Julia Lines is thrilled to have another opportunity to showcase her skills among some of the world’s elite sailors at this week’s Bermuda Gold Cup.

The Bermudian has joined forces with the Australian team Down Under Racing and can barely wait for for the prestigious King Edward VII Gold Cup to begin in Hamilton Harbour tomorrow.

“I’m excited to compete in the Bermuda Gold Cup again, this time with Harry Price and the Australian team,” Lines told The Royal Gazette.

Australian helmsman Price is excited to have Lines among his crew as he competes for the first time in four years for the oldest match racing trophy in the world in a World Match Racing Tour event for a competition involving one-design yachts .

“After the Australian Government’s lockdown for almost three years with Covid-19, it is exciting to be back on the World Match Racing Tour and we are thrilled to have local match racer and experienced yachtswoman Julia Lines on the team this year enriching us with her local knowledge during for event,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to Bermuda and it’s been four years since we were last there.

“Down Under Racing had a really good regatta last time we were in Bermuda in 2019, achieving a third place and also being awarded the Jordie Walker Trophy on our first occasion sailing the classic IODs.

“It’s my birthday the day before the event, so I’m hoping the weather will be great and has moved on from the hurricanes and we can enjoy our time in Bermuda.

“I’m really keen to get back on to the IODs and match racing at such an iconic venue. I’m thankful after not being able to participate in many events post Covid and still be getting invitations to WMRT events. It’s now time to turn up and produce some good results.”

Lines, 26, is making her second appearance in the regatta after making her debut three years ago with Swedish syndicate, Team Wings, led by female skipper and former world champion Anna Ostling.

“They are a great team and they work well together,” she said.

The daughter of Bruce Lines, the former Royal Bermuda Yacht Club commodore, is thrilled to again compete in the International One Design class, in which she has remained highly active since making her debut in the Bermuda Gold Cup.

“Since racing in the last Bermuda Gold Cup in 2020, I joined RenaissanceRe on the Property treaty team and have continued sailing in my free time, including racing IODs,” Lines added.

“In 2022, I attended the IOD North American Championship with former Gold Cup skipper and RenaissanceRe colleague, Blythe Walker, along with current Gold Cup skipper Josh Greenslade, and the team secured a respectable third-place finish. This year, the team attended the 2023 IOD World Championship and came fourth overall.

“Outside of IOD racing, I joined the SSL Team Bermuda at the SSL Gold Cup Qualifiers in 2022, which was an amazing opportunity that I hope to build on.

“I'm proud that RenaissanceRe is a continuing sponsor of both the Bermuda Gold Cup and the Junior Gold Cup, creating a pathway for the next generation of sailors to compete at the highest level.”

Lines’s compatriot Greenslade, the national IOD match racing champion, is also among the preliminary list of 16 skippers which includes defending champion Taylor Canfield, Open Match Racing world champion Nick Egnot-Johnson and world No 1 and newly crowned US match racing champion Chris Poole.

Defending champion Canfield is gunning for a fourth title this year and, along with English rival Ian Williams, is among an exclusive group of helmsman to have won the event on several occasions.