Top Bermuda sailors Paula Lewin and Blythe Walker have competed frequently in the King Edward VII Gold Cup through the years, but never won. They get another chance to correct that this week on Hamilton Harbour.

Lewin and Walker are among 16 entrants in the $50,000 Gold Cup regatta, stage four of the 2006-07 World Match Racing Tour.

Racing is scheduled to begin on Wednesday and will continue until Sunday, with all sailors competing in the 33-ft International One-Design.

The line-up includes reigning champion James Spithill of Italy?s Luna Rossa Challenge for the America?s Cup. Spithill, 27, won last year?s Gold Cup with a 3-2 victory over the event?s leading winner, Russell Coutts, rallying from a 2-1 deficit in the final.

While Spithill guns for back-to-back wins, neither Lewin, 35, nor Walker, 38, can recall how many Gold Cups they?ve participated in. Both began racing in the event back in the late 1980s and early 1990s and simply say they?ve done ?many since?.

Lewin has enjoyed past success at the Gold Cup. The Island?s four-time Female Athlete of the Year, she?s the only woman skipper to advance through the qualifying rounds of the event, which she did in 1999, 2002 and ?03.

In 2002 Lewin finished fifth overall, the best placing for a female skipper in the history of the Gold Cup. She recently placed fifth in the women?s championship at the ISAF Nations Cup.

?I love to match race, I love Hamilton Harbour and I love the boats,? said Lewin. ?I?ve spent a lot of time racing overseas and it?s so pleasurable to be in home waters with all the support.?

Lewin?s crew includes sister Peta White, Lisa Neasham, Leatrice Roman and Diana Mitchell.

?Diana?s new to the crew,? said Lewin. ?We feel comfortable with each other. We?re competitive and want to win, but we?re also out to have a good time as well. That was foremost in putting together the team. If things fall the right way, it?ll be great.?

Walker, Bermuda?s representative in the 470 class at the 1992 Olympic Regatta in Barcelona, recently won the 2006 Bermuda National Match Racing Championships.

?I love the intensity of match-racing,? said Walker, a father of two daughters. ?You can get a lot of great racing in a short time. It tests your skill and ability to respond.?

Walker will be racing with Adam Barboza, Somers Kempe and Carola Cooper.

Cooper raced with Walker in the nationals, but Barboza and Kempe are replacements for the other crew members who had conflicts.

?We have a lot of experience, particularly in the IODs, it?s a matter of how well we come together,? said Walker. ?We?ve never sailed together so it?ll be interesting.?

Although they can?t recall how many events they?ve raced, both noted the change in format as the biggest difference for this year?s Gold Cup.

In the past the event featured 24 teams. Sixteen teams raced in a three-day qualifier with the top eight advancing to meet eight seeded skippers in a knockout round.

This year, the 16 teams will be split into two groups of eight. Each group races a single round robin with the top four advancing to the quarter-finals. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final are all knockout rounds of three or five races.

The old format lent itself well to upsets as the qualifiers were well prepared by the time they met the seeds in round one. But Walker thinks the new format will have its own benefits.

?The round robins will be a little more intense than in the past,? said Walker. ?The guys typically in the seeded rounds are now in the round robins, so you get a flavour of the level they?re competing at from the start. You need to hit the ground running, but if you get through to quarters, I think it?ll be a little more level.?

Running concurrently with the Gold Cup is the Junior Gold Cup for young sailors from around the world. Thirty-seven sailors, including 12 from overseas, will sail four races per day from Thursday to Saturday on the Great Sound. The final day, Sunday,will see the championship sailed on Hamilton Harbour during the final rounds of the King Edward Gold Cup.