by Talbot Wilson
HAMILTON BERMUDA, September 2- Get ready for some the world’s best match race sailing October 7-12 on Bermuda’s Hamilton Harbour in the King Edward VII Gold Cup presented by Argo Group. Frenchman Mathieu Richard will be back in Bermuda in just over a month to defend his title in the 101st year of sailing for the spectacular golden trophy. In 2007, Richard defeated Bjorn Hansen of Sweden 2-0 in the finals to take the gold. Hansen will also return hoping to unseat the reigning champion. Great Britain’s Ian Williams, winner of the 2006 Gold Cup, will be on hand sailing hard to regain his championship form in the Bermuda classic.
The top match race sailors in the world will be on the line in Bermuda for the annual event organized by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. Mathieu Richard is currently ranked first in the ISAF ‘Open” Match Race rankings, Williams is second, Paolo Cian of Italy is ranked third and Hansen, who was ranked fourth when the invitations went out in the spring, is now ranked sixth. The same skippers were the top four in the 2007 World Match Race Tour, but with Williams first and Richard second. Eleven of the twenty-four competitors are in the ISAF top twenty. Ian Williams and his team just scored a 3-0 victory at the conclusion of the Danish Open to win that World Match Race Tour event.
As the penultimate event on the Tour, teams will be looking to gather as many Tour points as possible to carry forward to the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia. Bermuda will be the place where the psychological games intensify.
This year’s event also welcomes Ben Ainslie of Team Origin fresh from his Olympic success in Beijing. Eric Monnin returns to Bermuda for his fifth consecutive Gold Cup, along with Bermuda’s threat for the gold, Blythe Walker.
Walker is a firm favorite with the locals and has competed in numerous Gold Cup regattas and other international match racing events. Blythe thrilled Bermudian spectators at the 2006 Gold Cup when he won the Petit Finals to place third. In 2007, he placed fourth. He was the 2006 Bermuda National Match Racing Champion and in 2006 and 2007 was also the Anna Roed Bell IOD Bermuda Class Match Racing Tournament Champion.
Sally Barkow, ranked eighth in women’s match racing, is the sole female skipper in the event. Winner of the prestigious Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year award in 2005 and the Women’s Match Racing Championship that year, Sally is the skipper of Team 7 Sailing. As the selection panel's unanimous choice for Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year, Sally was recognized for her "versatility and consistency, both abroad and at home" after winning a string of noteworthy international events — including two world championships — in four different keelboat classes.
Match Racing in Bermuda is a spectator sport and a top attraction for visitors and Bermuda residents alike. Multiple Gold Cup matches are sailed simultaneously all week just off the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club marina in Hamilton Harbour. Sometimes the action is so close that spectators seated on the marina wall must lift their feet to allow competitors to skim the bulkhead or tack for water.
On the weekend, just in time for the Gold Cup semi-finals and finals, the first-ever Festival of Sail will draw Bermuda children and families to Barr’s Bay Park for two days of fun focused on sailboats and sailing, Bermuda’s unofficial national sport. The festival will have a pirate theme and feature a fun castle, face painting and other children’s activities in addition to offering tours of boats from nine to fifty feet, youth sailing demonstrations of Optimist Dinghy sailing and a sailing experience aboard several J105 sailboats with volunteers from the RBYC. The Renaissance Re Junior Gold Cup Championship rounds will be sailed in the harbour on Sunday, an exciting Optimist Dinghy event for spectators young and old.
October seventh will mark the sixtieth time the King Edward VII Gold Cup trophy has been contested. For 2008, Argo Group, the Bermuda based international underwriter of specialty insurance and reinsurance products in the property and casualty market, will sponsor the competition. In addition to Argo Group, the new title sponsor, the Bermuda Department of Tourism continues as the Host Sponsor, the Max Capital Group, Renaissance Reinsurance and Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC are aboard as associate presenting sponsors assuring that the minimum prize purse for 2008 will be $100,000. Renaissance Reinsurance is also the sponsor of the Junior Gold Cup competition for 2008.
