Spirit of Bermuda painting wins art contest

A picture of the Spirit of Bermuda, painted onto an old sailing chart, has taken top prize in an art competition launched by the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art.

The acrylic painting by Hannah Horsfield, 16, is part of the Art in Sailing exhibition made up of over 100 sailing related entries submitted from schools across the island. The show ties into the museum’s fundraising collaboration with the Bermuda Sloop Foundation for which an auction took place on Friday raising $50,000 for the organizations.

Hannah has a strong connection to the Spirit of Bermuda having sailed aboard the ship several times including the Newport to Bermuda Race with her father along with former Olympic sailors and boat captains.

She chose to paint the Spirit as she is concerned about the future of its educational programmes due to financial difficulties.

Hannah’s mother Dorte told the Bermuda Sun: “Sailing is very close to her she is very passionate about the boat. She signed up for the Newport to Bermuda Race in June which was the inaugural race for the Spirit of Tradition class this year. She was the youngest person on the ship, aged 15 at the time, and there were former Olympic sailors and a handful of captains. It was her first ocean crossing and she loved it. It was very special because my husband (her father) was there as well and it was his tenth time and so he was thrilled for her to come along. She will be a sailing coach this summer at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club — she just loves to be out on the water.”

She painted the picture in acrylic paint onto an old sailing chart of Castle Harbour and Murray’s Anchorage. It is the area when you come back from the Newport to Bermuda Race that is the area where it is really homeward bound.

Art In Sailing runs at Masterworks for ten days.