Now Bermuda rules the waves
Malcolm Folley explores the island as it’s thrust into the spotlight by the world’s top yacht race
AT THE headquarters of the Land Rover BAR sailing team in Bermuda’s Royal Naval Dockyard is a simple mission statement, visible to all visitors: #Bringthecuphome. On an island where the land speed limit is 20mph, Britain’s most decorated Olympic sailor, Sir Ben Ainslie, will be leading the UK’s attempt to claim the hugely prestigious America’s Cup this summer – in a catamaran capable of 50mph.
Ainslie, who won gold medals at the Sydney, Athens, Beijing and London Games, will be at the helm as the team attempt to overturn 166 years of history.
In 1851, Britain was beaten in the first-ever edition of the race, around the Isle of Wight, by a schooner from New York called America – and we haven’t won since.
The Hon Mike Winfield, CEO of America’s Cup Bermuda Limited, could scarcely keep a straight face as he recalled over lunch, at a quayside restaurant, the reported response of Queen Victoria to America’s first victory. ‘Her Majesty supposedly said, “At least we came second.” She was told, sternly, “Ma’am, in America’s Cup there is no second.”’
It is a statement that remains truthful to this day. If the challenge facing Ainslie and his British team of 140 highly skilled and motivated personnel is daunting, so too is the premeditated gamble undertaken by the Bermudan government in hosting the event, which is held usually every three or four years in a different place as various teams challenge the holders.
‘Bermuda has paid $77million [about £60 million] to host the America’s Cup – but we did so because it is a chance to reset Bermuda from a branding perspective,’ said Winfield. ‘That is very important to us.’
An armada of super-yachts, owned by some of the wealthiest men in the world, will arrive from all parts of the globe to berth close to the action and watch the spectacular boats flying on foils as they race one another in the amphitheatre of Bermuda’s Great Sound.
All slots for private jets arriving in Bermuda have already been reserved, and cruise ships bound for the island in the summer are sold out.
The expectation is for a global TV audience of 50million to be given an armchair tour of this 22-square-mile dot in the mid-Atlantic, with its lush landscape and stunning coast, including the pink sands of Elbow Beach.
Kiaran MacDonald, of the island’s Fairmont Southampton, a hotel rich in old-world charm, was running the Savoy Hotel during the London Olympics in 2012.
‘This is an opportunity to put Bermuda on the map,’ he said. ‘It has never seen anything on this scale. Like many parts of the world, the island has suffered a downturn in tourism, but the America’s Cup will provide a global exposure you couldn’t otherwise get.
‘The Olympics in London was beautiful to work and live through. Now this is a moment in time for Bermuda, a six-weeklong party around the spectacle of the America’s Cup. There is an elegance here, a blend of British style overlaid with American openness.’
Historically, competitive sport in Bermuda is largely confined to the magnificent championship golf courses, such as Mid Ocean, Port Royal and the small but beautifully formed parthree Turtle Hill, all perched on cliffs above the Atlantic. I shot embarrassingly high scores, in the company of two of TV’s most iconic fictional policemen, Lewis (Kevin Whately) and DCI Gene Hunt (Phil Glenister). However, there was not the slightest rush on the part of my playing partners to detain me on a charge of impersonating a golfer. Not even losing to an American team in the Hackers Trophy, a Ryder Cup-styled golf format for celebrities and journalists from both sides of the Atlantic, could dilute the affection we had quickly established for Bermuda.
We were all overwhelmed by the beauty of our surroundings.
At Mid Ocean, we saw whales patrolling beyond the reef protecting the shoreline.
ON THE signature 16th tee at Port Royal, a challenging windswept par three across a ravine, it is possible most days to witness parrot fish sunbathing as they glide between rocks just beneath the water.
Bermuda still boasts a British Governor more than 400 years after the earliest settlers from
Britain discovered the island when they were shipwrecked on the way to the United States.
It reminded us of Britain from another time: slow-moving traffic on country lanes; hidden coves, an old disused railway line that is now a nature trail, and people who are courteous and smiley.
British Airways is the only European airline to have a direct flight to Bermuda and the flight home was just over six hours, making it closer to London than the Caribbean. Hire cars are banned in Bermuda, which means you have to use taxis, buses or ferries to travel the 21 miles from the north to the south of the island.
Bermuda has a population of 63,000 and the locals do not pay income tax. The average income per capita is $80,000 (£62,000), one of the highest in the world. However, the cost of living is not cheap: a one-bedroom flat costs £350,000, a loaf of bread is £5.50, a pint of beer in a hotel can cost £11 and I paid £77 for a bottle of unremarkable red wine from California.
This summer the tourist board is hoping the lure of the America’s Cup will provide a fly-on-the-wall commercial for the island. ‘Our calculations project the Cup could be worth $400million [£310million] to Bermuda,’ says Winfield.
Ainslie’s team will compete in qualifying races against New Zealand, Sweden, Japan and France from May 26 to win the right to meet defending champions Oracle Team USA in the 35th America’s Cup Match beginning on June 17.
Sir Ben has the pedigree and the experience to make his competitors anxious. Four years ago, Oracle Team USA was trailing 8-1 to New Zealand in San Francisco; then Ainslie was brought aboard and he steered the Americans to an incredible 9-8 triumph. Now he is plotting to find a way to rip the America’s Cup from their grasp, and remind a global audience of the days when Britain ruled the waves.
If he succeeds, he has pledged to defend the Cup in Portsmouth.
Malcolm Folley’s latest book, Monaco – Inside F1’s Greatest Race, is published by Century on May 18, priced £20.