[Source: Alpari World Match Racing Tour] The Racing Rules have been amended in order to continue the positioning of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour (AWMRT) as the most compelling, competitive and pioneering action on the water. Craig Mitchell, Alpari World Match Racing Tour, Tour Director, expects the alterations to have a positive effect on the Tour, as well as match racing in general: “Match racing has evolved to the point where we currently have a great set of rules, producing some fantastic sporting action, as we saw quite clearly in the 2011 series.

“Nothing major has changed in the past few years and we are enthusiastic in our responsibility to keep developing the rules to challenge our world class athletes and create the best possible spectacle we can.”

Following the decision by the America’s Cup to move away from monohull sailing and subsequent revision of their rules, organisers at the Alpari World Match Racing Tour began a re-think of the rules, inviting comment from sailors and event organisers to establish what, if anything, they would like to see changed for the 2012 season. The resulting discussion paper identified a number of areas which were generally agreed to be open for experimentation and ultimately permission was given by the International Sailing Federation to implement the final decisions under RRS86.

Several changes have been included in order to tidy up existing wording and define certain aspects more clearly but amongst the slightly more controversial additions are a revision of the penalty process, limiting boat requests for redress and an amendment of proper course restrictions which it is hoped will allow the trailing boat increased chances to overtake – expected to get a mixed reaction amongst sailors and sailing aficionados alike.

The removal of proper course restrictions which will allow a trailing boat to gain an overlap from astern and luff their opposition away from the mark should increase opportunities for a trailing boat and may well see a change in how the leading boat will choose to defend their advantage. The added opportunity afforded to challenge the match leader is designed to encourage a tighter margin between teams. Mitchell, said:“We are the most competitive sailing series in the world and we hope that these changes, amongst others, continue to create the closest, most intense battles out on the water.”

The major change in the penalty process for 2012 is the removal of double penalties for serious rule infringements. It was felt the old process tended to ‘kill-off’ a match and officials will now award a red flag instead of a double penalty, for which the infringing team will need to take an immediate penalty turn. Should that same team still be in control of the match after the turn, umpires can award another penalty.

Limiting boat-requested redress is aimed at cutting time wasted on the water and lessening breaks in play mid-match. The increased empowerment of officials is expected to reduce gamesmanship from competing boats, whilst giving umpires the opportunity to step in when things go wrong. Craig Mitchell, said: “The Tour is a dynamic proposition and we are always looking to improve the spectator experience at our events and for our TV viewers. Like all big sports, being in control of match timeframes is vital in maintaining our appeal commercially.”

With Match Race Germany just under two weeks away, the changes will come under scrutiny as the season develops and their true effect becomes clear. Mitchell, said: “We are committed to trying out new things on the Tour and if it doesn’t work as we’d hope, we’re not opposed to returning to previous rules.”

Full list of changes for 2012 are as follows: 

