Women to race at Gold Cup

The ADT Women's Match Race Championship will take place on October 12-15 at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC) and will be a unique, eight-team series leading to the ADT Gold Cup on October 12-20, the fourth event on Swedish Match Tour 2002/3.

"We are pleased to offer female sailors the opportunity to compete in Bermuda at one of the premier match racing events in the world", said RBYC Commodore Les Crane.

The ADT Women's Match Race Championship will offer a prize purse of $15,000. Additionally, the sailors will be competing for the 4th Cruiser Squadron Bowl, an ornate Edwardian silver bowl originally presented to the RBYC in 1908 by the Rear Admiral and Officers of the 4th Cruiser Squadron, H.M. Ships Euryalus, Hogue and Cressy. The winner and runner-up will advance to the ADT Gold Cup, an ISAF grade 1 match race event, which begins its championship round on Wednesday, October 17.

The ADT Women’s Match Race Championship and ADT Gold Cup will be raced in 33-foot International One Design sloops on short windward-leeward courses inside Hamilton Harbour. The boats will fight around tight courses that take contestants up to the bows of cruise ships moored along the city’s edge and within meters of large crowds that traditionally gather shoreside for this event.

Automatic Entries

The winners of the Boat U.S. Santa Maria Cup (May 29-June 1, 2002 in Annapolis, Md.) and the Swedish Match Women’s Cup (July 1-7, 2002, in Marstrand, Sweden) will be offered entry into the ADT Women’s Match Race Championship. Teams interested in competing in the ADT Women’s Match Race Championship should contact RBYC Sailing Manager Kevin Blee at 441-295-2214 or rbycsail@ibl.bm .

Caption: Internationally ranked match racer Paula Lewin will return to her home waters of Bermuda from October 12-15 to contest the inaugural ADT Women’s Match Race Championship. Hosted by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, the regatta will serve as a unique, eight-team series leading to the ADT Gold Cup, scheduled for October 12-20 as the fourth event on Swedish Match Tour 2002/3.

Caption: The ADT Gold Cup is hosted by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and will be held October 12-20 as the fourth event on Swedish Match Tour 2002/3. Legendary sailors from the America’s Cup as well as some up-and-coming names in sailing will vie for the coveted King Edward VII Gold Cup.