Premier Michael Dunkley gave these words of welcome to the Argo Group Gold Cup skippers, crews and spectators during the Opening Ceremony at Bacardi.
"On behalf of the people of Bermuda, I am delighted to welcome the organizers and competitors and spectators for this year's Argo Group Gold Cup.
The fact that this excellent event is taking place within days of Tropical Storm Fay and Hurricane Gonzalo is testament to Bermuda's tremendous resilience and to your commitment to racing in one of the world's great sailing venues. A lot of pieces quickly came together to keep The Argo Group Gold Cup on track, and I want to commend all participants for making it happen.
The weather looks good. Boats and crews are ready. Let the racing begin!"
Sailors had the chance to sail on the Hamilton Harbor prior to the Opening Ceremony with racing set to get underway on Wednesday Morning.
In spite of Hurricane Gonzalo's thrashing of the Onion Patch last week, the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club are ready to host the 2014 Argo Group Gold Cup, Stage 6 of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour (AWMRT).
All 20 teams have arrived safely from their corners of the world.
Thirteen countries are represented in the 2014 Argo Group Gold Cup. The teams have been divided into two groups of 10 for the Qualifying Session round-robin knockout matches: Group 1 features Tour leader leader Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar, Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Hansen Sailing Team, Keith Swinton (AUS) Team Alpari FX, Francesco Bruni (ITA) Luna Rossa , Pierre Antoine Morvan (FRA) Equipe de France, Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Stena sailing Team, Arthur Herreman (FRA) Match the World, David Storrs (USA) Pequot Racing Team, Somers Kempe (BER) Raymarine/Ocean Electronics, and Dirk-Jan Korpershoek (NED) Opportunity Team.
Group 2 is led by 2nd on the Tour Taylor Canfield (ISV) Team One, Mathieu Richard (FRA) Luna Jet, Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing, David Gilmour (AUS) Team Gilmour, Staffan Lindberg (FIN) Alandia Sailing Team, Eric Monnin (SWI) Swiss Match Racing Team, Marek Staqnczyk (POL) www.470sailing.org.pl , Chris Poole (USA) Riptide Racing, Lance Fraser (BER) DigiCel Bermuda, and Nathen Outteridge (SWE) Artemis Racing.
