A new Argo Group Gold Cup champion will be crowned this year.

Johnie Berntsson and Stena Sailing, the defending champions, were among the teams knocked out of the $100,000 regatta at the end of yesterday’s repechage, contested in gentle breezes in Hamilton Harbour.

The Swede had been bidding to become only the third skipper behind Sir Russell Coutts, the Oracle Team USA chief executive, and Peter Gilmour to capture at least three titles since the Gold Cup was revamped in 1985.

However, in the end, it was not to be as an “unnecessary penalty” against Eric Monnin and Team Sailbox, and Phil Robertson’s narrow come-from-behind victory against Joachim Aschenbrenner during the group qualifying stage, ultimately took their toll on Berntsson and his crew.

Despite falling short of their objective Berntsson said there were plenty of positives to take away from the experience

“Overall, I’m happy that all of the guys on board are fighting to do their best and we actually had some really good races,” said the 2008 and 2014 Gold Cup winner. “It was so close, which goes to show how tight the fleet is.

“We always love sailing in Bermuda. We have been sailing here for eight years and we still enjoy it a lot.”

Also bowing out was local hopeful Blythe Walker and Team RenRe.

“It was great to be back racing in the Gold Cup,” Walker said. “I love match racing and the excitement of it.

“The rustiness definitely showed but it was fun. We had three days of great racing and the team did a great job. They were more up to speed than I was. I was the one making the silly mistakes.”

America’s Cup teams Artemis Racing and SoftBank Team Japan, Chris Poole, and Riptide Racing, and Reuben Corbett, and Corbett Racing, were the remaining teams eliminated in the repechage.

Artemis Racing and SoftBank Team Japan will now turn their focus on preparing for next week’s Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series.

Meanwhile, advancing from the repechage to the quarter-finals were Keith Swinton and Black Swan Racing and Chris Steele and 36 Below Racing.

Swinton won the repechage with a 6-1 record while Steele was second at 5-2.

“We felt like we were sailing well in the first round but had some bad luck that put us in the repechage, so we’re happy to go through,” Swinton said.

Yesterday’s repechage was held up for several hours due to a lack of breeze.

“It was a challenging day for everyone,” Swinton said.

Swinton and Steele will now join Taylor Canfield (US One), Robertson (Waka Racing), Eric Monnin (Team Sail Box), Ian Williams (Team GAC Pindar), Bjorn Hansen (Nautiska Racing) and Adam Minoprio (BlackMatch) in the last eight.

Canfield, the 2012 Gold Cup winner, finished as the top qualifier with an unblemished 7-0 record to earn the right to pick Steele as his quarter-final opponent.

“We’re not surprised,” Steele said. “We were the last qualifier and he was the first.”

Today’s remaining quarter-final matches will pit Robertson against Minoprio, Monnin against Hansen while Williams will face Swinton.

The semi-finals will also be held today with racing in the International One Design sloop to commence at 9am.

n Nacho Davilia leads the 2015 RenaissanceRe Junior Gold Cup fleet after eight races.

The Spainard holds a 13-point advantage over second placed Ryane Duff, of the British Virgin Islands, with Mathias Berthet, of Norway, a further point adrift of the lead pace.

Christian Spodsberg, the defending champion, is further down the leaderboard in tenth.

Jordan Etemadi leads the local fleet in twelfth overall followed closely by Micah Raynor in thirteenth and Campbell Patton in fifteenth.