A battle royal on the water is shaping up for next week's Investors Guaranty King Edward VII Gold Cup.

An impressive line-up of America's Cup skippers and sailors are gathering in Bermuda for the annual showdown at sea - all aiming to take the title won by Denmark's Jesper Radich last year.

Indeed, with the likes of Russell Coutts, Dean Barker, Peter Gilmour, Peter Holmberg, Dennis Conner and Chris Dickson among the invited skippers, Radich will be hard pressed to defend his supremacy on Hamilton Harbour in the International One Design (IOD) class sloops.

The Gold Cup - which is the second event on the prestigious Swedish Match Tour - will mark the first time since last year's showdown in New Zealand that the America's Cup skippers have faced each other in competition. And all of them are eager to get started.

"I love Bermuda," said Dickson, a two-time Gold Cup champion who will represent OracleBMWRacing with team-mates Gavin Brady, Ross Halcrow and Dirk deRidder.

"I have planned to be in Bermuda since the beginning of the year. IOD Racing in the Gold Cup is always tough and exciting and, with a star-studded line up of teams, the racing is sure to be intense."

Coutts, a six-time Gold Cup champion who is accompanied by his crew of Simon Daubney, Warwick Fleury and Dean Phipps, will represent Alinghi.

"The Gold Cup is a fantastic event," said Coutts. "The races take place in an enclosed harbour, with shifty winds, so there are always good opportunities. The boats are quite heavy, they turn slowly so they are comparable to Cup boats although much smaller. I also like the fact that the public can watch the races very easily."

Two-time Gold Cup champion Gilmour returns with his team of Yasuhiro Yaji, Mike Mottl and Kazuhiko Sofuku. The four sailed together with the OneWorld Challenge and placed third at the 2003 Danish Open.

"The Gold Cup has always been a highlight on the match racing calendar and we are really looking forward to participating once again. It will also be a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and enjoy the wonderful Bermuda hospitality," said Gilmour.

OracleBMW Racing alumnus Holmberg returns to the Island for the first time since winning the 2001 Gold Cup. The Olympic silver medallist is relishing the challenge.

"Bermuda offers the most testing boats and conditions on the Tour, and the line-up this year is the toughest I've ever seen, so I expect it to be a true battle," said Holmberg, who will sail with Tony Rey, Morgan Avery and Ben Beer. "I am excited about testing myself in equal boats against all the big guns."

The "Great Danes" who will be back in Bermuda are last year's runner-up Jes Gram-Hansen/Team Colorcraft and champion Radich who won the Swedish Match Tour 2002/2003. Radich counts among his 2003 victories two Swedish Match Tour events: Match Race Germany and ACI HTmobile Cup.

Prior to round one of the King Edward VII Gold Cup, 16 unseeded skippers will compete in a three-day, round-robin qualifier. The top six will advance to the first round and go head-to-head with the eight seeds and the winner and runner-up of the Bermuda International Women's Match Racing Championship.

Topping the strong list of unseeded skippers is current number one Swedish Match Tour skipper Magnus Holmberg of Sweden and ISAF World Match Racing champion Ed Baird of the USA.

"I've been going to the Gold Cup since 1989, but this is the first year that I'm not among the seeded entries," said Baird, who will sail with Andy Horton, Jon Ziskind and Tom Burnham. "The Gold Cup has been a trend-setting event for three decades. It always has the best competition and great race management. Whoever wins will seriously deserve it as they will have performed well in varied conditions and against the world's best.

"Hopefully, we can make it through to the main event. Then we hope to have a chance at the top four. It's always a tough event because the boats are so unique and the wind in Hamilton Harbour is different every day."

Rounding out the unseeded roster are Swedish Match Tour number five ranked Kelvin Harrap of New Zealand, who sailed with OneWorld Challenge, Olympic Soling bronze medallist Paolo Cian of Italy and 1999 Gold Cup champion Andy Green/Team Renaissance Reinsurance of the UK.

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

Also competing are Scott Dickson of the US; Mattias Rahm/Team Stena Bulk of Sweden; Staffan Lindberg of Finland, Bill Hardesty of the US., Maxim Taranov of Russia, Matthew Gregory of the US, and Bermuda's Blythe Walker/Team Bacardi, Adam Barboza/Team Bacardi, and Peter Bromby.

The winner of The King Edward VII Gold Cup will be presented with the King Edward VII Trophy and a take home a share of the $100,000 prize purse.