year's Gold Cup promises to be the most competitive in history when action gets underway in Hamilton Harbour on October 15.

The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC) this week verified its 24-member list of competitors for the event which features $100,000 in prize money as the richest and final jewel of the Brut Sailing Series.

Possessing 13 of the top 15 ranked skippers and crew on the Omega Ranking list, the fleet is unsurpassed by any sailing event in the world, including the World Championships.

Topping the list is reigning champion, America's Cup helmsman and world number one Russell Coutts of New Zealand, who in May piloted Black Magic to a lopsided 5-0 victory in the final over Team Dennis Conner's Young America , skippered by Paul Cayard off the California coast.

A repeat duel is possible with Cayard also on the list of those confirmed to compete. The pair featured in an exciting showdown in the 1993 Cup final won by Coutts.

Other notables that will make up the eight member list of seeded skippers are 1994 beaten finalist Peter Gilmour of Australia, ranked number two in the world, perennial contender Ed Baird of the United States, France's Bertrand Pace and Thierry Peponnet, Roy Heiner of the Netherlands and Swede Magnus Holmberg.

"The Gold Cup has become the most sought after of invitations in the world,'' said RBYC commodore Brian Billings. "And it is not just the fact that we have the richest prize purse, either. All the skippers love the event because of the format, the organisation and because of Bermuda itself.

"It has become symbolic of the toughest event in the world to win, while at the same time it ranks at the top in terms of race committee work, umpiring, accommodation, boats...every category upon which they judge an event, the sailors rank Bermuda's Gold Cup as the best.'' Indeed, it appears as if the whole of the sailing fraternity now regard Bermuda as the place to come and test themselves at the highest possible level.

Event manager Ben Cesare of Sail Sports International, charged with promoting the annual show for RBYC, agreed with Billings' assessment.

"It is a fantastic combination of old friends and young and hungry talent,'' said Cesare of a field in which all own at least one Olympic medal or world championship in one class or another.

"The weakest links in the line-up are skippers who haven't been active recently on the match racing circuit, but that doesn't mean you want to particularly face them come elimination time.'' He explained that experienced older sailors such as Jochen Schumann from Germany or past winner American John Kolius command respect despite not being seeded and could upset the best laid plans.

There are also the lurking spectres of young stars such as Jim Brady, with five World Championships and J.J. Isler, fresh off a fifth place finish at the Brut Cup of France in July, who have just completed five months of match race training in the America's Cup.

"They are not going to be easy to beat, nor are they afraid of Coutts, Cayard, Gilmour, Baird and company,'' continued Cesare. "It's going to be just outstanding racing from the first gun to the last and with 598 guns in between, you don't want to miss any of it.'' Among those missing are world number three Rod Davis, who is focusing on qualifying for next year's Olympics in the Star class, along with former top ranked sailor Chris Dickson of New Zealand, taking a year off following his failed America's Cup bid, as well as crowd favourite Aussie Neville Whitey.

Competitors will use identical 33-foot International One Designs in this the oldest match racing regatta that uses such craft.

Full list: Seeded skippers -- Russell Coutts, Peter Gilmour, Bertrand Place, Edward Baird, Roy Heiner, Thierry Peponnet, Magnus Holmberg, Paul Cayard; Unseeded skippers -- Marcus Wieser, Chris Law, Peter Holmberg, Andy Beadsworth, Stuart Childerly, John Cutler, Anders Geert Jensen, Helena Strang, Jochen Schumann, Jim Brady, John Kolius, Ross McDonald, JJ Isler, York Cup winner, Bermuda Nationals winner and runner-up.

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY -- Match racing of the highest calibre returns to Hamilton Harbour in October with more than a dozen of the world's top skippers contesting the Gold Cup.