Swiss Match Race Gentleman Monnin returns with 2017 Tour Card

Erin Monnin competing on the World Match Racing Tour © Ian Roman / WMRT

The 2016 season tested the Albert Riele Swiss Team to the maximum and with mixed results the team found themselves in unfamiliar territory on the WMRT leaderboard. With a new setup in 2017, Eric believes his long-term game plan will kick in this year and the team see big improvements on the horizon.

Switzerland's Eric Monnin has become part of the furniture of the World Match Racing Tour. A well respected match racer, Eric can turn up the heat on the water but knows how to be a gracious winner, and loser, on land. It is no secret to say that last year was a disappointment for the Albert Riele Swiss Team with Eric admitting, "we didn't expect it to be that difficult".

But Eric hopes these problems are a thing of the past, and already this season at a WMRT qualifier event successfully tried out his new four person crew and finished the event in 4th position. Monnin has brought back his regular trimmer, Frenchman Julien Falxa, in this setup and replaces crew numbers with muscle power. Still undecided on which is the perfect setup, 2017 will see the team change between four and five person crew configurations to suit each venue.

Eric is looking forward to stepping back in the M32 this season with a fresh mindset and new goals. "Its the long term that counts for us," commented Monnin when asked what his goal was in 2017. It was the Swiss team's World Sailing match race ranking that secured their 2017 WMRT Tour Card, so let's hope they can continue their match racing success through this season and improve on last year's final leaderboard position.

WMRT 2017 Tour Card Holder:

• Name: Eric Monnin
• Nationality: Swiss
• Team name: Albert Riele Swiss Team
• Yacht Club: Segel Club Stäfa
• Year of birth: 1975
• Result WMRT 2016: 17th place