NOR APPENDIX 1 – MAJOR ALTERATIONS TO THE RRS
The following changes to the rules of Part 2 and rule 42 of the RRS have been authorized by ISAF under RRS86.2
Change rule C2.1:
C2.1          The definition Finish is changed to
A boat finishes when any part of her hull crosses the finishing line in the direction of the course from the last mark after completing any penalties. However, when penalties are cancelled under rule C7.2(e) after one or both boats have finished each shall be recorded as finished when she crossed the line.
Add new rules C2.13 to C2.20:
C2.13        Add new rule 16.3: ‘If two boats are inside the zone of a windward mark on opposite tacks and the proper course for the right-of-way boat is to tack at the mark, she shall be exonerated if she breaks rule 16.1 while luffing to tack at the mark.’
C2.14        Rule 17 is deleted.
C2.15        Rule 21.3 is deleted
C2.16        Rule 31 is changed to ‘While racing, neither the crew nor any part of a boat’s hull shall touch a starting mark before starting, a mark that begins, bounds or ends the leg of the course on which she is sailing, or a finishing mark after finishing.
C2.17        Rule 42.3(b) is changed to ‘A boat’s crew may increase the speed of the boat through exaggerated crew movements to facilitate steering the boat through a tack or gybe and to adjust the trim of the boat while within 1 boatlength of the completion of the tack or gybe.’
C2.18        Except when flag Victor is displayed on the race committee starting vessel before or at the attention signal for a match, or when flag Victor has been displayed from an official boat during a match, rule 42.3(c) is changed to: ‘A boat sailing a downwind course after the starting signal is permitted to pump the sheet and the guy controlling any sail.’
C2.19        Add new rule 41(e): ‘help to recover from the water and return on board a crew member, provided the return on board is at the approximate location of the recovery.’
C2.20        Add to the end of the last sentence of RRS 47.2: ‘unless that person was placed on board by the OA and they have been retrieved from the water by a support boat or official boat.’
Add new rule C6.2(e) and Change rules C6.3 and C6.5(b) to:
C6.2(e)      rule 28.1.
C6.3          A boat may not request redress under RRS 62.1(a). The protest committee may decide to consider giving redress under that rule if it believes that an error has been made. The race committee or match umpires may request the protest committee to consider this. This changes RRS 60.1(b) and 62.1(a). A boat intending to request redress under 62.1(b) or (c) because of circumstances that arise before she finishes or retires shall clearly display a red flag as soon as possible after she becomes aware of those circumstances, but no later than two minutes after finishing or retiring.
C6.5(b)      The red-flag penalty in rule C5.3 shall be used when a boat has gained a controlling position as a result of breaking a rule.
Changes to Rule C7.2 All Penalties
Add new C7.2(a) and change current C7.2(d) then renumber all points.
C7.2(a)      After being signalled under rule C5.2 and within the limitations of rule C7.3, a penalized boat may elect to take a penalty immediately by crossing behind the stern of the other boat.
C7.2(e)     A penalized boat shall not be recorded as having finished until she takes her penalty and sails completely to the course side of the line with her hull and then finishes, unless the penalty is cancelled before or after she crosses the finishing line.
Delete rules C8.3(a) and C8.3(b) and add new rules C8.3(a), (b) and (d)
C8.3(a)      retained a controlling position after taking a penalty under C7.3(d).
C8.3(b)      gained an advantage after barging at a starting mark when approaching the line to start.
C8.3(d)      made excessive attempts to verbally coerce, coach or influence an umpire decision;
objected repetitively to an umpire decision (verbally or otherwise); or abused the umpires before or after an umpire decision
Add new rule C10.2(b):
C10.2(b)    When one of the boats in a match fails to sail the course in accordance with rule 28.1, she shall be scored DNF without a hearing.

[Source: ISAF] Ian Williams (GBR) kick started his 2012 match race campaign following his second consecutive Congressional Cup victory. Held at Long Beach Yacht Club in California, USA, the World #1 proved his worth to take the ISAF Grade 1 event beating Gavin Brady (NZL) in the final.

Brady, who has finished on the Congressional Cup podium seven times, has been inactive for the past 12 months and is the current World #250. But Williams’ victory further strengthens his hold on the World #1 spot, a position he has held since the turn of the year.

Laurie Jury (NZL) finished ninth at the Congressional Cup which is enough to move the New Zealander into the top ten for the first time. And it is also new territory for Taylor Canfield (ISV) who moves into the top 25 for the first time following his third place finish in California.

Keith Swinton’s regatta victory at ISAF Grade 1 Open de España in Calpe, Spain has moved him up to a personal best of World #7. Swinton finished eighth at the ISAF Grade 2 Trofeo SIR Thomas Lipton Match Race in Javea, Spain ahead of the event to further bolster his points total ahead of the rankings release.

Thomas Lipton Match Race victory Mads Ebler (DEN) drops a place to World #13 after he finished down the leader board in seventh in Calpe.

The low front that has been hovering over the western Mediterranean during the last few days brought mixed fortunes for the various sailing events taking place today. On the one hand it forced America’s Cup organizers to can all racing due to the strong wind and rough sea state in Naples but on the other hand it allowed us to have an action-packed day in Calpe on the final day of the 9th Open España Match Race. Conditions were rough with a very big swell and strong breezes, between 15 and 20 knots but the end result was spectacular.

Keith Swinton, the young Australian match racer, clinched overall victory but it was hardly a walk in the park. He finished the round robin sitting at the top with an 8-1 score and then went into the quarterfinals on Friday where he beat Italy’s Simone Ferrarese 3-1.

His first, and tough, opponent today was, yet another, young New Zealander, Josh Junior from Wellington’s Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club. Despite his young age, Junior clearly showed he has the potential to become one of the world’s top match racers. He never gave up and even when he was clearly at a disadvantage he fought hard to gain from every mistake Swinton would make. That’s what happened in their fourth semifinal race when in the last run Swinton was in the lead but failed to cover, giving Junior the opportunity to get better breeze on the left side of the course and score a victory. Swinton finally prevailed but had to win the fifth match in order to move to the finals with a 3-2 score.

