Hamilton denies Poole in Bermuda Gold Cup thriller

Ten metres. That was all that separated chaos from history in Bermuda's Great Sound, as debutant Christian Hamilton (GBR) somehow kept his cool while the world's best match racer tried everything to escape a penalty.

Hamilton won anyway. Sailing his first Bermuda Gold Cup, he beat World No 1 Chris Poole (USA) in a final so tight it stayed level at 2-2 deep into the fifth and deciding race.

His name now sits on the oldest match racing trophy in the world, alongside more than a century of champions. It capped a week in which his team had been building form across more than 100 matches before the finale arrived.

After the champagne and the traditional jump into the harbour, Hamilton tried to put words to it. "This is such an amazing feeling and I'm really proud to lift the Gold Cup, which has so many amazing names on it," he said. "We've been getting better all week and we were able just to pull it off in the end. I'm going to be a marked man from now on."

The scoreline undersells how hard Hamilton had to work for it. He trailed 2-1 in the best-of-five final before reeling off the final two races, the last of which will stick in the minds of everyone who watched from the shore.

"It was weird as when we were 2-1 down we felt we could do it and there was still confidence in the team," Hamilton said. "We were a penalty up and we were ahead down the final run and then Chris managed to roll over the top of us and get into a position to do a mark trap on the committee boat. Ian and I both used to do a lot of team racing when we were younger and it was like going back to those instincts. We were basically stopping and trying to go slower than the opposite boat, which is hard when you've got the spinnaker up."

Khmbu Racing celebrates their 2026 Bermuda Gold Cup win: Richard Sydenham, Christian Hamilton, Jon Gundersen and Ian Williams. | Photo: Ian Roman/WMRT

Hamilton only turned his attention to the tour about 18 months ago, chasing an ambition he'd carried since his early twenties. "I had a really great crew that I sailed with for six years," he said. "But then people got married, there was a bit of a gap and a couple of years ago I had the chance to pull together a great team and retry. The crew I've got now were interested in doing a campaign for two or three years and we've been able to crack through the events and go for it."

For Poole, the Bermuda Gold Cup remains unfinished business. Emotion was close to the surface as he came off the water after letting the lead slip and giving away the final two matches.

"We felt like we were sailing really well and a couple of mistakes here and there ended up biting us," Poole said. "But Christian really sailed flawlessly when we did make mistakes and at this level that's just not something you can do so props to him and his crew. We gave everyone a good show and we'll come back next year and keep working on improving. The Bermuda Gold Cup seems like it's a tough one to get under my belt but all good things take time."

Poole has been match racing for more than a decade and is not fazed by having a new rival on his heels. "I'm chasing my own objectives and winning this is a big one on there. It wasn't our year, so we'll come back next year and see what happens but this is our sixth podium in a row in the World Tour. We're clearly really happy with that but just certain venues need a little more refining to get over the hurdles."

2026 Bermuda Gold Cup, final results and World Sailing rankings at 1 July 2026:

🇬🇧 Christian Hamilton (GBR), WS Open Ranking No. 5