Bermuda will host a regatta featuring America’s Cup sailors competing in the foiling International Moth dinghy this year.

The regatta will be held December 6 to 11 with all racing to take place in the Great Sound, sailing venue for the 35th America’s Cup.

“There’s a Moth Championship coming up in December because a lot of these guys that are sailing America’s Cup want to practise in a boat that foils and the Moth is a foiling boat,” Peter Shrubb, Rear Commodore of The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, said.

“To keep a boat up on the foils takes a certain amount of skill so the Moth is a good fit with the America’s Cup guys and I think a lot of them will be sailing in that series.”

Shrubb, who officiated at the 32nd America’s Cup in Valencia, Spain, said the regatta will also feature local Moth sailors.

“This is going to be an open event so we are going to be contacting all of the top Moth sailors in North America and Europe who are also involved in the America’s Cup and our guys here will compete as well,” the ISAF umpire/judge said.

“People will apply to enter but we will also be inviting people to attend.

“We are expecting between 50 and 60 boats and the plan is to run the regatta out of Barr’s Bay next to the yacht club so boats will be stored and launched there and then sailing out in the Great Sound.”

David Campbell James has been appointed as the regatta’s Principal Race Officer, Shrubb confirmed.

There are presently five International Moths owned by local sailors.

The single handed Moth is the most technically advanced racing dinghy in the world and is designed and built to fly on hydrofoils at high speeds like the America’s Cup Class wing-sail catamarans.

It is why the high performance dinghy has become an integral part of training for America’s Cup teams.

Peter Burling, the Emirates Team New Zealand helmsman, is the International Moth World Champion.