Bermuda has galloped ahead of Prince Edward Island in their 'two horse race' to host the 2013 Island Games after receiving the thumbs up from organisers.

Following a recent meeting in the Isle of Wight, the 2011 hosts, the Island Games Association's (IGA) executive decided to recommend Bermuda over the Canadian province.

However, the final decision will be taken by the voting membership at the IGA's annual general meeting in Aland on June 28.

Chairman of the Bermuda Island Games Association (BIGA) John Beard is now confident of convincing the member Islands that Bermuda's bid was worthy of their votes.

"Obviously we're delighted to have received the backing from the executive committee at their recent meeting," he said.

"Last time we narrowly lost out to the Isle of Wight after they received the nod from the executive, so we hope this is a good sign.

"It's just the first step for us and we must now persuade the members to back our bid as well before they meet at their next AGM."

Beard added that last month delegates from IGA visited Bermuda and said the Island's sporting infrastructure was already capable of hosting the 2013 showpiece.

"The chairman and vice-chairman of the association inspected our facilities and said we would able to host the Games tomorrow," said Beard. "Obviously the new synthetic surface pitch will be up and running at Gym Field by then and that's something else in our favour.

"With our many hotels, accommodation should not be a problem either. Even if the Centre Core of the National Sports Centre is not finished we still have sufficient facilities."

Paul Scope, from BIGA, said he believed the facilities we have in place in Bermuda are better than those in Rhodes where the Games were held last summer," he said. "It would be nice to have a 50 metre swimming pool but you can hold events it in a 25m pool, which we do have.

"The only problem will be the travel logistics of getting all the competitors across Island but I'm sure that's something we can get around."

Jörgen Pettersson, chairman of the IGA, said: "Which Island to recommend as the 2013 host was a difficult decision for the executive committee, given two excellent bids from two dear friends (Bermuda and Prince Edward Island) within the IGA Family.

"We all owe them the greatest respect for their enthusiasm and responsibility in order to continue the development of our organisation."

Irrespective of who is chosen it will be the first time the event has been held on the States side of the Atlantic.

Bermuda's largest ever contingent of athletes scooped –40 medals at Rhodes during last summer's Games.