The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and Argo Group have issued invitations to the 2010 Argo Group Gold Cup to the nine teams holding 2010 World Match Racing Tour Cards and to a select group of match race sailors. The Argo Group Gold Cup, being staged in Hamilton Harbour in October, has a unique 24-team format.

The Tour Card holders are priority applicants and will be joined by the winners of two qualifier events in the United States and one in Bermuda. The format allows other skippers to request an invitation before May 25. The organising committee plans to notify skippers of their acceptance by mid June.

The Argo Group Gold Cup is the penultimate event of the ten-stage World Match Racing Tour.

The 24-team format of the Gold Cup is unique on the World Match Racing Tour. Nine of the team slots are available for World Tour Card holders, three are selected from qualifying events, the Knickerbocker Cup and the Toyota Detroit Cup in the USA, and the Bermuda National Match Race Championship.

The remaining teams are selected by application and invitation from among the top international match-racing sailors on the ISAF ranking list and leading up and coming sailors identified by the RBYC. By having 24 entrants, room is available for young competitors to take on the world's best match racers.

The 2010 World Match Racing Tour Card Holders who have been invited to the Gold Cup are Adam Minoprio (New Zealand) BlackMatch, the ISAF Match Racing World Champion (2009), Torvar Mirsky (Australia) Mirsky Racing Team who finished second in 2009, Ben Ainslie (Great Britain) Team Origin, third in 2009, Francesco Bruni (Italy) Team Azzura, Peter Gilmour (Australia) YANMAR Racing, Bjorn Hansen (Sweden) Hansen Global Team, Bertrand Pace (France) Aleph Sailing Team, Mathieu Richard (France) French Match Racing Team and Ian Williams (Great Britain) Sail Bahrain.

In announcing Argo Group's third year of title sponsorship, Mark E. Watson III, President and Chief Executive Officer of Argo Group said, "Argo Group is proud to announce our continued sponsorship of the Argo Group Gold Cup match race tournament. The Gold Cup and Argo make a perfect match as we both strive for excellence at an international level. Racing for the King Edward VII Gold Cup is a great tradition in Bermuda and attracts some of the world's best crews.

"Building on the success of the past two years, we look forward to working in partnership with the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club to make this year's event one of the best ever. We will also be supporting the Family Festival of Sail that takes place on the finals weekend of the Argo Group Gold Cup. The Festival is designed to reach out to the broad Bermuda public and introduce them to the fun lifestyle of sailing"

RBYC Commodore Peter Shrubb, a match race umpire himself, thanked Argo Group for its continuing support and said: "Match Racing for The King Edward VII Gold Cup is recognised as one of the premier event on the World Match Racing Tour. It has always been a highlight for sailors and attracts the top sailors in the International Sailing Federation's and World Tour match race rankings as well as top America's Cup skippers. In 2008 we introduced sailing to all Bermudians with the first Festival of Sail. That will be bigger and better in its third year in 2010."

The prize purse for 2010 will be $100,000, with $50,000 going to the winner.

The Argo Group Gold Cup, sailed for the King Edward VII Gold Cup, is now stage nine of the World Match Race Tour, the ISAF match-racing world championship. The Bermuda classic is the oldest match-racing competition in the world for one-design yachts.