In the other semifinal, France’s Pierre-Antoine Morvan beat Björn Hansen from Sweden 3-2 but two umpire calls, one at the first weather mark of the third match and another one at the prestart of the fourth match, could be considered controversial and could have very easily gone the other way and change the outcome of the races. Both port-starboard incidents were given green flags by the umpires but infuriated Hansen who was yelling for a penalty against his French opponent.

With the breeze and swell unabated one was certain to get very close and exciting matches. After the first two matches, the two sailors were tied with one victory each. In the first beat of the third match Morvan was in the lead, only slightly, and when the two boats crossed Swinton’s bow hit Morvan’s stern. Morvan got a penalty in a clear port-starboard incident. However, the umpires imposed a 0.75-point penalty on Swinton for not trying to avoid the collision. After the races, Swinton state that he didn’t really try to avoid the collision because he wanted to make sure Morvan got a penalty. Had he dipped, in his view, the French might have got out unscathed from the incident.

Swinton went on to win the next match as well, bringing the score to 2.25 to 1. Hadn’t he received the penalty the Open would have ended in that point but all was open from that point. In fact, Morvan claimed the fifth race, making it necessary to hold a sixth and decisive match.

As expected, the two match racers engaged in an aggressive battle. In the first downwind Morvan got a penalty for luffing too hard but was then able to build a comfortable advantage in the beat, offload the penalty and round the last weather mark ahead of Swinton. The two yachts were even but Morvan let Swinton separate, get better breeze on the left-hand side of the course and cross the finish line ahead. Swinton clinched a well-deserved victory and invitation to St. Moritz Match Race.

Last but not least, it is worth mentioning the excellent performance by Josh Junior in petite final where he beat Hansen 2-0.

Spectacular racing on the final day of the Open España Match Race. Calpe, 14 April 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

Spectacular racing on the final day of the Open España Match Race. Calpe, 14 April 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

Spectacular racing on the final day of the Open España Match Race. Calpe, 14 April 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

Spectacular racing on the final day of the Open España Match Race. Calpe, 14 April 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

Spectacular racing on the final day of the Open España Match Race. Calpe, 14 April 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

Spectacular racing on the final day of the Open España Match Race. Calpe, 14 April 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

Spectacular racing on the final day of the Open España Match Race. Calpe, 14 April 2012. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / VSail.info

[Source: Match Race Germany] They are the stars of the 15th Match Race Germany: The Australian match race magician Peter Gilmour and the exceptional German / Polish skipper Karol Jablonski combine not only their success in the America’s Cup. Both represent the first generation of furious match racers, both are world champions in the diszipline, and both will show up before Pentecost in Langenargen on Lake Constance and start their quest to raise the winner’s trophy of the 15th edition of Match Race Germany.

The 51-year-old Gilmour (Yanmar Racing) and the 49-year-old Jablonski have lost nothing of their great skills in the art of match racing. “Gilly and Karol both wrote sailing history,” says race director Eberhard Magg, “we are delighted that they both are competing in Match Race Germany and show our fan their master-skills.”

Champions Shooting Stars

The young rising star in the World Match Racing Tour Alpari will have to sail outstanding, to trouble the two champions and their teams. But they have what it takes. “I very much respect and rate all opponents highly,” said Karol Jablonski, “for example, against Pierre-Antoine Morvan I lost the final of last Sopot Match Race. He and his crew form a strong unit.” The seven-time Ice sailing world champion Jablonski wants to, eight years after his last participation in Match Race Germany in 2004 where he lost the Rigg in the Round Robin, enjoy his comeback building on his vast experience. “Match race sailing on the lake is still quite special and very exciting. I know that after such a long break it will be a difficult task and challenge for me and my team. However, I am confident that I have not forgotten how to play the game well. I want to enjoy all the duels. “

Four of the new, young Tour card holders will compete at Lake Constance: Fighting in addition to the French Vannes aglo Sailing Team by Pierre-Antoine Morvan will be Simone Ferrarese, the Italian racing team, the Black Swan Racing team of the Australian Keith Swinton and the New Zealand Kiwi zoke Match team of Laurie jury. All aiming for the rise in the world rankings, to collect important points for the Alpari World Match Racing Tour standings and a lot of prize money in 2012, with a total of 1.75 million U.S. dollars, the Alpari World Match Racing Tour offers the biggest pot of international sailing.

