The Viper 640 Class will mark the twentieth anniversary of the one-design keel boat and tenth anniversary of the relaunch of the Class Association by staging the inaugural Viper 640 International Championship in the Great Sound.

The regatta will run concurrent with the first Viper 640 North American Championship to be held in Bermuda in November.

The overall winner will be crowned as the first Viper 640 International champion while the highest-placed North American team will receive the Class’s coveted North American Championship trophy.

Running from November 16 and 19, the championship is being jointly hosted by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club.

It will be the largest one — design keel boat regatta held in Bermuda, with more than 50 Viper 640s from North America, Europe and Australia already registered.

There are Viper 640 fleets now active in seven nations, including Bermuda.

“The Class’s first International Championship is indicative of our growth in recent years with more and more Vipers sailing in Australia and Europe,” Dr Jim Sears, the Viper 640 Class president, said.

“This follows the Class’s first European Championship on Lake Garda last year and Australian Championships that have been hosted in Fremantle and Sydney.

“We are going to find out who is the best Viper team in the world and I can’t imagine a more spectacular location in the world to do this than on the Great Sound.”

Somers Kempe, the former Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Commodore and Viper 640 sailor, added: “With the America’s Cup to be sailed in these same waters in 2017, the sailing world’s eyes are on Bermuda. We are the newest national fleet in the Viper 640 Class and we intend to throw a memorable competition and even more memorable parties for our visitors.”

The Viper 640 was designed and built in 1996. The Class was relaunched in the United States in 2006 with a new, self-governing Viper 640 Class Association and a new builder.

The founders of the new Class Association had a simple but ambitious mission: they wanted a fast, fun, easy-to-sail, affordable sport boat that would reinvigorate amateur one-design sailing. The grass-roots growth phenomenon that followed was initially aimed at the US, but word spread quickly, with Viper fleets springing up in Canada, Australia, the UK, and Bermuda.

• Entries for June’s Newport to Bermuda Race remain on course to hit the 200-mark limit.

As of February 19, race organisers had received applications for entry from over 182 yachts with 143 of those being invited to enter the 635-mile race, which starts in the mouth of Narragansett Bay, Newport, Rhode Island and ends off St David’s Lighthouse.

This year’s race, which starts on June 17, is the 50th and also marks the 90th anniversary of the partnership of the organisers, the Cruising Club of America and Royal Bermuda Yacht Club.

Metolius and Crossfire are the only two local entries confirmed, while Bermuda Oyster and Spirit of Bermuda are still undergoing screening for yacht, skipper and crew qualifications.