The Great Sound is Bermuda’s premier racing venue, a sheltered body of water surrounded by low coral islands and backed by Hamilton’s pastel-coloured waterfront. The venue gained global recognition when it hosted the 35th America’s Cup in 2017, with Cross Island providing the team bases and spectator village. The infrastructure built for that event continues to serve SailGP and other international regattas.
Bermuda sits at 32 degrees north in the mid-Atlantic, roughly 1,000 kilometres east of the US coast. The Gulf Stream passes nearby, moderating temperatures and creating weather patterns that combine subtropical warmth with Atlantic weather systems. Winds in May are predominantly from the southwest at 10-18 knots, with the island’s low elevation allowing unobstructed breeze across the Great Sound.
The coral reef that surrounds Bermuda creates dramatic water colours: turquoise shallows transitioning to deep Atlantic blue within a few hundred metres. The reef also creates hazards for racing, and the Great Sound’s boundaries are carefully marked to keep foiling boats away from shallow areas where groundings would be catastrophic.
The IANA timezone is Atlantic/Bermuda (ADT, UTC-3 during summer). A 14:00 ADT start converts to 13:00 EDT in New York, 18:00 BST in London, and 03:00 AEST in Sydney.
Bermuda’s sailing culture runs deep for an island of 64,000 people. The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, founded in 1844, is one of the oldest in the Western Hemisphere. The Bermuda Race (Newport to Bermuda) has been a biennial fixture since 1906. The island produces sailors at a rate disproportionate to its size, feeding talent into international campaigns and professional circuits.