America’s Cup in Bermuda prepares to take off for its 35th event

BERMUDA ― Top sailors from around the world will be competing in the 35th America’s Cup, one of the world’s fastest sailing races. With Bermuda hosting the event, yachts will propel through the warm, clear Caribbean waters starting May 26 with the qualifying events. Oracle Team USA is the defending champion. Five international teams representing Sweden (Artemis Racing), New Zealand (Emirates Team), France (Groupama Team), Great Britian (Land Rover BAR) and Japan (Softbank Team) are also competing for the America’s Cup title. It may be called the America’s Cup but the race has evolved into a world competition. America’s Cup is actually named after America, the winning schooner of the 1851 race. All the teams representing various countries in the race started arriving in Bermuda as late as April. The Swedish team, Artemis Racing, and Oracle Team USA, however, took residence in Bermuda for the past two years to undergo training exercises. The qualifying races, beginning May 26 and concluding June 3, will eliminate one team from the competition. The America’s Cup Challenger Playoffs, June 4 to 12, follow and will determine the team to challenge Oracle Team USA. Oracle Team USA won the previous two America’s Cup races. It will be interesting to see...