How many countries ever get to host the America’s Cup? The British have been trying to do so for 165 years since they lost the inaugural race that was sailed around the Isle of Wight.

The oldest international sporting competition in the world has been to only five countries, and yet when the island of Bermuda is chosen as the sixth, a segment of its community appears hellbent on turning into a political football one of the greatest shows on Earth that could grace its doorstep.

You just couldn’t make it up.

You would have to be barmy not to appreciate the tremendous benefit the America’s Cup brings to Bermuda.

Even outside what can be seen visually by way of the construction that is going on around the island, and the creation of jobs while doing so, the rewards for our economy are of exponential possibility.

Then, aside from the numbers crunching, you have the realisation of world-class sport being brought to our shores for an entire month, some of it featuring young Bermudians.

Unlike the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, where the participants popped in for a weekend and then were off on their private jets, America’s Cup teams are camped here in Bermuda for the long haul — immersed in Bermudian society, living with us, eating with us, sending their children to our schools. Interacting. Engaging.

In short, contributing to our way of living and growing our economy at the same time, while making what is hoped to be a lasting impact on young minds.

Oracle Team USA, Artemis Racing and SoftBank Team Japan have had their bases set up for some time and got the jump on their rivals in integrating with Bermuda at grassroots level, but there can be no mistaking that Groupama Team France, Emirates Team New Zealand and Land Rover BAR will do likewise after they finalise their plans by the end of the year.

And this is all before the fun and games are under way in May 2017, when the world’s media and thousands of visitors will flock to Bermuda — many in their superyachts, several more as part of the Marion to Bermuda Race and the rest taking the conventional route by air.

All eyes will be on Bermuda. It is to be hoped we will not be looking back at them through self-inflicted black eyes. For that is the path we are on, if some have their way.

Sad. Very sad.

It is for this reason that The Royal Gazette has entered a partnership with America’s Cup Bermuda Ltd, the company formed shortly after we won the bid to host the 35th America’s Cup in December 2014 to deliver on the Government’s responsibilities to the America’s Cup Event Authority.

Among these deliverables is ensuring effective communication with the broader Bermuda community in relation to the America’s Cup, and the impact and opportunities associated with it.

You would think this to be a doddle, given the magnitude of the America’s Cup, and the euphoria that greeted Grant Gibbons, the Minister of Economic Development, and Sir Russell Coutts, the ACEA chief executive, when the pair paraded the Auld Mug around the island was out of this world.

The feel-good factor was infectious and there was no doubt then, as there should be no doubt now, that the Bermudian community was behind the America’s Cup and will flock to the racing in the Great Sound and to the events associated with it.

As much could be seen for the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series last year between October 24 and 26 — and back then we even lost a day’s racing.

But when the cup’s away, the mice will play.

Most in the name of politics, the discourse of which is already a massive shortcoming for Bermuda, the America’s Cup has been battered from pillar to post by those who put on blindfolds to the realities of the progress made around the island, and who have been only too willing to pass out $77 million in bandanas for others to be led by the Pied Piper over the pier and into a murky abyss of misinformation.

What is actually happening is very positive. We at 2 Par-la-Ville Road can see that, but it is not always possible for every single detail related to the America’s Cup to be reported.

Yet it is essential that our community can see this, too, and have a total buy-in that the America’s Cup is about more than filthy-rich billionaires and playthings that fly through the Great Sound.

There is a lot to learn: about wingsails and foils, and hydraulics — and about how grinders have nothing to do with what you might find in remote corners of a reggae dancehall party.

More pertinently, it is about community. It is about Bermuda’s young people and the wonderful Endeavour programme. It is about environmental sustainability. It is about leaving a legacy.

Starting two weeks ago, we and ACBDA have partnered to present a two-page pullout in the Saturday edition of the sports section. Emboldened by the hashtag #ourAC, the varied community-driven content takes you to the heart of the effort to engage Bermuda and Bermudians.

In addition, we have crafted a section dedicated to #ourAC on the website, which can be found towards the extreme right of the menu fields on the homepage.

Once there, not only is every community story related to the America’s Cup featured, but they are sorted into subsets so that you can find what you want — ranging from team news and athletes’ biographies to the AC Effect and volunteering — and rather quickly.

Vicki Abraham, the director of marketing and communications for ACBDA, is one of a ten-strong team tasked with spreading the word. “We are so pleased with this significant media partnership and The Royal Gazette’s commitment to serving the community with up-to-date, interesting and relevant information about the impact of the America’s Cup experience, here in our home,” she said this week.

We are proud as well. It is our duty to see that the America’s Cup is seen for what it is — a truly amazing event with special athletes and cool high-tech gadgetry, and the propensity to extend Bermuda’s global reach beyond our wildest dreams.