Francesco Bruni won the 2011 Match Race Germany. Photo copyright Felix Kästle / Match Race Germany

Craig Mitchell, Race Director of Alpari World Match Racing Tour, looks ahead with great anticipation for the fight of the generations that ill characterize the season opener Match Race Germany, and will last till December with the World Cup final at the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia: “Time will tell whether Ian Williams was able to preserve his winning form, whether Gilmour, Berntsson and Hansen bring more continuity into their game and whether the new tour Card holders can provide surprises as well as drama. We will not have to wait long, Match Race Germany opens the season already on the 24th of May. “

The final entry list for the 15th edition of Match Race Germany sailed on the largest boats on the Tour, the Bavaria 40S, will be published the organizers in mid April. Definite already: The German match race champion Jan-Eike Andresen and his team will represent black, red and gold at the only stop of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour in Germany and will be supported by the tens of thousands of support. The Hamburg based skipper and his crew start with underdog odds in the six-day racing festival, the only amateur crew in the professional field of twelve teams of at least nine countries.

After the organizers succeeded to secure the traditional Pentecostal date for Match Race Germany in 2012 as well as winning Porsche as a formidable and strong partner for the German Grand Prix the organizers count on more than 30,000 visitors, fans and spectators again this year.

PREMIERE: Original Erdinger Urweisse Lodge

The fans at the race village situated around the traditional gondola harbor of Langenargen can expect once again a free admission festival of high calibre. Following the free practice sessions of the professionals on Wednesday before Pentecost will be the first qualifying races of the full round robin on Thursday starting from 9 o´clock. On Thursday evening the Eschbach Buam will play in the après sail Erdinger Urweissen Hütt’n, a wodden chalet in original Bavarian style. For the first time Erdinger will show this special building at Match Race Germany to experience a true mountain lodge feeling, and a slice of Oktoberfest-Feeling. The theme: Match Race Goes leathertrousers and Dirndl VOL.2. From Friday on the lodge will be the place to go to for the after sail party straight after the races of the day have finished. DJ Heiko Berger invites You to daily changing theme with the matching outfits of course!

The 15th Anniversary of their classic on Lake Constance ,the organizers will celebrate in good tradition every night in the big party tent with great bands like the All Star Blues Band from Vorarlberg (Austria), South American sounds presented on Saturday by Cuba Club Vaduz and the traditional Jürgen Waidele programme “Take a Dance”, a lot of dancing, fun and entertainment guaranteed. On show and displaye in the race village will be the Porsche World, Marinepool Sailing fashion, bungee trampoline at the shore facility, children’s activities and children’s sailing, Stihl’s current products and Air miniature golf, a HHP massage lounge and many many more attractions. The best view to watch the matches will once again have our prtners and guests in the purpose built terrace on the lake VIP tent, our “Breeze Inn”, presented by Rolf Benz with a panoramic view of Lake Constance, where on Whit Monday at noon the finals of the small jubilee edition will tke plac, before the crews and umpires head strait to Korea for the Korea Match Cup.

[Source: Team Trifork] Since 2008 when Joachim Aschenbrenner decided to try his luck with Match Racing instead of the optimist dinghy, he has only climbed the ladder and is now ranked nr. 23 on the World Rankings. Through the last season the team has proven their potential with among others, 2nd place at the European Youth Championship and a 5th place at the “real” European Championship.

This potential has convinced the IT-company Trifork from Århus to agree on a sponsoring contract with the team for the next year. Joachim Aschenbrenner and Team Trifork have hereby established a solid economical foundation for the forthcoming season during which the team will really show their colours on the international stage.

“Our goal for the upcoming season is to be within top 20 at the end of 2012. With the economic support from Trifork we can concentrate 100% upon improving our performance without having to worry about the finances for our participating in this year’s regattas” tells Joachim Aschenbrenner.

A big name in Danish sailing

By sponsoring Joachim Aschenbrenner, Trifork expand their portfolio of sailing teams in Denmark and is now represented in both Extreme Sailing Series and in the top of international Match Racing.

“It is incredible to feel such trust and support by one of the biggest operators within Danish sailing. So in addition to the finances, the support from Trifork gives a boost to our confidence, which we can bring with us to the upcoming season,” states Joachim Aschenbrenner.

The Goal is World Match Racing Tour

With the consistent progress on the World Rankings, Team Trifork begins to see an end to the long way towards their biggest goal – World Match Racing Tour card.

