Top Island sailor Peter Bromby has been named among the unseeded skippers for next month's King Edward VII Gold Cup qualifiers to be sailed in Hamilton Harbour.

And he faces some stiff competition as he bids to make it through to the main event from a three-day round robin sail-off which will take place from October 18-20.

The unique format of the Gold Cup, sailed in International One Design sloops, includes a Grade Three qualifying event in which the top six skippers advance to round one of the main event where they come up against the eight seeded skippers - the elite of world match racing - along with the winner and runner-up of the Bermuda International Women's Match Race Championship.

The overall winner picks up the King Edward VII Trophy as well as the lion's share of the $100,000 prize purse.

Competition for Bromby in the qualifying event will be fierce with two of the skippers he faces ranked in the top 10 on the Swedish Match Tour, including number one Magnus Holmberg of Sweden, who sailed with Victory Challenge, the Swedish America's Cup team and number five Kelvin Harrap of Ireland, who sailed with OneWorld Challenge.

They will be joined by America's Cup winner and world match racing champion Ed Baird of the US, Olympic Soling bronze medallist Paolo Cian of Italy and 1999 Gold Cup champion Andy Green of the UK.

Other 2003 America's Cup sailors participating are Team New Zealand's Cameron Appleton and Oracle BMW Racing's Cameron Dunn.

Rounding out the roster is Scott Dickson of the US, Mattias Rahm of Sweden, Staffan Lindberg of Finland, Bill Hardesty of the US, Maxim Taranov of Russia and Matthew Gregory of the US.

“With its 32-skipper format and qualifying events, the King Edward VII Gold Cup is one of the few regattas in the world to offer amateur skippers and up-and-comers a chance to match race against the professionals,” said Royal Bermuda Yacht Club commodore Les Crane.

“This unseeded skipper group is the strongest line-up we've seen in the history of the event.”

Zander Kirkland was pleased with his performances in yesterday's pair of races at the Olympic Sailing World Championships in Cadiz, Spain.

The Island Laser sailor posted finishes of ninth and 11th for a points total of 217. He is now 112th in the standings.

“With medium airs and a slightly oscillating breeze I hammered down two solid races,” said the youngster. “I had two good starts and held my lane long enough to play the shifts at my desire.

“I had good speed downwind and made gains when it counted. My speed beats were also pretty good. I have one more race tomorrow (today) and my goal is to hold on to my 112th place.”

Meanwhile, Tim Patton and crew of Robert Billingham and William Thompson lie 61st at the Etchells World Championships off Greenwich, Connecticut.

In three races the Island team have finished 55th, 53rd and 56th for a 164 total.

Seven of the Island's promising Optimists sailors are headed off to the Atlantic Coast Championships in New Jersey this Friday.

Representing Bermuda during the two-day regatta, which begins on Saturday, will be Campbell Duffy, Ben Benardo, Blake Burgess, Joshua Greenslade, Martin Finnigan, Jonathan Dill and Jonathan Northfleet.

Also travelling will be coach Paul Doughty.