An additional $35,000 will be at stake in this year's Bermuda Gold Cup.

Announcing its title sponsorship of the prestigious race yesterday, Investors Guaranty disclosed that prize money will be increased from last year's $65,000 to $100,000.

"Investors Guaranty is very excited about our three-year partnership with the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC) in presenting the King Edward VII Gold Cup match," said company chairman and CEO Douglas L. King at a press conference in New Zealand, venue for the current America's Cup.

"The King Edward VII Gold Cup's reputation for challenging racing has always drawn many world-class sailors to Bermuda's waters."

Thirty-two teams of top professional sailors and up-and-comers will compete from October 18-26 in identically matched and supplied International One Design (IOD) yachts in the second stop on the Swedish Match Tour 2003-04. The ISAF Grade One match race regatta is celebrating its 55th year in Hamilton, Bermuda.

"We are confident that with the addition of Investors Guaranty as the title sponsor, our event will continue to draw the world's best sailors along with the future champions of sailing," said Les Crane, the RBYC's Commodore.

The Swedish Match Tour is comprised of nine of the world's leading professional sailing events and is proving to be the ultimate battleground of sailing. In addition to more than US$800,000 in individual event prize money, the Swedish Match Tour awards US$200,000 to the top eight sailors on the Tour, with the first-place skipper receiving US$60,000.

The King Edward VII Gold Cup trophy dates back to 1907 when the British sovereign presented a trophy for a featured race at a Tri-Centenary Regatta at Jamestown, Virginia, commemorating the 300th anniversary of the first English settlement in America. New York sailor Sherman Hoyt, who won the cup in 1911, presented it to the RBYC in 1937 for regular match race competition.