A new champion will be crowned at the 2026 World Match Racing Tour Bermuda Gold Cup with first-time finalists Chris Poole and Christian Hamilton making it into the final two.

Poole beat Oscar Engstrom 3-1 in the quarter-finals before defeating Jeppe Borch by the same score in the semi-finals, and he is delighted to be in action in the final match of the regatta.

“The Bermuda Gold Cup is what I would call one of the big three on the world match racing tour with Congressional Cup and Match Cup in Sweden,” Poole said.

“We’ve managed to make the finals of those two and do well with those but this one’s eluded me. It’s a tricky venue with lots of shifts and I think it’s testament to the guys around me on the boat that are keeping me calm and that’s what is translating into good boat speed and decision making.”

Poole has had a couple of run-ins with the umpires this week but insists his focus has been on calming down and staying cool.

“I’ve really focused on trying to keep calm and level-headed. Earlier in the week I was a bit fiery and now I’m dialling in the mental focus and getting myself in the right head space.”

While Poole has made into his first final after a number of years of trying, Hamilton has got there at his first attempt after beating Eric Monnin 3-0 in the quarter-finals and Aurelien Pierroz 3-2 in a titanic semi-final tussle.

After less than two years on tour, Hamilton is struggling to comprehend being in the final.

“If you had told me two years ago that I would be in the final of the 2026 Bermuda Gold Cup, I would not have believed you,” Hamilton said.

“I’ve been really lucky with the team that I've had and they’ve been brilliant. Clearly they are super experienced but they’ve also been able to coach me through the last couple of years, so every time we’ve been racing we've been able to get a bit stronger, which has led to today.”

Hamilton has no special plans for Poole in the final, instead planning on celebrating his achievement of making it into the deciding match.

“I’m just going to have a beer, relax, chill out and enjoy the fact that we've got to the final,” he said.

“I’m going to relax in tomorrow and hopefully do the same again.”

With one new champion crowned tomorrow, it was the end of an era for another with Johnnie Berntsson’s quest for an historic fourth win in a row ending in the quarter-finals.

Berntsson, who was also chasing a sixth win overall, was beaten 3-0 by Jeppe Borch to bring his staggering run of victories to an end.

“Borch and his team sailed better than us today,” Berntsson said.

“You have to be on your top to win and this week we struggled to get there. We were going up and down and they were a couple of levels better than us.

“You could see they were much smoother in their boat handling and we definitely need a little more practise in these boats.”