About The King Edward VII Gold Cup: http://www.bermudagoldcup.com
Stage 8 of the World Match Race Tour
The King Edward VII Gold Cup, now stage 8 of the World Match Race Tour sailed for the match-racing world championship, is the oldest match-racing competition in the world for one-design yachts. The trophy presented to the winning team was originally given at the Tri-Centenary Regatta at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1907 by King Edward VII in commemoration of the 300th Anniversary of the first permanent settlement in America. C. Sherman Hoyt, a renowned American sailor, won the regatta and was presented with this now historic cup.
Through the years Bermuda has won the Cup 21 times, the United States 17 times, New Zealand 10 times, Australia 5 times, the United Kingdom 3 times, and in 2002 Denmark claimed the King Edward VII Gold Cup for the first time. The 2006 winner was Ian Williams (UK) who defeated a fleet including the 2005 winner, Luna Rosa Skipper James Spithill, who in that year had shut out Russell Coutts’ incredible string of wins. Mathieu Richard of France became the third consecutive first-time winner of the King Edward VII Gold Cup in 2007.
The King Edward VII Gold Cup is the 8th out of 9 events on the 2008 World Match Race Tour’s World Championship schedule. It is sailed in Hamilton Harbour adjacent to the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. The venue brings world-class match racing close to shore where spectators can easily see the competition.
The 24 invited crews including two winners of qualifying events will be divided into three groups of 8 to sail a round robin elimination series Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The leading 8 skippers go on to the Quarter and Semi Finals, to be sailed on Friday and Saturday respectively.
The Finals take place on Sunday with the top two teams in a “Knockout” head to head battle and the losing semi finalists in their own “Knockout” Petite Final. Between the second and third races, the course is taken over for the final race of the Renaissance Junior Gold Cup, which will have been underway simultaneously since Thursday in the Great Sound.
The King Edward VII Gold Cup was a founding member of the World Match Racing Tour. The tour is a series of 9 events, which has extensive television coverage and worldwide promotion. The television broadcast of the 2007 event appeared in November on Eurosport, ESPN, Versus Network, the Sky network and other regional broadcasters. This network reaches more than 300 million homes in 90 countries. An exciting summary video of all the tour events can be viewed at http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com
About Argo Group: http://www.argolimited.com
Headquartered in Bermuda, Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd. (NasdaqGS: AGII) is an international underwriter of specialty insurance and reinsurance products in the property and casualty market. Argo Group offers a full line of high-quality products and services designed to meet the unique coverage and claims handling needs of businesses in four primary segments: Excess and Surplus Lines, Commercial Specialty, International Specialty and London. Information on Argo Group and its subsidiaries is available at http://www.argolimited.com
About The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club: http://www.rbyc.bm
The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club is a private Club and is the third oldest club holding a Royal Warrant outside the British Isles. The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club was established on the 1st of November 1844 by a party of thirty gentlemen, consisting largely of officers in the British Army. There are now approximately 850 resident and non-resident members.
About the World Match Racing Tour: http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com
- The World Match Racing Tour is the leading professional sailing series featuring nine World Championship events across the globe.
- The World Tour is sanctioned by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) with “Special Event” status.
- The World Tour awards over US$1million in prize money.
- Points are awarded at each event culminating in the crowning of the season ending ‘ISAF Match Racing World Champion.’
- Events utilize the same “match race” format used in the America’s Cup with racing taking place in identically supplied racing yachts which places a focus on teamwork and skill.
- Racing takes place close to the shore for the general public to follow the races as virtual on-the-water stadiums.
- Media and television highlights coverage reaches over 500 million households in excess of 90 countries around the world.
- World Match Racing Tour sponsors include Line 7, Pindar, Custom House, Travel Places, Wedgwood and Sail.TV.
For information on the World Match Racing Tour:
Yvonne Reid Force 10 Marketing
Tel: +44 (0) 1590 679613 Mob: +44 (0) 7809 149268
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.worldmatchracingtour.com
For King Edward VII Gold Cup Media Contact:
Talbot Wilson, Talbot Wilson & Associates, Inc.
Tel: +1 (850)432-8170 Fax: +1 (850)432-8050 Mob: +1 (850)217-7138
email: [email protected]
SKYPE: talbotwilson
For Argo Group Contact
Wendy Davis-Johnson
Mob: +1 441-300-3719 Direct +1 441-278-3719
email: [email protected]
Royal Bermuda Yacht Club
email: [email protected]
Tel: (441) 295 2214 Ex 105
Fax:(441) 295 6361