, swimming and diving events, are held in the winter at the St. George Hotel's indoor pool and in other seasons at the B.A.A. (Bermuda Athletic Association) Pool near the Eagle's Nest Hotel in Pembroke. Each autumn ranking swimmers from the United States come to Bermuda for a week of international team and individual competitions. Check Visitors' Service Bureau for dates and times of these meets.
BOXING
Amateur boxing is under the wing of the B.A.A.A. (Bermuda Amateur Athletic Association). Various preliminary bouts are held leading to the annual Amateur Boxing Championships. Three boxing clubs arrange professional bouts, usually on monthly cards. Dates and times of matches are available from the Visitors' Service Bureau.
AMERICAN FOOTBALL, BASKETBALL AND BASEBALL
The American Air Force at Kindley Field plays a regular season of American football with service teams flown from the United States. The football season closes with the big Lily Bowl game on New Year's Day, attended by His Excellency the Governor and all top British and American officials in the Colony.
Basketball, baseball and other sports are also on the regular sports calendar. Phone the Athletic Officer at the Field for information about various events.
TENNIS
Each spring there is a series of "warm-up" tennis tournaments before the United States and international stars arrive for the annual Bermuda Invitation Tennis Tournament. This tournament, coming just after the winter tournaments are over in the States and before the summer circuit starts, usually gets a good representation of Davis Cup and other top-ranking players. Following the Bermuda Invitation Tournament is the Coral Beach and Tennis Club Tournament, and most of the visiting players stay over for it. For the spectator it adds up to a solid month of excellent tennis. Other tournaments are held throughout the year. Dates of the various tournaments vary but current information is available from the Sports Director, Trade Development Board or from the Visitors' Service Bureau.
SAILING
Races are interesting for sailing spectators to follow, provided they keep out of the fleet's way and wind. The boats for hire, mentioned earlier, are available either to sail yourself or just for the ride to follow races, but you should reserve a boat well in advance as there is usually a heavy demand on big race days. Sometimes a Harbor ferry, diverted from its regular run, operates as a spectator boat.
GOLF
Many golf tournaments are held throughout the year at one or another of the courses, but the outstanding one is the MidOcean Invitation Tournament. Before the war many famous amateurs traveled to Bermuda each winter to compete ( Babe Ruth lost to T. Suffem Tailer in the 1938 finals).
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