64 teams

Talbot Wilson previews Bermuda International Invitational Race Week

Starting Sunday the waters of Bermuda’s Great Sound will be bustling with activity as racing begins in the 2006 Bermuda International Invitational Race Week sponsored by Bacardi. Festivities start with the Welcoming Cocktail Party on the Saturday 29 April at Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and conclude with the Prize giving on 5 May. Racing starts on 30 April finishes on 5 May.

Keelboats classes on the Alpha course for 2006 include eleven International Etchells teams from the USA, the UK, and Bermuda, 14 of the top International One Design (IOD) teams in the world, nine J24 teams from the US, Canada, the UK and Bermuda and five Bermuda J/105 teams. These classes will sail on Bermuda’s Great Sound.
On the Bravo Course, the dinghy classes with eighteen Lasers and seven Snipes will sail out of the Spanish Point Boat Club in waters nearby the club’s off the beach facility. 

Racing starts at 1100 on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The Bacardi Gras Celebration on Race Week’s ‘Bat Tuesday’ leads into a ‘spare’ day on Wednesday, just right for international guests to enjoy the sights and non-sailing activities of Bermuda.
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The Prize giving Party at RBYC concludes Race Week on Friday 5 May. In addition to the fantastic sailing competition, the week is sprinkled with fleet parties; and Bacardi presents THE Bacardi Sailing Spirit Prize for the significant sailing achievement on each day at the RBYC Terrace Bar post race party.

Inaugurated by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club in 1952, Bermuda International Invitational Race Week, sponsored by Bacardi for the past eight years, has become an established international yachting fixture each spring - attracting top skippers from many countries. All classes with an active local racing program in Bermuda may invite international sailors to participate in the 2006 Bermuda International Invitational Race Week sponsored by BACARDI.

The 2006 Notice of Race and sailing instructions are posted here.