Initial invitations to 2012 Argo Group Gold Cup issued
The 24-team format of the Argo Group Gold Cup is unique on the Alpari World Match Racing Tour. Nine of the team slots are available for Tour Card Holders, three are selected from qualifying events - the Knickerbocker Cup and the Detroit Cup in the USA, and the Bermuda National Match Race Championship. The remaining slots are filled by application and invitations issued by the Gold Cup Committee.
Read more: Initial invitations to 2012 Argo Group Gold Cup issued
Argo Group Renews Bermuda Gold Cup Title Sponsorship
Hamilton BERMUDA, March 13, 2012 -- Mark E. Watson, President and CEO of Argo Group, and Jonathan Brewin, Commodore of The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, are pleased to announce that Argo Group has signed a new, two-year agreement to continue as title sponsor of the Argo Group Gold Cup. Argo Group International Holdings Ltd, an international underwriter of specialty insurance and reinsurance products in niche areas of the property and casualty market, returns as title sponsor for the fifth consecutive year.
This year will mark the 62nd staging of match racing for the King Edward VII Gold Cup. The Cup was originally presented in 1907 by King Edward VII to Sherman Hoyt at the Jamestown Tri-centennial Regatta marking the commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the first permanent settlement in America.
Racing for the 2012 Argo Group Gold Cup will take place from the 2nd to the 7th of October. The spectator friendly racing in Hamilton Harbour adjacent to the Royal Bermuda YC Marina is a spectacular attraction for tourists and Bermuda residents. The Argo Group Gold Cup stands as the 8th and penultimate stage of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour where the teams compete for the ISAF Match Racing World Championship.
Read more: Argo Group Renews Bermuda Gold Cup Title Sponsorship
Tribute to a Bermuda Hero
By Talbot WilsonThe international match racing community paid Bermuda’s legendary Jordy Walker a well-earned tribute at the prizegiving for the Argo Group Gold Cup. The Match Racing Association (MRA), formerly known as the World Match Racing Association (WMRA), presented the first anual Jordy Walker Trophy to Phil Robertson of New Zealand.
The Jordy Walker Trophy recognizes 24 year-old Phil Robertson as the most improved young match race sailor who competes in World Match Racing Tour events or other events that automaticlly qualify a skipper for a Tour event.
Past Commodore of the Royal Bernuda YC Brian Billings enumerted Robertson’s achievements from his starting days in the New Zealand youth sailing program through his match racing in New Zealand, then on to the USA West coast and on to Europe and the Pacific rim. In 2009 he was 11th in the Argo Group Gold Cup. In 2010 he was 10th and this year he finished 4th. He is a Tour Card holder on the World Match Racing Tour, ranked 10th on the Tour and 7th in the ISAF Open ranklings.
Phil accepted on behalf of his team saying it is a team sport. “It is an honor to receive the first Jordy Walker Trophy. We thank the Walker family for all they have done for Match Race sailing.”
The trophy will be on permanent display in the King Edward VII Gold Cup Trophy display case in the entrance foyer of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club.
Mirsky etches name on King Edward VII Gold Cup
By Talbot Wilson- Argo Group Gold Cup
Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, October 8, 2011: The new name on the King Edward VII Gold Cup Trophy is Torvar Mirsky (AUS). Mirsky (AUS) and his team The Wave Muscat won the 2011 Argo Group Gold Cup three races to two over 2006 Gold Cup champion Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team. Entering the Gold Cup, Mirsky was #3 on the World Match Racing Tour.
His position will improve going into the Monsoon Cup, the final event on the tour.
In the Bermuda finals, Mirsky won the first and third flights and Berntsson won the second and fourth. Then in the sudden death, final flight that would bring one of the teams to three points and a win, Mirsky took the start. In spite of constant pressure from Berntsson, his lead was never threatened.
“It is over the moon to win over Johnie today,” Mirsky said following the match. He sailed so fast in both boats used in the match. He kept putting on the pressure.”
This is Mirsky’s second Tour win in a row. “ Winning two events in a row is a great feeling,” he said, and the $50,000 first place prize doesn’t hurt either.” This is Mirsky’s first Gold Cup finals in his third try. He quipped, “This prize helps pay for all the times we tried to win the Gold Cup.”
