Swiggett, who plays on the Dartmouth men's lacrosse team, has been competitively sailing his entire life. At age eight, he began competing in single-handed dinghy races in Long Island Sound, where he fell in love with the water.
"I grew up liking sailing just because a lot of people think sailing is a slow, relaxing sport, but dinghy racing is pretty intense," he said. "There are a lot of boats competing together, and it gets pretty hectic. Doing this race was always a dream of mine, though."
The Newport to Bermuda Race, as it is called, fielded 220 boats this year in 15 different classes, each with a crew of eight to 22 people. Each boat competes to complete the trek in the fastest time possible.
"It's one of the biggest organizational tasks I've ever seen," Swiggett said. "Between all of the boats, the events, the parties and with two countries working together to put it on, it's a huge deal."
Swiggett raced in a 42-foot Hinckley Sou'wester with seven other men. The boat, skippered by his father, had his uncle on board as well.
While Swigget is an experienced sailor, this was by far the longest and most grueling race in which he said he has competed.
The race takes place over 650 nautical miles of open ocean. Each team must chart its own course to Bermuda. The challenge lies in navigating the Gulf Stream and its quirky currents, eddies and unpredictable weather.
"Random squalls can build up in less than an hour," Swiggett said. "I remember watching my dad at the helm, with a beautiful, clear sunset behind him, until all of a sudden a funnel cloud -- a tornado -- formed right behind us, about a mile away. The weather changes are incredible."
Moreover, since sailboats cannot sail directly into the wind, and the wind from Bermuda to Newport blows north, each boat has to "tack" back and forth upwind. Swiggett's team had to maintain a heading as close to south as possible without sailing directly into the wind and losing speed. The wind also often changes intensity, which results in a lot of adjusting and changing of sails for his group.
Swiggett's eight-man crew worked in two teams of four, who alternated shifts every three to four hours day and night. Their journey took over five days, during which they maintained this rotation continuously.
"You're constantly trading shifts and sleeping a maximum of three to four hours at a time," Swiggett said. "Although it's tough to fall asleep immediately, so you sleep more like two or three hours."
The voyage is certainly tough, but not without its fair share of fun and excitement. The start of the race brimmed with pageantry, as hundreds of spectator boats lined up to watch the sailors cast off. Swiggett said his boat was actually the first off the starting line and had to navigate through the spectator's boats to reach the open ocean.
"I was out on the bow calling lines when we won the start," he said. "I had to help us maneuver through all of these little boats. It was a great way to begin the race."
Although the boats were packed together at the start, by the next morning, only a few boats were within sight. From then until the end of the race, Swiggett's boat was alone on the open ocean.
The beauty of the environment was not lost on Swiggett.
"The exchange into the Gulf Stream is incredible," he said. "Over the course of a mile, the water temperature increases about 20 degrees, and the water itself turns a cobalt bright blue, and all of a sudden there are flying fish and dolphins everywhere."
As they neared Bermuda, Swiggett's boat was poised for a solid finish out of the crowd. They missed rounding one buoy that is required by Bermuda law to avoid the coral reefs. Wanting to sail honestly, they circled back, losing 15 minutes and five spots in the process.
Swiggett's boat finished 47th out of 220 boats. Overall, he said he was satisfied with the performance.
"We were very close to having the perfect track -- about five miles off -- and that hurt our performance, but I think we did very well, and it was a good showing for my first time," he said.
Swiggett hopes to compete again in two years, but he's unsure if he will be able to.
"It's a huge commitment mentally and fiscally," he said. "I would love to, but it's up to the skipper."
