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Gold Cup returns after two-year break

Welcome return: racing between Sir Ben Ainslie and Ian Williams during a previous Gold Cup (File photograph by Charles Anderson)

The Argo Group Gold Cup is set to resume after a two-year hiatus, organisers have announced.

The prestigious regatta will take place from May 7 to 12 and will again feature some of the world’s elite match-racing sailors.

The event is open to 16 teams that will compete in the International One Design racing sloop for a share of a $100,000 purse.

The traditional format will again have teams competing in Hamilton Harbour in a qualifying round-robin and repechage to determine who progresses to the knockout stage.

Mark Watson, the Argo Group chief executive, said: “The Gold Cup is a longstanding tradition in Bermuda, attracting the world’s best skippers and crews from the match-racing circuit.

“As title sponsor for the ninth year, we look forward to working with the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club to make this year’s event one of the best ever. Our shared commitment to innovation, teamwork and sustainability makes this partnership a perfect match.”

Jon Corless, the commodore of RBYC, added: “The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club is pleased to continue the Argo Group Gold Cup’s association with match racing, built upon the history of the King Edward VII Gold Cup.

“The club also looks forward to welcoming world-class match racers from around the globe to Bermuda and, as always, we anticipate exciting racing on Hamilton Harbour.”

The match race spectacle was once an annual stopover on the World Match Racing Tour.

However, it was cancelled in 2016 after the tour switched to M32 catamarans from the IOD.

The Argo Group Gold Cup is no longer a part of the Tour.

In addition to the purse, teams are competing for the prestigious King Edward VII Gold Cup, the oldest match-racing trophy in the world for competition involving one-design yachts.

Meanwhile, the Bermuda Tourism Authority has announced that the 2018 Oyster Regatta Bermuda, scheduled to be held May 21 to 27, has been cancelled.

The event was scuttled after the shipbuilder Oyster Yachts went into liquidation earlier this year.

Bermuda will host the Moth World Championships, which commence next Wednesday in the Great Sound and run through April 1.