“We have set up a very ambitious goal of being a part of the professional World Tour by 2014 and with our support from Trifork I am convinced that we will reach our goal,” says Joachim Aschenbrenner.

CEO Jørn Larsen backs this up with the comment, “With his 18 years of age Joachim is a unique talent who at the same time has a competent team behind him. With the plan they have presented for me I am convinced that Team Trifork will be a part of the World Match Racing Tour in 2014 and maybe already in 2013 if everything goes well.”

[Source: Alpari World Match Racing Tour] The Alpari World Match Racing Tour today announces that Chief Executive Officer Jim O’Toole will not be renewing his fixed term contract with the Tour and after discussions with the Board of Directors it has been agreed that he will part company with the Tour with immediate effect.

O’Toole comments: “With the recent announcement of Alpari as the Tour title sponsor and the conclusion of an agreement with the new venue in Chicago, the Alpari World Match Racing Tour is in an enviable commercial position in the world of sailing and I would like to wish the series and all its stakeholders every success moving forward.”

O’Toole will explore other senior management roles within the sports marketing industry. The Alpari World Match Racing Tour would like to thank Jim and wish him good luck in his future endeavours.

VSail.info caught up with David Stuart, COO of Alpari, the foreign exchange group that recently became the Title Sponsor of the World Match Racing Tour. Stuart talks about his company, sailing, the World Match Racing Tour and the reasons they got into this major, multi-million dollar, 5-year deal:

VSail.info: What does Alpari exactly do? What business are you in?
David Stuart: We are one of the leading global providers of online foreign exchange. We also provide some other products such as precious metals and CFD’s on things like equities, some of the most popular stocks around the world. We provide this through an electronic trading platform and our clients trade purely for their profits and losses, they don’t actually physically receive any currencies. We have over 50 offices worldwide and our global headquarters are in the UK. We have approximately 170,000 active clients and trading accounts and we employ around 700 people but this increases day by day.

VSail.info: Just to put that in context in terms of your interests in sponsorship, what is the nature of your clients? Are they private individuals, companies, banks or other financial institutions?
David Stuart: To be honest, we have a very diverse base of clients. All of those people you mentioned, from a small individual that has maybe a few hundred dollars or pounds all the way through to institutional, professional traders and banking institutions. We offer our services to a variety of types of people.

The World Match Racing Tour gives us coverage to a certain set of individuals but there is an awful lot of crossover between the individuals that enjoy trading and the individuals that enjoy sailing.

VSail.info: Yes, we’ll also touch that point. Do you also sponsor other sports?
David Stuart: We do indeed. In the US we don’t specifically sponsor a sport, however we sponsor the home of a basketball team, the New Jersey Nets, which have now moved to New York and will be named the Brooklyn Nets. We sponsor their home which is called the Prudential Center. That’s kind of their home place for their basketball matches. Here in the UK we sponsor Westham United, a football team that has global coverage around the world. Basketball is a very niche and specific market for the US while football is global, a kind of “masses” global market.

What we are trying to do with the sailing sponsorship is to reach a specific global audience rather than the entire globe.

VSail.info: Exactly, that is probably one of the key questions. Why sailing? What made you decide investing in this sport?
David Stuart: We feel that sailing, the World Match Racing Tour and Alpari have a lot in common. Sailing in general, and this Tour in particular, is a prestige global sport and reflects the audience profile that we are looking for in the international stage. Having spoken with the WMRT people and negotiated for some time we really appreciated two factors. Firstly, we liked their vision and it almost matched our own vision. Secondly, we liked their ambition for the growth of the Tour, globally.

We do also see the fact that trading, although completely different from sailing, lends itself to similar aspects, such as analyzing trends, strategy, research, calculated risk, and all of these are also inherent in sailing, specifically in match racing. As a result, we see a strong link there.

As I mentioned earlier, an important factor is the global reach of this Tour with the events they have over the coming year. They try to niche specific markets as well. The Westham deal, the football deal gets us global coverage but it is too diverse. We want to go for a very niche market and we believe that this prestige sport that we have in sailing gets us access to these markets.

VSail.info: What does the deal consist of? Do you just put your company name in front of the World Match Racing tour?
David Stuart: Essentially, we get the naming rights and we become the title sponsor. With that we receive a major-player status. We also get branding opportunities everywhere, throughout the different dates and events they are holding but there is a lot more to it than that, we get TV coverage, we get a variety of brand awareness programs.

