HAMILTON, Bermuda (September 24, 2024) — The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and World Match Racing Tour today announced leading speciality insurer and re-insurer Aspen as title sponsor of the new (inaugural) Aspen Bermuda Women’s Match Racing Regatta to take place alongside the 72nd Bermuda Gold Cup from 29 October to 3 November in Hamilton Harbour. It is the first time that Bermuda will host two world-class match racing events on the same racecourse: the Bermuda Gold Cup (for the King Edward VII Gold Cup) and this new all-female event.
This inaugural Regatta will also host the final event of the 2024 Women’s World Match Racing Tour season, marking the first time the women’s world tour will be hosted in Bermuda since it was launched in 2022. The Aspen Bermuda Women’s Match Racing Regatta will also award a prize purse of USD 40,000, the highest prize on the women’s tour in 2024.
“Equity and inclusivity lie at the heart of Aspen’s culture and the ability to support women in sport aligns well with that ethos” commented Mark Cloutier, Executive Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer of Aspen. “We are proud to sponsor the Aspen Bermuda Women’s Match Racing Regatta that we hope will not only provide great competition on the water but will also create lasting camaraderie amongst the teams and be an inspiration to women across the globe.”
“Royal Bermuda Yacht Club is incredibly proud to announce the upcoming Aspen Bermuda Women’s Match Racing Regatta, to run alongside the annual Bermuda Gold Cup.” added RBYC Commodore Rebecca Roberts. “This event will bring together some of the world’s best female sailors for an exciting competition, highlighting the growing prominence of women in sailing, and fostering both fierce competition and strong camaraderie.”
Leading independent offshore bank and trust company Butterfield Group joins the Women’s event as a Supporting Sponsor. Bermuda-based global reinsurance provider RenaissanceRe also returns as long-term sponsor to the 72nd Bermuda Gold Cup, as well as their 20th consecutive year as title sponsor of the RenaissanceRe Junior Gold Cup, an invitational event for Optimist sailors to be staged from 29 Oct – 2 Nov.
Eight teams will compete from 29 October to 3 November including world rank #2 Anna Östling and her WINGS team from Sweden, also current defending Women’s World Match Racing Tour champion.
Three-time Women’s Match Racing World Champion Pauline Courtois, and current women’s #1, from Brest, France will also be returning to Bermuda with her ‘Match in Pink’ team from Normandy. Courtois is currently competing as a member of the French Orient Express Racing Team challenging for the Puig Women’s America’s Cup in Barcelona and will head to Bermuda when the America’s Cup draws to a close in mid-October. Courtois has an opportunity to clinch the 2024 Women’s WMRT title in Bermuda, along with New Zealand’s Megan Thomson/ 2.0 Racing and Julia Aartsen’s Team Out of the Box from the Netherlands.
Completing the women’s skippers is Great Britain’s Sophie Otter, Australia’s Juliet Costanzo and Denmark’s Kristine Mauritzen and Lea Vogelius.
72ND BERMUDA GOLD CUP
The line-up often skippers is also confirmed for the 71st edition of the Bermuda Gold Cup which will take place over the same six days from 29 October to 3 November in Hamilton Harbour.
A historic and popular event with match racing sailors around the world eager to etch their name on the century-old King Edward VII Gold Cup, the Bermuda Gold Cup has once again attracted an impressive roster of the world’s top open match racing sailors, including defending 2023 champion Johnie Berntsson from Sweden, current world rank #1 Chris Poole from the USA, and 2022 Match Racing World Champion Nick Egnot-Johnson from New Zealand.
Accepting the Youth invitation to the 72nd Bermuda Gold Cup is current NSW Youth Match Racing World Champion, 21yr old Cole Tapper from representing the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in Sydney. Tapper will also be arriving in Bermuda straight from Barcelona, Spain where he is currently skipper of Team Australia Challenge competing for the Youth America’s Cup in the AC40 foiling yachts.
Completing the line-up of ten teams is Switzerland’s Eric Monnin (Capvis Swiss Match Racing Team), Mati Sepp from Estonia, Gavin Brady (USA), Jeppe Borch (DEN) and Dave Hood from the USA. Representing Bermuda will be Bermuda’s Kelsey Durham who has competed in several pervious Gold Cup events.
