With the first round of the Argo Group Gold Cup set to begin tomorrow, the world’s best sailors will compete in a 22-team elimination format that features both veteran competitor and Bermuda national champion Blythe Walker and 17-year old sailor Lance Fraser, a Warwick Academy schoolboy.

For Bermuda sailing fans, this year marks both the return of last year’s semi-finalist, Walker, and his team of Somers Kempe, Adam Barboza and Will Thompson.

A crew of Olympic hopeful Rockal Evans, Garreth Williams and Jorge Chiapparro will help the young Fraser.

Both Walker and Fraser are considered among the Island’s top fleet sailors. Yet, while Walker is a far more seasoned match racer, Fraser is still hoping to make his mark.

We are really excited to be able to race against the best teams in the world, said Fraser.

I think that our two strong points will be the fact that we know the boats very well and we know the racing area very well.

Our strategy is to focus on our boat handling and boat speed and know the ‘ins and outs’ of Hamilton Habour as well as we can.

Hopefully we can have these two things . . . it will be a huge advantage especially in the first few days of the event.

Local knowledge of the International One Design boats is an advantage to Bermuda sailors as this classic design was modelled after the Bermuda six-metre boats and is notoriously hard on the younger international competitors accustomed to lighter, high performance boats.

The tricky breezes of the inner harbour where the racing will be held are also an important feature that Bermuda teams can rely on.

We’ve got the same great team as last year and are thankful to be invited again, Walker said.

There’s a strong line-up this year so we’re looking to stay in the game and get through to the quarter-finals, and then take things from there.

That’s kind of how it went last year as we moved through each round.

For Fraser, the learning curve will be steep but he has had time to train with Walker and this gives him added confidence.

Blythe is a great sailor and one of the best in the world in IOD match racing, said Fraser.

He has been a huge help to me and has taught me a lot just by sailing against me. He sets the bar very high and he’s a great role model for me and other young aspiring match racers.

The teenager had only a taste of Gold Cup action when last year he was practice crew for such notable sailors as Mathieu Richard, Damian Iehl and Peter Gilmour.

Now he is set to debut his skills on a playing field that includes such notables as three time Olympic Gold medallist and last year’s winner of Gold Cup Ben Ainslie of Great Britain, top ranked ISAF competitors Adam Minoprio of New Zealand and American 2008 Olympic gold medallist Anna Tunnicliffe to name just a few.

I am hugely honoured to be a part of the event and at my age even more so, Fraser said.

I remember when I was sailing the Junior Gold Cup four and five years ago and watching Russell Coutts and James Spithill in the finals and thinking Wow, maybe I’ll get to race in the real Gold Cup some day.’

I never thought that day would come so soon but it’s a great experience and I want to take full advantage of it.