Following the 1 July deadline for registering, the Royal Ocean Racing Club has confirmed 11 three-boat team challenges for this year’s Rolex Commodores’ Cup. These are as follows:

• Belgium

• England (Red)

• England (Blue)

• France (Red)

• France (Blue)

• Holland

• Ireland

• Wales (Red)

• Wales (Blue)

Peter Wykeham-Martin, General Manager of the RORC commented: “The efforts of the RORC’s Race Management team have helped increase the level of international support and we are pleased to see countries like France and Holland putting competitive challenges forward. We are aware of two further team entries representing the Commonwealth and Sail for Europe and we are waiting for the formal notification from the respective organising bodies to confirm that they meet the requirements of the Notice of Race before recognising their entry. Ideally, therefore we will have at least 11 teams and we would hope that this number may increase even further before full details of all entries have to be lodged by 19 July.”

There is still a strong possibility of a late Spanish entry which would swell the fleet size to nearly 40 yachts. This would make the 2002 Rolex Commodores’ Cup one of the best since the regatta’s inception in 1992, and one of the largest three-boat team events in recent years.