When you have won an international sailing regatta three years in a row, the last thing you want is for the boats you have mastered to be jettisoned. But that is the situation Swedish skipper Johnie Berntsson finds himself in as he seeks an unprecedented fourth straight victory in a new-look Bermuda Gold Cup.

Berntsson’s five victories are second only to America’s Cup winner and Olympic champion Sir Russell Coutts’s record of seven wins in the event, but his previous successes have all been in the International One Design fleet, which is no longer being utilised.

This year, the 54-year-old will be at the helm of the Fareast 28R match racing keelboat, newly harboured at Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, but anybody thinking that the loss of the IODs means the removal of Berntsson’s advantage may have to think again.

“I like change as long as it doesn’t affect myself,” Berntsson said.

“We have a good record with the IODs and we love the kind of match racing that the IODs bring. But with that said, we have the Fareast at other events on the World Match Racing Tour and we like that kind of racing also.

“The most sad thing is that there are a couple of events that use the same boat now and we prefer having different venues, different boats. Match racing is about a race plan and being one-on-one and it is good fun when you have different boats.”

One thing that Berntsson is convinced will not change is the exciting battles that spectators in Hamilton Harbour have been accustomed to watching over the years

“Match racing is close racing and although the boats are a little different, it’s still match racing. You’re going to have duels, you’re going to have dial-ups, you're going to have situations at the marks, passing through the gates and penalties.

“It’s not about the boats. It’s about the type of racing we do and these things are happening in all the events with all different boats.”

It is not only the boats that have changed with eight male skippers and four female skippers competing initially in a round-robin format. Each crew will face each other once before the top four go through straight to the quarter-finals and the remaining crews fight it out for the other spots in the final eight.

Berntsson is not a fan of that format with the better sailors getting less time in the boat than those who have been beaten on more occasions.

“Being in the top four is great but it also means that you have less races to get used to the boats and the conditions before the quarter-finals,” Berntsson said.

“This format actually opens things up with fifth to eighth place potentially coming through. We saw that in the Shenzhen event at the World Championships when the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth boats won in the quarters.

“They adapted and sailed in the conditions we had in the quarter-finals the day before. The format makes it a bit tricky. You need to go through, but you also need to develop and be better during the regatta, which is a challenge if you’re not sailing enough.”

But while Berntsson plots his way into the quarter-finals, he is still taking the time to enjoy his time back in one of his favourite places in the world.

“It’s always great to be back in Bermuda and we love it here,” Berntsson said.

“We love the atmosphere, the geography and we love the people. The people are really nice and friendly, so it’s like coming back to a family.”

The Bermuda Gold Cup starts in Hamilton Harbour at 9.30am today. Berntsson’s fellow skippers are Chris Poole (United States), Christian Hamilton (Great Britain), Eric Monnin (Switzerland), Oscar Engstrom (Sweden), Aurelien Pierroz (France) Jeppe Borch (Denmark), Pauline Courtois (France), Tom Picot (Australia), Martina Carlsson (Sweden), Anna Ostling (Sweden), Allie Blecher (United States).