Announcing the 80th Anniversary of the 2007 Bermuda International Invitational Race Week sponsored by Bermuda Premium Spirits Ltd., local distributors of BACARDI rum.

Invitations for the 2007 Bermuda International Invitational Race Week have been sent to international competitors by Bermuda one-design keelboat and dinghy fleets for the 2007 Race Week. Festivities start with the Welcoming Cocktail Party on the Saturday the 28th of April and conclude with the Prize giving on the 4th of May.

Keelboats classes on the Alpha course for 2007 will be International Etchells, International One Design (IOD), J24 and J105, which will sail on Bermuda’s Great Sound. This year on the Bravo Course, the 2007 Snipe North American Championships will be run in conjunction with Bermuda International Invitational Race Week. Also on the dinghy course, the Lasers will compete. The Bravo course will sail in the Great Sound, out of the Spanish Point Boat Club, in waters nearby the club’s beach facility.

The 2007 regatta will see global competitors from Australia, Sweden, Norway, Canada, US and the UK.

Stuart Jardine from the UK will be returning to try for a repeat of his 2004 J24 class victory in this regatta. In the IOD class, the current IOD World Champion Anthony Houston from Long Island Sound will be competing, as well as 6 time World Champion Bill Widnall from Marblehead, MA with 12 other worthy skippers.

Jerry Thompson from the US will aim to take the Race Week Snipe trophy again this year, while at the same time vying for the Snipe North American Championship title which are being held as part of Race Week. Local sailors Peter Bromby and Jon Corless are defending their 2006 victories in the International Etchells and J105 classes respectively.

Brett Wright and Malcolm Smith are other talented local sailors who will be competing in the Laser class. Smith recently captured a first in the South American and Caribbean Sunfish Championship in the Netherlands Antilles last month.

Racing starts at 1100hrs on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday for the keelboat classes and at noon for the dinghy classes. The Bacardi Gras Celebration on Race Week’s ‘Bat Tuesday’ leads into a ‘No Race’ day on Wednesday, just right for international guests to enjoy the sights and non-sailing activities of Bermuda.

The Prize Giving Party at RBYC concludes Race Week on Friday the 4th of May. In addition to the fantastic sailing competition, the week is sprinkled with fleet parties.

Inaugurated by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club in 1927, Bermuda International Invitational Race Week has become an established international yachting fixture each spring - attracting top skippers from all over the world. Bermuda Premium Spirits, local distributor for BACARDI rum, is the sponsor and has been for the past nine years. All classes with an active local racing program in Bermuda may invite international sailors to participate in the 2007 Bermuda International Invitational Race Week. International participation is required for a fleet to compete.