SoftBank Team Japan’s Barker and Artemis Racing’s Bruni join Bermudian talent Walker in lineup
HAMILTON, Bermuda – America’s Cup sailors Dean Barker and Francesco Bruni join Royal Bermuda Yacht Club regular Blythe Walker in the lineup for the 67th annual Argo Group Gold Cup match racing regatta, scheduled Oct. 6-11.
The Argo Group Gold Cup, an event of the World Match Racing Tour, enjoys preeminence among match racing regattas around the world. Year after year it attracts the top talent. The list of previous winners since 1985 includes 13 skippers who have featured in an America’s Cup campaign. And they’ve won the King Edward VII Gold Cup trophy 23 times during that span, led by Sir Russell Coutts’ record seven titles.
This year’s lineup of 16 teams continues that esteemed tradition. Besides Barker, the newly crowned Bermuda National Match Racing champion, and Bruni, the 2013 Gold Cup champion, the field also features regulars from the World Match Racing Tour including the event’s reigning champion, Johnie Berntsson of Sweden, and the World No. 1-ranked match racer, Ian Williams of Great Britain. Overall, the world’s top four match racers and seven of the top 10 are entered as well as three past champions, including No. 2 Taylor Canfield of the US Virgin Islands, the 2012 Gold Cup champion.
Three of world’s top five and two America’s Cup teams among early entries
HAMILTON, Bermuda – Argo Group Gold Cup reigning champion Johnie Berntsson has one message to his rivals: Be prepared for a repeat.
Berntsson, the No. 10-ranked match race sailor in the world (based on the July 22, 2015, ISAF rankings), is among a stellar group of skippers who’ve confirmed their entry for the prestigious Argo Group Gold Cup, scheduled Oct. 6-11, and hosted by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. Entries have also been received from world No. 1 Ian Williams of Great Britain, No. 3 Eric Monnin of Switzerland, No. 5 Björn Hansen of Sweden and America’s Cup teams Artemis Racing and Softbank Team Japan, which will be skippered by Dean Barker of New Zealand, who is a past match racing world champion.