Their versatility, and their manoeuvrability and speed, especially upwind, meant they were also jealously sought after by non-Bermudian operators for both merchant and naval roles.

Bermudians built large numbers of them for their own merchant fleet and for export before being obliged to turn to other trades in the nineteenth century.

At the end of the twentieth century, no Bermuda sloop remained anywhere in the world, and most Bermudians had no practical or romantic connection to the island's long history as a maritime economy.

The Royal Navy favoured multi-masted versions as it was perennially short of sailors, at the end of the eighteenth century, and such crew members as it had, particularly in the Western Atlantic (given the continuing wars with France for control of Europe), received insufficient training.

The Bermuda Sloop Foundation chose a three-masted design for one of the reasons the navy had: it was easier to handle and less dangerous for the inexperienced youths who would crew her.

The duo received a farewell telephone call from Admiral the Honorable Sir Matthew Robert Best, Commander-in-Chief of the America and West Indies Station, and were seen off from the City of Hamilton by the Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Bermuda, Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Astley-Cubitt, and large crowds on shore and afloat.

They jettisoned everything not required for survival while fighting these storms, but arrived in New York still with four days provisions and fifteen of the thirty-five gallons of fresh water they had left Bermuda with.