Around 75 soldiers from the Royal Bermuda Regiment qualified yesterday for search and security duties for the upcoming America’s Cup.

The soldiers spent an entire weekend training in search techniques for people and vehicles, as well as undergoing lessons in how to spot potential dangers and illegal goods.

The exercise culminated with a search of vehicles with prohibited items such as firearms hidden in them.

Lance Corporal Coshaun Evans, 24, a doorman at a major hotel, said: “It’s a new challenge — I’ve never tried anything like this before. I’ve learnt a lot about discipline, communication and responsibility.

“There will be thousands of people travelling in and out of the America’s Cup from all different backgrounds. And there will be people coming into the island perhaps trying to traffic things here.

“The more precautions we take in terms of prevention, the better it will be.”

Private Joannon Whitehead said he volunteered for extra training for the experience — and the chance to work at the event.

The 25-year-old nursing assistant from Paget added: “We’ve learnt how to search people and making sure everything is safe. I’m looking forward to working at the Cup and applying the knowledge.”

The group spent time in the classroom learning about the America’s Cup and the RBR’s role in it, as well as familiarising themselves with search equipment before practical classes on searching people, as well as a variety of private and commercial vehicles.

Corporal Dante Durham, 22, a FedEx employee from Devonshire and one of several soldiers who completed a tough four-day course last month to qualify as security instructors, said: “They’ve done pretty good. They have grasped the search procedures very well. They enjoyed the hands on training and learning what to look at in different kinds of vehicles.”

Lieutenant Gordon Emmerson, a 34-year-old secondary schoolteacher, said much of the course was new ground for him.

He added: “I haven’t done anything as in depth as this. This is certainly a step up from most events and in line with what you see at most airports. We need to be able to safely and respectfully search people.

“We’re trained to make a judgment call and err on the side of caution and the regiment wants to make the biggest contribution it can to the America’s Cup.

“We consistently work to make sure we’re part of things and making sure we give Bermudians training which can be useful in their civilian lives.

Lt Emmerson added: “The eyes of the world are on us and we have a rare and golden opportunity to impress people — the next generation of tourists which are so vital to the island.”

Instructors on the course were trained only a few weeks ago to teach screen and search programmes by security expert John Pears, a former Royal Navy regular and ex-police officer.