2022 Bermuda Gold Cup cancelled

The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC) has canceled the 2022 Bermuda Gold Cup, a prominent stage of the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT), due to be held October 18-22 in Hamilton, Bermuda.

“This is not a decision we have taken lightly and there were a few overriding concerns that have led to this outcome,” said Past Commodore Jon Corless, Chair of the RBYC International Sailing Events Committee. “Securing sufficient sponsorship was paramount for this prestigious event, which is renowned around the world for its standard of excellence and has proven challenging in these uncertain and fast changing times.”

After hosting the 2020 Bermuda Gold Cup during the pandemic, a failure to secure sufficient sponsorship in 2021 also led to the event’s cancellation.

“It is obviously a great shame the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club has been forced to cancel this year’s event,” added WMRT Executive Director James Pleasance. “The Bermuda Gold Cup is one of the longest running events on the world tour and in one of the most iconic match racing venues in the world.”

The Bermuda Gold Cup, a founding event of the WMRT, was to be one of four prominent World Championship events alongside 15 World Tour events in the 2022 tour schedule. World Championship events award higher points to the WMRT leaderboard, and prize money of at least USD 75,000.

However, the match racing calendar has been hampered for the past two years due to COVID-19 restrictions, and now has been impacted by the unrest in Europe. Since the 2022 schedule was released, two of the four World Championship events have been cancelled, as well as the Island Match Cup in Puerto Rico.

The King Edward VII Trophy, awarded to the winner of the Bermuda Gold Cup, is the oldest trophy in the world for match racing competition involving one-design yachts. First presented in 1907 by King Edward VII at the Tri-Centenary Regatta at Jamestown, Va., honoring the 300th anniversary of Jamestown’s founding, the trophy is the only King’s Cup ever to be offered for competition in the United States which could be won outright.

2022 World Match Racing Tour Schedule
April 13-16 – Ficker Cup – Long Beach, CA, USA
April 18-23 – Congressional Cup – Long Beach, CA, USA*
April 28-May 1 – Szczecin Match Race – Szczecin, Poland
May 6-8 – Porto Montenegro Match Race – Tivat, Montenegro
May 20-22 – NJK Open Spring Cup – Helsinki, Finland
May 24-29 – Island Match Cup – Puerto Rico (cancelled)
June 4-5 – GKSS Spring Cup – Gothenburg, Sweden
June 16-19 – OM International Ledro Match Race – Ledro, Italy
July 4-9 – GKSS Match Cup Marstrand – Marstrand, Sweden* (cancelled)
August 12-14 – Chicago Grand Slam – Chicago, IL, USA
August 18-21 – International Match Race for the Detroit Cup – Detroit, MI, USA
August 25-29 – Oakcliff International – Oyster Bay, NY, USA
August 30-September 3 – Thompson Cup – Oyster Bay, NY, USA
September 7-11 – Baltic Match Race – Tallin, Estonia
September 29-October 3 – Match Race Germany – Langenargen, Germany
September 30-October 3 – DBS Marina Bay Cup – Marina Bay, Singapore
October 7-9 – Polish Open – Szczecin, Poland
October 17-22 – Bermuda Gold Cup – Hamilton, Bermuda* (cancelled)
December 6-11 – Shenzhen Bao’an Match Cup: WMRT Finals – Shenzhen, China*
*World Championship (WC) Events

WORLD MATCH RACING TOUR
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 WMRT is awarded ‘Special Event’ status by the sport’s world governing body – World Sailing – and the winner of the WMRT each year is crowned World Sailing Match Racing World Champion.

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

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: WMRT