COLLISIONS AND COMEBACKS ON OPENING DAY OF BERMUDA GOLD CUP

(Hamilton, Bermuda, 21 October 2025) An incident-packed first day at the 2025 Bermuda Gold Cup featured a collision in the first flight of the day before eight-time match racing world champion Ian Williams shot to the top of the leaderboard with Switzerland’s Eric Monnin. It is also shaping up to be a thrilling Aspen Bermuda Women’s Match Racing Regatta with Sweden’s Anna Östling, Denmark’s Lea Vogelius and USA’s Nicole Breault heading the standings. 

The 73rd edition of the iconic Bermuda Gold Cup in Hamilton Harbour started literally with a bang as New Zealands’s Nick Egnot-Johnson collided with Ian Garreta from France in the second race of the opening flight. The day ended with the cream rising to the top as Williams was victorious in all three of his races against Chris Poole, Egnot-Johnson and Garreta.

The British skipper was delighted to be back in Bermuda with his new team sponsored by Pindar by Manuport Logistics and Gladstone’s Long Beach, after a year’s hiatus but admitted it took time to get back into the groove of sailing the IOD (International One Design) yachts.

“The IODs are so much fun to sail and very challenging,” Williams said. “I wouldn’t say we’ve been particularly comfortable in them over the years, but we feel that now we’ve been here over a dozen times, we’re starting to figure it out.”

Despite his strong start to the regatta, Williams knows there is plenty to work on as the regatta progresses. “There is plenty to improve upon as it’s a match racing regatta and what’s good enough on day one is never good enough on day two and certainly not later in the regatta,” he said. “We’ll have a good debrief, work on all those details and come back stronger tomorrow.”

Switzerland’s Monnin was beaten narrowly by defending champion Johnie Berntsson in the final here last year, losing the deciding race in the last 15 metres in a move he described as his “most stupid mistake” of the year.

The Swiss skipper got one over on Berntsson in the second flight but insisted that revenge was not on his mind. “We didn’t remember it on the water but the mistake we did last year was so bad that it hurts every time you think of it,” Monnin said. “But that’s sailing and sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and sometimes you make the most stupid mistakes at the worst time. That’s life and sailing is good training for life. We’ve had so many great races over the last years with Johnie and today we caught him at the last downwind.”

Monnin has never won the Bermuda Gold Cup but was victorious earlier this year at the Congressional Cup in Long Beach in May and is hoping that is a good omen for making a breakthrough here. “We had a great experience in the Congressional Cup,” he said. “We had tried so many times, and we finally made it. To have been so close here last year, that win is maybe releasing something in my head. We’re at the very beginning and we could still be last or first, but we’re ready to go as fast as we can.”

Garreta faced a tough baptism after being hit by Nick Egnot-Johnson in his first experience of racing in IODs and in Bermuda. Both sailors were originally docked half a point for the incident, but Garreta’s penalty was withdrawn after a successful appeal. “It was such a tough race because Nick got a penalty at the start, but he came back faster and stronger, so there was a situation at the upwind mark,” he said. “Nick tried to get his penalty down by turning around us and there wasn’t enough room so there was contact, but I am pleased my points deduction was removed.”

The 24-year-old is the second-youngest skipper at the event and picked up two wins as he faced the challenge of racing an unfamiliar boat. “It’s nice to start with two wins because it’s our first time here and yesterday was our first time on an IOD,” he said.

Meanwhile, reigning champion Johnie Berntsson, chasing a hat-trick at the regatta, will need to bounce back from a disappointing first day after picking up just one win.

In the Aspen Bermuda Women’s Match Race Regatta, running alongside the Bermuda Gold Cup this week, anybody under the impression that defending event champion Pauline Courtois and her Match in Pink Normandy Elite team was in for a victory lap of honour can think again.

Courtois has already made a successful defence of her 2024 Women’s Match Racing Tour crown and is counting down the days until she is presented with the 2025 women’s tour trophy, but the pre-regatta favourite did not have it all her own way on the opening day in Bermuda. After beating American Lindsey Baab in the first of four flights in Hamilton Harbour, the French skipper was beaten in the second by Lea Vogelius, of Denmark, and in the third by American Nicole Breault.

A five-time US national women’s match racing champion, Breault won three of her first four races ― the others came against compatriot Baab and Denmark’s Kristine Mauritzen ― as she tackles the steep learning curve of racing in IODs, and in Bermuda, for the first time. “Humble is my key word for this week,” Breault said. “I’m here to enjoy racing in Bermuda, racing against my friends and to learn. “I don’t have high expectations so anything that comes my way is frosting on the cake. We’ll take it one race at a time.”

Breault was most thrilled to come out on top against her protege Baab. “We come from the same club, train together and she is my mentee,” Breault said. “I love racing a good race against her because it means I am winning in a different way as she can dish it out.”

Despite losing out to Breault, Baab was one of the happier skippers upon her return to the dock after picking up her first two wins at the regatta against Vogelius and Martina Carlsson. Another of the competitors grappling with IODs on their first visit to Bermuda, Baab was pleased with how quickly she learned.

“Once you accept the fact that they don’t turn, it’s a little easier,” she said. “It was definitely a little adjustment needed as it handles like a bigger boat than it actually is. But our boat speed was pretty good, although our pre-starts were sketchy. Everybody here is so good that it’s always nice to post a point on the scoreboard and it’s really fun to be in the mix.”

Anna Östling is one of three sailors atop the leaderboard with three wins after the first day alongside Vogelius and Breault.

The Swedish skipper’s only defeat in four flights came against her old rival Courtois, who beat her in the final in Bermuda last year, but she was pleased with victories over Julia Aartsen and Scandinavian rivals Carlsson and Mauritzen. “It was a great day and the wind that we were hoping for came,” she said. “We’re here to win but we know that is going to be tough as there are many teams here that are hoping to do that. “A lot will come down to producing your best performances at the end of the event, but we are hoping to develop and learn as much as we can through the week.”

The Bermuda Gold Cup and Aspen Bermuda Women’s Match Race runs through to Sunday 26 October. Follow live results at https://wmrt.com/live-results/ and for the Aspen Bermuda Women’s Match Race at https://womenswmrt.com/live-results/