Bermuda’s Patrick Cooper will be returning to the helm of the two-times defending champions at the Vrengen Gold Cup next week.

The national IOD champion handed the reins last year to tactician Martin Siese, who successfully defended the coveted showpiece to maintain the local team’s recent dominance in the annual sailing spectacle.

Siese and his crew won both the A and B series on the way to securing overall honours, which they clinched when the final two races in the B series were cancelled because of the strong winds.

Also flying the Bermuda flag at the 72nd Bermuda International Invitational Race Week regatta is Kelsey Durham, who is keen to add this title to a résumé that includes victory in last year’s Bermuda Keelboat Regatta.

Cooper and Durham will have their work cut out against a formidable racing fleet, which also features past IOD world champion Steve Madeira, of the Northeast Harbour IOD fleet, who is making his debut in the event this year along with Tod Williams, of the Fishers Island IOD fleet, Tre Jones, of the Manhattan Yacht Club in New York, and Tom Hunter, from the Marblehead IOD fleet.

Other helmsmen expected to be in contention for honours are multiple regatta winner Giles Peckham, of the Cowes Daring fleet, who is returning from a long hiatus, and Courtenay Jenkins, of the Gibson Island Yacht Club in Maryland, who finished second in last year’s Bermuda Keelboat Regatta behind Durham.

Also returning to the event this year are Paul Zupan, of the San Francisco IOD fleet, and Chris Gould, of the Nantucket IOD fleet.

Swede Bjorn Wahlstrom, who has made several appearances in the regatta, and compatriot Hans Johansson, who is president of the Swedish IOD fleet, are also among the 12 international teams being represented.

The IOD class is the only group participating in Bermuda International Invitational Race Week, which will be held in the Great Sound from May 6 to 10.