We are working in parallel with the World Match Racing Tour and what we are trying to do, perhaps different to other people that have sponsorship deals, is to have more of a partnership. We are working together. For example, we might be opening an office next year in an Asian-Pacific city and we can discuss with these guys, because of our very good relationship, whether there is any opportunity to hold one of their events there next year. We have a lot of coverage in North America, so the new WMRT event in Chicago fits into that perfectly well. Most of the events take place in countries where we already have coverage but some of them are in areas where we would like to move into in the future.

VSail.info: Can you disclose the financial part of the deal?
David Stuart: I can’t give absolute specifics but I can tell you it’s a multi-million dollar partnership over five years and we will be the main sponsor for that total period of time. As I said before, we get the opportunity to rename it to the Alpari World Match Racing Tour. Unfortunately, I can’t divulge the actual specifics of the deal, the hard cash.

VSail.info: This is your very first deal in sailing and yet you sign up for five years. Do you feel comfortable with such a commitment over such a long period?
David Stuart: We do indeed. We are into this foreign exchange business, the brokerage business, for the long term. We aren’t looking for a short term gain. Of course we are always looking for opportunities that do bring some short-term gains but we see this sailing partnership very much long-term. Not everything we have planned can happen overnight, not everything the Tour has planned can happen overnight and it will take a long period of time to evolve this partnership. How does this partnership look today? I’m absolutely sure it will look very, very different, in three years time. For us to evolve with the markets we are looking at and for the Tour to grow in the areas they are looking at it has to be a very much long-term deal.

VSail.info: Did you also look into other areas of sailing or did you only talk to the WMRT? Did you look into other events or circuits?
David Stuart: We did but, unfortunately, I can’t give you specifics of what we looked at. At the end it was the best two options that were brought to the board. I do know we were looking at a variety of other sports and I know we were also looking at, at least, one other option in sailing. We looked at football, Formula 1, cycling and we felt that this particular sport and also the guys in charge of this particular sport had the right ambition and vision that matched our own.

VSail.info: Alpari was founded by Andrey Vedikhin. Is Mr Vedikhin or yourself a sailor? Is either one of you a sailing fan?
David Stuart: Neither one of us is a sailor. I do watch sailing on TV and I have probably sailed, at most, once a year or year and a half. I enjoy it but I’m, obviously, no expert at all.

VSail.info: Did that have any influence on the sponsorship decision?
David Stuart: Absolutely not, we both have a keen interest in many different sports. Sailing and this particular type of sailing, match racing, are obviously exciting and we both look forward to travelling to many of the events this year. We have already booked are places for the first event in Germany, next May.

New Zealand match racing team, Kiwi Match, have become one of only 9 teams internationally to have qualified for a World Match Racing Tour Card. Team Kiwimatch join fellow New Zealanders, Waka Racing, in the fight to become the World Match Racing Champions, following in the wake of past New Zealand champions Russell Coutts, Chris Dickson, Dean Barker and most recently Adam Minoprio.

Hard work and perseverance have finally paid off for the team, who have been steadily climbing the world rankings over the last few years. Success in 2011 in the USA, winning both the Nations Cup and the USA Grand Slam saw Kiwimatch climb into the top 10 of the ISAF world rankings for the first time and into contention for a highly sought-after tour card.

Last year’s World Tour Champion, Ian Williams from Great Britian is once again on the list of nine skippers to have secured a Tour Card for the 2012 season. Selected by the Tour, the list of Tour Card Holders include a mix of current and former World Champions, Olympic and America’s Cup campaigners, as well as a new exciting breed of promising young teams, which includes Team Kiwimatch.

Coinciding with this week’s announcement of the 2012 Tour Card holders, the tour also unveiled a new event, the Chicago Match Cup in the US, to complement the other regattas in Germany, Korea, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Bermuda and Malaysia.

“This really is an exciting opportunity for Team Kiwimatch”, says skipper Laurie Jury. “We’ve worked hard as a team over the last 3 years to get to this point, so it’s encouraging to see that hard work pay off. To finally be at the level to compete against the best skippers, and the best teams in the world is great. Hopefully we can match the success other New Zealand teams have had on the World Match Racing Tour”.

As with most young teams, half the challenge is being in a position to actually get to the start line. With events spread right around the world, the cost of competing doesn’t always come cheap. “It’s always a constant battle to be able to afford to get to a lot of these events”, explains Jury. “Fitting training sessions between work commitments and always having to watch costs makes it hard when competing against fully professional teams. We’re currently in the process of finding sponsorship to help us compete on a more level playing field.”