The countdown is on until the world's best match racing sailors return to Bermuda to compete in the 73rd Bermuda Gold Cup, the penultimate event of the 2025 World Match Racing Tour championship season before the WMRT Final heads to Shenzhen, China.
The top-five ranked sailors in the world will be among the eight skippers competing for the prestigious King Edward VII Gold Cup, the oldest match racing trophy in the world, when the action takes place in Hamilton Harbour from October 21 to 26.
Sweden's Johnie Berntsson, the world no.3, may be behind American Chris Poole and Eric Monnin, from Switzerland, in the match racing rankings but he bows to nobody in the blue waters of Bermuda. The Swedish skipper won the event for the second year in a row, and for the fourth time overall, after beating Monnin 2-1 in a titanic final tussle in 2024. The destination of the Gold Cup was only decided 15 metres from the finish when Monnin was given a penalty for what he described after the race as "probably one of our most stupid moves of the season".
Berntsson is looking forward to chasing more trophies in Bermuda with his fantastic team.
"Bermuda is always one of our favourite events on the World Match Racing Tour and for us it's one of the greatest places on the planet to race in," he said. "We have made many friends over the years and love the hospitality culture that seems to reside in the genes of all Bermudians. I am fortunate to race with three great sailors in Björn Lundgren, Herman Andersson and Oscar Angervall who get the best out of the boat and me. We love the venue and that helps a lot but it's never an easy task to win or defend the King Edward VII Gold Cup."
World No 1 Chris Poole will be looking to add the Bermuda Gold Cup to his glittering match racing CV but with a stacked field comprising eight-time Open Match Racing World Champion Ian Williams (GBR), former world match racing champion Nick Egnot-Johnson (NZL), French skippers Ian Garreta and Timothée Rossi, and Canadian Peter Wickwire, a multiple winner of the Vrengen Gold Cup at Bermuda International Raceweek, Poole will have to be at his very best if he is to lift the trophy on the final day.
Alongside the Gold Cup, the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club will also host the Aspen Bermuda Women's Match Racing Regatta. This will be the final event on the 2025 Women's World Match Racing Tour and comes after the Women's Match Racing World Championships, which will be held in Chicago from September 17 to 20. That should set the stage for an exciting conclusion to the 2025 Women's Tour with the top three skippers in the 2025 standings confirmed for the Bermuda event.
Anna Östling and her Wings Sailing team top the women's tour leaderboard with two regattas to go but with the 2024 Women's World Match Racing Tour champion Pauline Courtois, from France, hot on her stern and American Nicole Breault still in contention, the storied Swedish team will need all of their skills to secure overall tour victory.
Östling has yet to win in Bermuda but is relishing the opportunity to earn her first victory "This is one event we have not won yet, but we love the boats and the shifty conditions, so we are up for the task and aiming to perform to our highest level this year," she said.
|
