Sailing against the beautiful backdrop of St Moritz. Image copyright Loris von Siebenthal/www.myimage.com
by Yvonne Reid
The five leaders of the world ranking are confirmed. They will sail – amongst others – against kiwi talent Adam Minoprio and sailing legend Peter Gilmour, who makes an impressive come-back on the World scene after his recent victory in Marstrand.
The Grade W St. Moritz match race will take place on September 1 – 6 in the Swiss Alps. Eight members of the world’s top ten are confirmed. The Swiss World Match Racing Tour stopover is a Grade W event (W stands for World Championship); it has also been an integral part of the ISAF Match Racing World Championship since 2005 and is therefore essential to the attribution of the world champion title. A prize purse of approximately 100’000 Euros will be distributed to the best teams.
The races will take place on Lake St. Moritz, a natural amphitheatre that provides a perfect and natural viewing platform from the shore. The local Maloja thermal breeze blows daily from 8 to 20 knots and with a little help from the sun the breeze picks up, guaranteeing a fantastic show to the numerous spectators who flock to see their sailing heroes in action.
Twelve teams representing eight nations have been selected for this regatta. Mathieu Richard (FRA), the current leader of the world ranking will sail amongst others against his fellow competitor Sébastien Col (5), the helmsman of K-Challenge’s America’s Cup team. Ian Williams (UK, 2) of Team Pindar and Adam Minoprio (NZL 3) and his BlackMatch crew are amongst the favourites. Surprise guest of the event, Peter Gilmour (AUS, 7) of YANMAR Racing is a veteran of five America’s Cups and quadruple winner of the world match racing title. Currently seventh of the world ranking, he is one of the event’s outsiders. He won the prestigious title in Marstrand last month, and is respected by all the competitors.
The St. Moritz match race will once again take place on Blu26 one-design sailing boats. Conceived by the Swiss Bluboats, the Blu26 are 8 m. long and 2,2 m. wide. They are perfectly adapted to match racing.
The Organising Committee is proud to announce the renewal for 2009 of the partnership with its partners, AFG, UBS and the Badrutt’s Palace Hotel, who are the event’s main partners.
Teams
(Name of Skipper, Team, Nationality, world ranking as at 30 June 2009)
Mathieu Richard French Match Racing Team FRA 1
Ian Williams Team Pindar GBR 2
Adam Minoprio ETNZ/Black Match NZL 3
Torvar Mirsky Mirsky Racing Team AUS 4
Sébastien ColFrench Match Racing Team / K-Challenge FRA 5
Peter Gilmour YANMAR Racing AUS 7
Philippe Presti French Match Racing Team FRA 8
Paolo Cian Team Shosholoza ITA 9
Björn Hansen OnBoard Saling Team SWE 11
Alvaro Marinho Seth Sailing Team POR 18
Eric Monnin Swiss Match Race Team SUI 27
Francesco Bruni Joe Fly Match Race ITA 50
World Match Racing Tour
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