Johnie Berntsson will be back to defend his title at a new-look Bermuda Gold Cup in October.

The Swedish skipper is bidding for an unprecedented fourth straight title but will be forced to do so in a new vessel, with the Fareast 28R match racing keelboats replacing the International One Design (IOD) fleet.

Berntsson swept past champion Ian Williams of Britain 3-0 in last year’s final to achieve the first Bermuda Gold Cup hat-trick since the event adopted its modern format in 1985. It was the Swede’s fifth victory in the event, second only to three-times America’s Cup winner and Olympic champion Sir Russell Coutts’ record of seven.

This year’s World Match Racing Tour event will bring the world’s leading men’s and women’s match racing sailors together in a single combined event, with the Open field expanding to 12 invited skippers, up from eight in previous years. Eleven berths are now confirmed from six countries, with the twelfth and final place reserved for the winner of the Oakcliff International, which takes from August 27-30, also an official Grade 2 stage of the WMRT.

Americans Chris Poole and Allie Blecher, Switzerland’s Eric Monnin, Britain’s Christian Hamilton, Swedes Oscar Engström, Anna Östling and Martina Carlsson, France’s Aurélien Pierroz and Pauline Courtois and Denmark’s Jeppe Borch are the remaining skippers already confirmed.

Berntsson is joined at the top of the world rankings by Poole and Monnin, both top-four finishers in last year’s regatta, while Östling — the reigning Aspen Bermuda Women’s champion — headlines alongside defending Women’s World Match Racing Tour champion Courtois, Carlsson and Blecher as four of the sport’s leading women’s match-racing skippers.

The event is being hosted by Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and will again see teams compete for the prestigious King Edward VII Gold Cup, the oldest match racing trophy for one-design keelboats in the world, in Hamilton Harbour from October 13 to 18.

The RBYC has already taken delivery of eight Fareast 28R keelboats, which will be used for the 2026 Bermuda Gold Cup and for racing at the club going forward.

The Fareast 28R, designed by Simonis Voogd Yacht Design, is a popular match racing boat raced at several events on the WMRT. The new boats are currently undergoing commissioning in Bermuda ahead of the event in a couple of months.

“The RBYC is very happy to invest in the future of the Gold Cup with the purchase of a fleet of boats that are widely accepted upon the WMRT,” past RBYC commodore Somers Kempe said.

“The club is looking forward to the boats also supporting an expansion of sailing initiatives at the club for our members and hosting new events bringing visitors to the island to experience Bermudian hospitality and pristine sailing conditions.”

WMRT chief exec James Pleasance added: “Whilst the Bermuda Gold Cup has long been recognised for it’s iconic International One Design fleet, this year marks an exciting new era for the event with the brand new Fareast 28 fleet recently delivered to the club.

“The Fareast 28R’s are also used at the world tour’s Macao and Sweden stages so the boats are already well known to most of the teams and we look forward to seeing the new fleet in action in Hamilton Harbour in October.”

Recognised as the 2015 Boat of the Year by Sailing World magazine, the Fareast 28R features a lifting keel with a lead bulb, a roller furling jib, a bowsprit for an asymmetrical spinnaker, an open deck and can be raced with a crew of up to eight.