User:Acroterion/Bavier Sr

Robert N. Bavier Sr. (1882-1967) was an American sailor and banker, most notable for his success in the Newport Bermuda Race in the 1920s and 1930s.

Robert Newton Bavier was a banker, rising to president and chairman of the board of the National Bank of Westchester, which would eventually be acquired by Chase Manhattan Bank.

Sailing career
Bavier had success in racing starting in 1902 in New Rochelle One-Design boats. In 1904 he participated in a race from New York City to Marblehead, Massachusetts. In 1907 he participated in his first Bermuda race as sailing master of schooner Hyperion. Through the 1910s he skippered boats in races on Long Island Sound. In 1923 Bavier was part of the committee that established the rules and design formula for the Newport Bermuda Race.

Bavier's yacht racing experience included time as a tactician on the 1930 J Class America's Cup contender Weetamoe, which was defeated by Enterprise in trials.

Newport-Bermuda Race
Bavier was the first to use a Marconi or Bermuda rigged sailboat in offshore racing, instead of the shorter-masted gaff rigs that were used for offshore sailing in the early 20th century. Bavier converted his 59 ft New York 40 yawl Memory to a Marconi sailplan and beat all of the gaff-rigged Class A racers in the 1923 race, but missed the overall corrected-time win. The next year Bavier and Memory won outright, finishing first in 1923, 1924 and 1926. In 1928, having sold Memory in 1925, Bavier sailed his 66 ft ketch Dragoon to a win. In 1934 Bavier was skipper of Edlu, owned by Rudy Schaefer, to a win, the first for a single-masted boat. Bavier finished seven Newport Bermuda races, all in the top three positions.

Later life and family
Bavier was elected commodore of the New Rochelle Yacht Club and the Cruising Club of America in 1924, vice commodore of the Larchmont Yacht Club, and member of the New York Yacht Club.

Bavier's son, Robert Bavier Jr. was himself a notable racer, skippering Constellation to win the 1964 America's Cup, and going on to become publisher of Yachting.

Bavier retired to Stuart, Florida in 1957. He died in December 17, 1967, after a long illness.

Honors
Bavier was posthumously nominated to the National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2022.