BERMUDIAN skipper Glenn Astwood will be taking on some of the best sailors in the world next week when the King Edward VII Gold Cup takes place in Hamilton Harbour.

But Astwood, a former Olympian and who has sailed numerous Gold Cups in the past, is feeling no pressure.

"I am just going to go out and enjoy it," he said this week.

Astwood, who sailed his first Gold Cup in 1989 when crewed with America's Cup skipper Chris Dickson from New Zealand, took a break from the competition for a few years but was persuaded to return by Blair Simmons ¿ the son of former International One Design world champion Penny Simmons.

"The last 12 Gold Cups I sailed as skipper but a few years ago I just figured I had enough. I wanted a break. But one night Blair and I were sitting around having a few drinks and we decided to do the nationals (Bermuda National Match Racing Championships) which qualifies you for the Gold Cup. Then we went out and won it."

Astwood will have Simmons along with Eddie Bardgett and Stephen King as crew. King sailed with Penny Simmons when he won the IOD World Championships and Astwood and Bardgett have sailed together for over two decades. Bardgett in fact was the crew for Astwood when the duo competed in the Tornado class at the 1988 Olympics in South Korea.

Although he will be going up against the likes of this year's victorious America's Cup skipper Ed Baird, Sweden's Magnus Holmberg who has six European and World Championship medals and last year's Gold Cup winner Ian Williams from the UK, Astwood said he is just going to go out there and have fun.

"We have been trying to do some preparation (on the water) but the problem is that everyone is so busy. Eddie is busy at work and Stephen has just had a baby. We have been out once together and hopefully we will go out again before it starts. "I don't get to do much sailing these days except for some ocean racing. I do not have a lot of spare time so we are going out there with no expectations. We qualified for the Gold Cup and since we got the opportunity we are going to take it. But there is no pressure on us. However Bermuda teams usually do well in the IODs. We are just going to go out there and see what happens."

One thing is for certain ¿ everyone on his boat gets along well. "They are all very good sailors. Blair has been away a lot skippering Starr Trail and other boats. He has a lot of milage and Eddie has been with me every since we sailed Tornados and we also both began sailing the Gold Cup together back in 1989 ¿ the year after we got back from the Olympics. Eddie has also crewed for me every time I have sailed the Gold Cup."

And the prize money for the Gold Cup has also been increased this year.

This Gold Cup will celebrate its centennial anniversary and last year England's Ian Williams of Team Pindar and France's Mathieu Richard of the Saba Sailing Team battled it out in the final with Williams coming out on top 3-1.

Williams won $25,000 for his efforts last year, but this year the winner will receive $35,000.

"The increase in prize money is nice. Every little bit helps and we are looking forward to it," said Astwood.

Astwood will not be the only Bermudian skipper in the Gold Cup. He will be taking on Blythe Walker as well.

Walker placed third in last year's championship and Astwood said: "I have sailed with Blythe a number of times. He is a very good sailor and in fact crewed for me a few years ago."

Unlike many of Bermuda's sailors, Astwood got into the game rather late. "I started when I was in my 20s when I bought a Tornado," he said. "The kids today come up through the Optimist class and start when they are eight or nine years old. The trick is to keep them in sailing because by the time they get to 16 they get a bike and a lot of other things are happening. I had already got that stuff out of my system when I started."

And he also laments the downfall of the Tornado class.

"When we went out racing every week you could count on having 12,13 or 14 boats out racing. It was a very competitive class. The Tornado is exciting to wtach and exciting to sail and it is also an Olympic class. It is sad that the class died because Bermuda were represented in three Olympics in the Tornado."

The first Olympics Bermuda were involved with the Tornado were in 1984 in Los Angeles when Astwood went as an alternate to the team of Alan Burland and Chris Nash. That team narrowly missed out on a medal coming in fifth place after having the misfortune of getting seaweed around their rudder in the final race. Astwood and Bardgett represented Bermuda at the Seoul Olympics and then Reid and Jay Kempe flew the flag at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.

Astwood said: "I sailed the Tornado until 1992 and shortly after that the class died off."

He then went on to sail in Etchells and J-105s all the while sailing in the Gold Cup.

Astwood, now 52 years old, said he would like to see more Olympic classes in Bermuda and good turn outs in them.

"The classes here are limited. The Opti kids are doing fantastic ¿ we just have to find a way of keeping them sailing. Hopefully we can get a number of young sailors competing regularly in Olympic classes. You have to have the numbers, the competition. If you don't you will not get better. Training by yourself can only take you so far. We used to have a good Tornado class as well as a 505 and Soling class."

Les Crane, the main organiser of this year's Gold Cup said: "This is a notable year for the Gold Cup, being the 100th anniversary of the trophy. The Gold Cup is readily recognised around the world as one of the premiere match race regattas. It's the only ISAF-graded WC event in North America.

"We're pleased that so many prominent companies are taking note and wanting to be part of the celebration," Crane continued. "Past Commodore Jordy Walker, a driving force behind the modern Gold Cup, played a key role in organizing RBYC member support."

The Gold Cup is slated as Stage 14 of 16 of the World Match Racing Tour. The tour champion at the end of the year will be named the ISAF Match Racing World Champion.

The Gold Cup is the oldest match-racing trophy in the world for competition involving one-design yachts. It was first presented at the Tri-Centenary Regatta at Jamestown, Va., in 1907 by King Edward VII in commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the first permanent settlement in America.

In the post-war years, the club placed the Cup in competition in 1956 for match racing in yachts of the International One-Design Class (IOD). Bert Darrell had the honor of being the first to defend the Cup in this class and won it a total of six times. New Zealander Russell Coutts became the event's all-time winner in 2004 when he won his seventh championship.