Pushing the boat out in Bermuda

Next year Bermuda plays host to the 35th America’s Cup – a unique interactive sailing experience. Ahead of the event James Edgar visits the Caribbean island to try his hand at the sport

Bermuda’s history of shipwrecks, swashbuckling pirates and adventures means legend and folklore are intertwined with the history of this mystical place

Clutching my shiny new sailing manual, I look out over the still waters of Hamilton Harbour and watch the under-8s lesson glide back into the marina.

My nerves reassured, I start to wonder if I should have bothered wearing clothes I don’t mind getting wet – this dinghy sailing doesn’t look too difficult.

After I’m shown the ropes of my companion – the 12ft RS Feva – on the quayside, I am towed out into the blue Bermudian waters to see what she can do.

I have come to Bermuda to master the basics of sailing dinghies, and even though I seem to spend most of my time swimming outside the boat, there surely can be no better place to learn.

Protected on almost all sides, Hamilton Harbour is a nursery for novices, and while I am here, the breeze is gentle and the sun always shines.

My course is with the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, which is right on Hamilton’s waterfront and proud to call itself one of the oldest royal clubs in the world.

Founded in 1844, its oak-panelled trophy room seems a little plush for me to learn my ports from my starboards and my bowlines from my clove hitches, but the nautical trinkets and claret jug trophies give me a sense of the club’s history and grandeur, while spurring me on to do my best on the water.

My prize may only be the modest Royal Yachting Association’s (RYA) Start Sailing qualification, but as I gaze at the intricate model boats and out over the bay, I allow myself to daydream about a far greater spectacle in the not too distant future.

In May and June next year, the eyes of the world will be on Bermuda when it hosts the 35th America’s Cup, and this remote British Overseas Territory could not be more excited.

Sailing is in the blood of the Bermudians, so now that the planet’s biggest race is coming to town, it is impossible not to get caught up in the hype.

Around every corner I turn, I see an America’s Cup logo, and in every conversation I have, the event is high on the agenda.

The Great Sound will be the stage for the big races, with Bermuda’s horseshoe-shaped coastline serving as a vast volcanic amphitheatre, from where fans can watch the drama unfold.

Sir Ben Ainslie, the most successful sailor in Olympic history, was a member of the American team which won last time round, but now he’s hoping to steer his own team Land Rover Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR) to glory.

Land Rover BAR was launched in the presence of the Duchess of Cambridge in June 2014, and Sir Ben even took Kate on board his 45ft catamaran T1 for a training circuit in the Solent in May.

Now the British bid has the royal seal of approval and the Cup-holding skipper on board, there are high hopes it can be returned “home” after 166 years.

Britain’s ties to Bermuda date back to 1609, when the flagship of the Virginia Company, the Sea Venture, was shipwrecked on its way to the new English colony of Jamestown in Virginia.

To this day, Bermuda still maintains some very British characteristics: red pillar boxes, driving on the left and an unyielding passion for cricket.

Yet this tiny archipelago, with just 65,000 residents, is distinctly individual and quirky.

Pink, green and blue houses perch on the limestone rocks above the shore, and locals go about their business in equally flamboyant pastel-coloured Bermuda shorts and knee-high socks.

Measuring just under 21 square miles, this territory has an intimate charm which rubs off on visitors, and I easily find myself slipping into “island time” as I drink one of Bermuda’s trademark Rum Swizzle cocktails on the famous pink beach.

Bermuda’s history of shipwrecks, swashbuckling pirates and adventure means legend and folklore are intertwined with the genuine history of this mystical place.

Accounts by survivors of the Sea Venture are believed to have inspired William Shakespeare’s final play, The Tempest, which he is thought to have written over the following two years.

I am treated to a lively and entertaining account of the ship’s fate, and what became of its 150 survivors, by the actors from the Haunted History tour at the old town of St. George’s, now a Unesco World Heritage site.

With elaborate costumes and made-up faces, the players of this eccentric company take me on a meandering night-time journey through the cobbled streets of this historic town, past underground dungeons, eerie graveyards and winding alleys.

Back at sea, I find exploring Bermuda’s coastline by kayak slightly easier to handle than the dinghies.

Paddling through the turquoise waters, I make my way out to a shipwreck called HMS Vixen, a Royal Navy gunship deliberately sunk in 1896 to prevent torpedo attacks.

Now the vessel is a haven for marine life, and thousands of multicoloured fish flash beneath my glassbottomed kayak.

Further along the shore, I even spy the occasional green turtle poking its head out of the blue water for air.

There is also plenty to explore by land on this Atlantic archipelago, as I discover during a bike ride along the renovated old Railway Trail, which follows 22 miles of the route taken by the ill-fated train that ran for just 17 years, from 1931 to 1948.

These days, Scaur Hill Fort Park is a tranquil 22-acre area site with breathtaking views over the Great Sound – the perfect place to watch the America’s Cup races.

And now I have my Start Sailing qualification, perhaps Sir Ben might consider me as a crew member for his team.

But if not, I guess I’ll sit up here with a Swizzle instead.

Pictures: PA. Clockwise from far left: the group participates in sea kayaking; a beach in Bermuda; The Duchess of Cambridge joins the Land Rover BAR team with Ben Ainslie; some more exploring by kayak; dinghy sailing in Hamilton Harbour.