Bermuda's burgeoning team racing community is set to mark a historic milestone this weekend as the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club hosts the island’s first ever Bermuda Team Racing National Championships.
The landmark event represents the first major domestic initiative launched by the Bermuda Team Racing Association, a body formed last autumn following the island's performance at the Global Team Race Regatta in October.
Organizers are expecting high-intensity action on the water, with three two-boat teams—comprising six to eight sailors per squad—set to battle for the inaugural national title in J80 keelboats.
The tournament format will see the teams compete in one or more round-robin stages, with the top two teams advancing to a winner-takes-all, first-to-three-wins grand final.
While domestic silverware is at stake this Saturday, the creation of the National Championships serves a much larger strategic purpose. The entire enterprise has been designed to prepare Bermuda’s elite sailors for a high-profile assault on the upcoming 2026 Team Racing World Championships, which will take place in Stockholm, Sweden, from August 12 to 16.
With the global showpiece in Sweden also being contested in J80s, the national event offers invaluable, sharp competitive minutes for the official Bermuda national squad, which was selected back in April.
The national team heading to Stockholm features two settled crews:
Boat One: Joshua Greenslade (skipper), Amelia Lewis, Emily Davis, and Aiden Young.
Boat Two: Alan Frith (skipper), Cecilia Wollman, Samantha Dill, and Sebastian Round.
Saturday's racing promises to provide the perfect high-pressure environment as Bermuda tunes up to take on the world’s best next month.
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