Reigning Alpari World Match Racing Tour champion Ian Williams will be among the headliners for the 2012 Argo Group Gold Cup.The English skipper, who currently tops the ISAF World Match Racing Rankings, won the coveted King Edward VII Gold Cup in 2006 and will be looking to make it two wins when racing commences in the classic International One Design (IOD) racing sloop in Hamilton Harbour in early October.Lawyer Williams and his GAC Pindar team mates are fresh off victory in the Chicago Match Cup earlier this month.Williams is a three-time World Match Racing Tour Champion and is regarded as one of England’s most talented match race skippers.Also gunning for glory during the upcoming Argo Group Gold Cup will be Sweden’s Bjorn Hansen who currently tops the Alpari World Match Racing Tour leader board by four points over nearest rival Williams.Other Tour Card holders competing this year include Phil Robertson (NZL-WAKA Racing Team), Peter Gilmour (AUS-YANMAR Racing) Johnie Berntsson (SWE-Berntsson Sailing Team). Gilmour and Berntsson are both past Gold Cup winners.Among the non-Alpari World Match Racing Tour Card skippers looking to stake their claim for the Gold Cup this year are Adam Minoprio (NZL-Black Match Racing), Steffan Linberg (FIN- Alandia Sailing Team), Taylor Canfield (ISV-Canfield Racing) and Eric Monnin (SUI-Swiss Match Race Team) to name a few.Nine places at the Argo Group Gold Cup are made available for Tour Card Holders while three are selected from each of the qualifying events — the Knickerbocker Cup and the Detroit Cup in the USA, and the Bermuda National Match Race Championship. Remaining slots are filled by application and invitations issued by the Gold Cup Committee, of which three are still to be confirmed.The 2012 Argo Group Gold Cup is to be hosted by Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and will be held October 2-7.nRory Caslin emerged as the top local sailor at the 2102 International Optimist Dinghy Association (IODA) World Sailing Championships in Santo Domingo.Caslin finished 128th in a fleet of 230 sailors followed by compatriots Makai Joell (140th), Peter Dill (162nd), Chase Cooper (166th) and Antonio Bailey (172nd).Only nine of the scheduled 12 races were completed for the regatta which was further plagued by administrative challenges and weather conditions ranging from light winds to thunderstorms.Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association president and team leader Anthony Bailey said: “Despite some lower than expected scores the sailors never lost their desire to do well, were great sportsmen and finished in high spirits at the end of youth sailing’s most competitive regatta.”Singapore’s Elisa Yukie Yokoyama emerged as the overall winner at this year’s IODA World Championships.l Royal Bermuda Yacht Club’s Contest III made a clean sweep of top honours during the last round of fitted dinghy racing at Granaway Deep.Deputising skipper Peter Miller and crew won all three races for the BAA Cup, WH Bennett Memorial Trophy and Spithead Trophy to extend Contest III’s lead atop the Coronation Cup points standings.Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club’s Elizabeth II, helmed by skipper John Nicholls, also sailed consistently with three seconds on the day.