This year's inaugural Bermuda Festival of Sail has received a ringing endorsement from one of the best in the business - current World Match Racing Tour champion Ian Williams.

Last week King Edward VII Gold Cup hosts Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC), in partnership with title sponsors Argo Group and local charity Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Bermuda, revealed details of the annual sailing festival.

And Englishman Williams believes the event can only enhance the sport's profile and encourage others to partake.

The Bermuda Festival of Sail will be held during October's King Edward VII Gold Cup in Hamilton Harbour and is designed to both promote and recruit potential sailors of all ages.

"The best thing about this sport is that anybody can do it and compete equally - young and old, big and small, male and female," 2006 Gold Cup winner Williams told The Royal Gazette.

"It (Bermuda Festival of Sail) sounds like an excellent way to engage locals in the Gold Cup and introduce them to this great sport."

Past RBYC commodore and Bermuda Sailing Association (BSA) executive Somers Cooper concurred.

"We believe the Festival of Sail will positively enhance the exposure of sailing in Bermuda. The BSA is eager to support this initiative since one of our mandates is to introduce, promote and help provide access to the sport, eliminating or reducing the barriers that exists in a typically expensive sport," he said.

BSA are presently engaged in a major recruitment drive and an ambitious scheme that could see the Island's various sailing clubs unite under one umbrella. There are also plans to hire a national sailing coach who will work directly with sailors at the grassroots levels.

"We already have a number of programmes for youth which include the National Sailing and WaterWise programmes which is incorporated into the school curriculum for many Government Middle School year one students during their Spring term," Cooper added.

This year's Gold Cup takes place from October 7-12 and will again feature some of the world's top skippers, among them past winner Williams who again looks forward to racing in Bermuda's "unique" sailing conditions.

"We always get a great reception from the RBYC and other Bermudians generally at the Gold Cup, and so it will be good to see all those people again," the lawyer said.

"Of course we race against the same people throughout the year on the World Tour, but it is fun to race them in the unique conditions we get in Bermuda. The hospitality of the locals means we really enjoy coming back to Bermuda, particularly Christopher Sharples who hosts our team for the Gold Cup.

"The IODs (International One Designs) are very different to anything else we sail on the Tour, being such an old design. But they certainly reward good sailing and I very much enjoy the challenge of trying to get the best out of them each year."

Last year saw Williams become the first Englishmen to win the prestigious World Match Racing Tour Championship racing with Team Pindar who competed in the previous Gold Cup in the absence of their helmsman.

And so far, Williams and Team Pindar remain on course to succesfully defend their title this year.

"We have been pleased with our overall performance and consistency but frustrated that we've been unable at both regattas to turn a promising start into a top result, finishing third in Brazil and fourth in Germany," Williams said.

"Having said that, last year we counted fourth place finishes in winning the World Championship and I think whoever wins this year will be counting fourths, so we're not too unhappy."

Also back this year is defending Gold Cup champion Mathieu Richard, Italian Paolo Cian and Finland's Staffan Lindberg.