The Argo Group Gold Cup has survived Hurricane Gonzalo. The blustery tempest hit Bermuda hard but could not knock out the Gold Cup, with racing set to start on Wednesday.

The Renaissance Re Junior Gold Cup will start on Thursday as scheduled and the Family Festival of Sail will be rescheduled to next Sunday.

Using the one-day-delay plan announced last Wednesday, the Gold Cup will be compressed to five days of racing and organisers will take advantage of the fine weather expected after Gonzalo. Winds predicted to be in the 20-knot range each day will help to get the full event completed for the competitors and spectators.

Stage six of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour had been threatened by the category three hurricane that struck Bermuda on Friday night with predicted winds of more than 130mph. On Saturday morning, officials were accessing the damage and, later in the day, reopened the Causeway that links the LF Wade International Airport to the Hamilton end of the Island.

“The Argo Group Gold Cup organising committee met at 3.00 this afternoon to review our status and we are happy to report that we are proceeding as planned to host the Argo Group Gold Cup with practice on Tuesday and racing beginning on Wednesday,” Brian Billings, the Gold Cup’s chairman, said in a statement. “The Causeway to the airport is now open and flights are expected on schedule today. British Airways has rebooked many of the people due in yesterday to a Sunday flight. There was minor roof damage at the club, which will not have an impact on facilities.

“We need eight IODs [International One Design sailboats used for match racing]. We normally have two spares. One of our spare IODs was damaged and we working on a replacement. Our race committee boat, Cleopatra, was unharmed as were our fleet of inflatable umpire boats.

“We are checking with all our hosts to ensure that they can accommodate the competitors. While some hosts have had damage and may be running on auxiliary power or candlelight, almost all are ready to welcome our guests and back-up arrangements are in progress where there is a problem. We look forward to a fabulous hurricane party in the form of the 2014 Argo Group Gold Cup!”

The Renaissance Re Junior Gold Cup will remain on its original schedule from Thursday to next Sunday. The juniors sail up to five races a day in the Great Sound for three days. The youngsters will have a treat on the final day when their last race will be held in Hamilton Harbour doing the half-time break in the Gold Cup finals.

The Family Festival of Sail, the initial event of Gold Cup Week, was originally scheduled for today in Barr’s Bay Park adjacent to Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. That will now be part of the finals day celebration.

Thirteen countries are represented in the 2014 Argo Group Gold Cup. The matches will be sailed with the same 20-team format used in 2013. This Gold Cup format is unique on the match racing tour in that it allows for two ten-team groups. Skippers in each group are ranked and divided by Tour officials and the organisers at RBYC.

Gold Cup fleet

(in order of their ranking as at Oct 15)

Taylor Canfield (US One, US Virgin Islands)

Ian Williams (GAC Pindar, Britain)

Mathieu Richard (LunaJets, France)

Björn Hansen (Hansen Sailing Team, Sweden)

Phil Robertson (WAKA Racing, New Zealand)

Eric Monnin (Swiss Match Race Team, Switzerland)

Keith Swinton (Team Alpari FX, Australia)

David Gilmour (Team Gilmour, Australia)

Staffan Linberg (Alandia Sailing Team, Finland)

Pierre-Antoine Morvan (Equipe de France, France)

Johnie Berntsson (Stena Sailing Team, Sweden)

Chris Poole (Riptide Racing, United States)

Arthur Herreman (Match The World, France)

Marek Stanczyk (www.470sailing.org.pl, Poland)

Francesco Bruni (Luna Rossa, Italy)

Dirk-Jan Korpershoek (Kopershoek Racing, Netherlands)

David Storrs (Pequot Racing Team, United States)

Lance Fraser (Digicel Bermuda, Bermuda)

Nathan Outteridge (Artemis Racing, Sweden)

Somers Kempe (Raymarine/Ocean Electronics, Bermuda)

Alpari World Match Racing Tour

(standings after five stages)

1, Ian Williams 94pts

2, Taylor Canfield 88

3, Mathieu Richard 76

4, Björn Hansen 63

5, Keith Swinton 58

6, Phil Robertson 56

7, David Gilmour 39

8, Francesco Bruni 20