St Moritz, Switzerland – 30 August 2010 – Twelve of the world’s most successful skippers, including Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN, Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing and Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team, are preparing for a week-long series of head-to-head battles at the St Moritz Match Race.
The Swiss resort is a stunning sailing venue, despite being almost 2km above sea level, thanks to the legendary Maloja wind. This thermal breeze, created by rapid heating of the steep mountains above the resort, funnels through the valley to give reliable winds of 10-25 knots from mid-morning until sunset.
Teams will have only a short practice race to get to grips with the Blu26, the lightest and most manoeuvrable design used in the ISAF World Match Racing Tour Championship. They are optimised for racing on Alpine lakes and designed specifically for the one-on-one dogfights of match racing.
The boats’ awesome power to weight ratio and lightning-quick acceleration make for a furious pace in the all-important pre-start manoeuvres, with skippers faced with a rapid-fire of split-second win-or-lose decisions. At the same time, their crew’s boat handling is tested to the limit – anything other than millimetre-perfection and immaculate choreography will hand their opponent a crucial advantage.
The requirement for perfection in such a high-intensity battle is a tall order even for the world’s best sailors. Ben Ainslie, winner of the last leg of the WMRT, the STENA Match Cup Sweden, and Britain’s most successful sailor ever, with three Olympic gold medals, knows all too well there is no room for complacency:
“We are looking forward to getting back into the World Match Racing Tour Championship; we are planning to do four events between now and the end of the year – St Moritz, the Danish Open, Argo Group Gold Cup and the Monsoon Cup.
“Currently we are lying fifth in the rankings so we will be focusing on improving on that status. St Moritz should be a challenging lake venue, and those conditions, combined with the new four-person Blu26 boats, means we will have a lot to take on in a short space of time."
Richard, is at the top of the overall rankings going into the event, but will be looking to improve on their performance in Sweden, where Ainslie knocked them out in the quarter finals with a 2-1 scoreline. Minoprio, the reigning ‘King of the Mountains’, however, is a significant force to be reckoned with and will not relinquish his title without the most gruelling of fights.
A preview to the St Moritz Match Race can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCqmo-2i3gs
For fans around the world, the event will also be featured in a TV highlights programme called The St Moritz Match Race. Featuring all the action from Lake St. Moritz, it will premiere on Eurosport at 21.35 on 6 October and also show on Eurosport Asia Pacific at 13.45 on 13 October. The programme will be screened on Sky Sports 3 at 18.00 on 22 October.
The St. Moritz Match Race highlights show will be broadcast on channels across the globe including CNBC, Setanta, Showtime, Sky NZ, Sevenload, Yacht and Sail International, America One, ESPN Star Sports, PCTV Mexico, Melita Cable, Bands Sports Brazil as well as local Swiss broadcaster Teleclub. The latest TV schedule for all the races can be viewed at: http://www.wmrt.com/multimedia/tv-schedules.html
*Note: times are subject to change without notification
- Ends -
About the ISAF World Match Racing Tour:
The World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) is the leading professional sailing series featuring 9 World Championship events across the globe, sanctioned by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) with “Special Event” status.
The World Tour awards over US$1.5million in prize money with points awarded at each event culminating in the crowning of the “ISAF Match Racing World Champion”. In addition, an incentive to compete in the world’s premier sailing series just got bigger. A US$250,000 overall prize pool for the top nine teams with a $50,000 bonus for the outright winner of next year’s World Match Racing Tour is now on offer.
Events utilise the same “match race” format used in the America’s Cup with racing taking place in identically supplied racing yachts which places a focuses on team work and skill. Racing takes place close to the shore for the general public to follow the races as virtual on-the-water stadiums.
Media and television highlights coverage reaches over 2.1 billion households in excess of 183 countries around the world.
ISAF World Match Racing Tour Calendar
Match Race France 6 - 11 April Marseille, France
Match Race Germany 19 – 24 May Langenargen, Germany
Korea Match Cup 8 – 13 June Gyeonggi, South Korea
Portimão Portugal Match Cup 22 – 27 June Portimão, Portugal
Match Cup Sweden 5 – 11 July Marstrand, Sweden
St Moritz Match Race 31 Aug – 5 Sept St Moritz, Switzerland
Danish Open 8 – 12 Sept Bornholm, Denmark
Argo Group Gold Cup 4 – 10 Oct Hamilton, Bermuda
Monsoon Cup 30 Nov – 5 Dec Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia
2010 ISAF World Match Racing Tour Standings
(After Stage 5 of 9)
1. Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 77 Points
2. Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 60 Points
3. Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 54 Points
4. Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar 52 Points
5. Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN 45 Points
6. Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 43 Points
7. Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra 41 Points
8. Jesper Radich (DEN) Radich Racing Team 40 Points
9. Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Sigma Racing Team 29 Points
10. Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Italia 16 Points
2010 Tour Card Holders:
Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team
Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN
Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Hansen Global Team
Bertrand Pace (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team
Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team
Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar
Access to Images, Audio Visual and Press Releases
To download high resolution pictures, audio and video files, and press releases, click on the following link to register your details: http://www.wmrt.com/multimedia.html
Please note: Registration is not automatic and will be reviewed. If you have previously registered on our old website, your username and password will be in our new database. For further enquiries or assistance, please contact media@wmrt.com
Social Media
Facebook Group name – World MatchRacingTour http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/World-Match-RacingTour/307841498309?ref=ts
Twitter Profile name – worldmrt http://twitter.com/worldmrt
YouTube www.youtube.com/worldmrt
For more information on WMRT, please visit: www.wmrt.com
Issued by Communications Department, WORLD MATCH RACING TOUR
Name : Audrey Lakai
Mob : + 6 012 502 2206
Email : audreylakai@wmrt.com
Press information, please contact Capitalize:
Name: Rupert Hains
Tel: +44 (0) 207 940 1700
Mob: +44 (0) 7887 993 240
Email: media@wmrt.com
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