Bermuda Gold Cup is postponed

Hamilton, Bermuda (March 16, 2020) – Organizers for the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club’s Bermuda Gold Cup match racing regatta have postponed the 70th running to October due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 and travel restrictions imposed around the world.

“This decision is based on the uncertainty and state of world travel and is made in the interest of the health and safety of the competitors, event organizers and the island of Bermuda,” said event chairperson Leatrice Oatley, a Past Commodore of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. “We look forward to hosting the 70th anniversary event in October.”

Scheduled May 11-16, the King Edward VII Gold Cup was to be the second World Championship-level event of the 2020 World Match Racing Tour. Sixteen teams were set to compete in International One-Design (IOD) sloops on Hamilton Harbour for the lion’s share of the $100,000 prize purse.

The revised October dates to be announced.

The postponement of the Gold Cup follows a similar decision for the 2020 Congressional Cup, originally slated for April 28 to May 3 as the first event of the 2020 World Match Racing Tour. Also delayed are the events running up to it – the finale of the California Dreamin’ Series and the 2020 Ficker Cup.

Tour information – Event details – Facebook

Entry list before postponement:
• Bermuda National Match Racing Champion (to be determined)
• Johnie Berntsson (49, Stenungsund, Sweden) – World No. 7 Open Match Race Rankings,
• Taylor Canfield (31, Miami, USA) – World No. 31 Open Match Race Rankings, 7th , two-time winner (2018, ’12)
• Pauline Courtois (30, Brest, France) – World No. 1 Women’s Match Race Rankings, 2nd King Edward VII Gold Cup
• Nicklas Dackhammar (30, Gothenburg, Sweden) – World No. 15 Open Match Race Rankings, 4th , 6th place 2018
• Nick Egnot-Johnson (21, Auckland, New Zealand) – World No. 2 Open Match Race Rankings, first New Zealand Match Racing Championship, Nespresso Youth Match Racing Championship and Match Race Germany
• Lance Fraser (26, Toronto, Canada) – World No. 38 Open Match Race Rankings, 6th
• Tom Grimes (21, Belmont, New South Wales, Australia) – World No. 18 Open Match Race Rankings, reigning Youth Match Racing World Champion, 1st King Edward VII Gold Cup
• Maxime Mesnil (30, Le Havre, France) – World No. 4 Open Match Race Rankings, 2nd King Edward VII Gold Cup
• Torvar Mirsky (33, Sydney, Australia) – World No. 27 Open Match Race Rankings, 5th King Edward VII Gold Cup, 5th place in 2019
• Eric Monnin (44, Immensee, Switzerland) – World No. 1 Open Match Race Rankings, 13th , 8th place in 2019
• Anna Östling (35, Lerum, Sweden) – World No. 2 Women’s Match Race Rankings, World No. 36 Open Match Race Rankings, first King Edward VII Gold Cup, two-time Women’s Match Racing World champion
• Harry Price (24, Sydney, Australia) – World No. 5 Open Match Race Rankings, 2nd , 3rd place in 2019,
• Jelmer van Beek (25, The Hague, Netherlands) – World No. 11 Open Match Race Rankings, 1st King Edward VII Gold Cup
• Ian Williams (42, Lymington, England) – World No. 3 Open Match Race Rankings, 12th King Edward VII Gold Cup, two-time champion (2019, ’06), six-time Match Racing Worlds champion
• Patryk Zbroja (42, Szczecin, Poland) – World No. 9 Open Match Race Rankings, 1st King Edward VII Gold Cup, 2018 Polish Open Match Racing Champion

(Rankings based on Jan. 8, 2020 World Sailing Rankings – Match Racing)

Founded in 2000, the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) promotes the sport of match racing around the world and is the longest running global professional series in the sport of sailing. The World Tour represents a series of independently organized and officially sanctioned match racing events. Teams accumulate points from each of the events towards an overall WMRT global ranking, the top twelve teams from which compete in the WMRT Championship Finals at the end of the season.

2020 World Match Racing Tour Schedule
1. April 24-26 – Ficker Cup, Long Beach CA, USA (POSTPONED)
2. April 29–May 3 – Congressional Cup® Regatta, Long Beach, California, USA* (POSTPONED)
3. May 8-10 – Porto Montenegro Match Race, Montenegro
4. May 11-16 – Argo Gold Cup, Bermuda* (POSTPONED)
5. May 14-17 – Slovenia Match Race Cup, Portorož, Slovenija
6. May 22-24 – NJK Open Spring Cup, Finland
7. June 18-21 – Świnoujście Match Race – Polish Match Tour, Poland
8. July 1-5 – GKSS Match Cup Sweden*
9. July 23-26 – Internationaux de France de Match Racing, France
10. July 29-August 1 – Baltic Match Race, Estonia
11. Aug 8-11 – AIRCALIN Match Race, Noumea, New Caledonia
12. Aug 14-16 – Chicago Grand Slam, Chicago, USA
13. Aug 19-23 – International Match Race for the Detroit Cup, USA
14. Aug 27-31 – Oakcliff International, Oyster Bay, USA
15. Sept 2-5 – Thompson Cup, Oyster Bay, USA
16. Sept 9-13 – Match Race Germany, Langenargen, Germany (originally May 27-June 1)
17. Sept 17-20 – DBS Marina Bay Cup, Singapore
18. WMRT FINAL – TBA Nov/Dec

* WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Event

The WMRT takes place in identically supplied racing yachts which change for each event and has been awarded ‘Special Event’ status by the sport’s world governing body – World Sailing. The winner of the WMRT each year is crowned World Sailing Match Racing World Champion.

Previous Champions include Bertrand Pace (FRA), Sir Ben Ainslie (GBR), Jesper Radich (DEN), Magnus Holmberg (SWE), Peter Holmberg (ISV), Peter Gilmour (AUS), Ian Williams (GBR), Adam Minoprio (NZL), Taylor Canfield (ISV), Phil Robertson (NZL), and Torvar Mirsky (AUS).

Since 2000, the World Match Racing Tour and its events have awarded over USD23million in prize money to sailors which has helped to contribute to the career pathway of many of today’s professional sailors. www.wmrt.com

Source: Royal Bermuda Yacht Club