With a series of preliminary races, Bermuda offers a taste of what it will be like when it hosts the world’s most prestigious sailing competition.

Drums pounding, bagpipes wailing, and resplendent in spiked pith helmets and gold-braided tunics, the Royal Bermuda Regiment high-stepped through the mid-October night. At the harbor, yachts and motor launches were lit by the glow of waterfront store windows, while tourists and locals formed long lines in front of tents offering the full array of street-festival …