The 2024 Bermuda Open Gold Cup is kindly sponsored by the Bermuda Tourism Authority, Aspen, Renaissance Re and Goslings.
Visit the Bermuda Gold Cup, World Match Racing Tour and Women’s Racing Tour Women’s World Match Racing Tour for more information.
BERMUDA GOLD CUP 2024 SKIPPERS’ LIST*
- 🇺🇸 Chris Poole (Open Ranking #1, USA)
- 🇸🇪 Johnie Berntsson (Open Ranking #2, SWE)
- 🇨🇭 Eric Monnin (Open Ranking #3, SUI)
- 🇺🇸 Gavin Brady (Open Ranking #5, NZL/USA)
- 🇳🇿 Nick Egnot-Johnson (Open Ranking #8, NZL)
- 🇩🇰 Jeppe Borch (Open Ranking #9, DEN)
- 🇪🇪 Mati Sepp (Open Ranking #11, EST)
- 🇦🇺 Cole Tapper (Open Ranking #24, AUS)
- 🇺🇸 David Hood (Open Ranking #28, USA)
- 🇧🇲 Kelsey Graham (Open Ranking #630, BER)
ASPEN BERMUDA WOMEN’S MATCH RACING REGATTA 2024 SKIPPERS’ LIST*
- 🇫🇷 Pauline Courtois (Women’s Ranking #1, FRA)
- 🇸🇪 Anna Östling (Women’s Ranking #2, SWE)
- 🇳🇿 Megan Thomson (Women’s Ranking #3, NZL)
- 🇩🇰 Lea Vogelius (Women’s Ranking #4, DEN)
- 🇳🇱 Julia Aartsen (Women’s Ranking #6, NED)
- 🇩🇰 Kristine Mauritzen (Women’s Ranking #8, DEN)
- 🇦🇺 Juliet Costanzo (Women’s Ranking #13, AUS)
- 🇬🇧 Sophie Otter (Women’s Ranking #14, GBR)
*Rankings are current as of 1 September 2024 (www.sailing.org)
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Nicole Butterworth, Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Sailing Office, sailing@rbyc.bm
James Pleasance, World Match Racing Tour, info@wmrt.com
ABOUT BERMUDA GOLD CUP
The Bermuda Gold Cup, a World Championship event of the World Match Racing Tour, is one of the world’s most storied match race regattas. The trophy, the King Edward VII Gold Cup, was first awarded by King Edward VII at the 1907 Tri-Centenary Regatta in Virginia. First raced as a match race regatta in1937, the King Edward VII Gold Cup is the oldest match racing trophy in the world for competition in one-design yachts and is the only King’s Cup ever to be offered for competition in the United States, which could be won outright. The winner’s list includes the most prominent names in international sailing, including America’s Cup winners Sir Russell Coutts (the event’s all-time winner with seven championships) of New Zealand and James Spithill of Australia, as well as luminaries such as Sir Ben Ainslie(Great Britain), Taylor Canfield (USA), Chris Dickson (New Zealand), Peter Gilmour (Australia) and Ian Williams (Great Britain). www.bermudagoldcup.com
ABOUT WORLD MATCH RACING TOUR
Founded in 2000, the World MatchRacing Tour (WMRT) promotes the sport of match racing around the world and is the longest running global professional series in the sport of sailing. TheWMRT 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 SailingMatch Racing World Champion. Since 2000, the World Match Racing Tour and itsevents have awarded over USD24million in prize money to sailors which has helped to contribute to the career pathway of many of today’s professional sailors. www.wmrt.com
ABOUT WOMEN’S WORLD MATCH RACING TOUR
The Women’s World Match Racing Tour was launched in 2022 to continue the hugely successful legacy of the WIM Series(Women’s International Match Racing Series) providing a global match racing series for female sailors. The name of the series was re-launched as theWomen’s World Match Racing Tour with its continued mission to expand and strengthen global match racing and promote opportunities for competitive women’s sailing at every level. The Women’s World Match Racing Tour is the world’s first and only professional sailing series for women providing a valuable pathway for aspiring female world champions in the sport of sailing.See womenswmrt.com