New look World Match Racing Tour starts record 16th season

by World Match Racing Tour 23 Mar 2015 15:35 GMT 23 March 2015

STENA Match Cup Sweden action © Rick Tomlinson / WMRT

The world's longest running professional sailing series - the ISAF sanctioned World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) – today announced a new and expanded sixteen event schedule for the 2015/16 world championship. The full schedule is expected to exceed 20 events by the first Tour event in May at the 51st Congressional Cup in Long Beach, California.

For the first time since the World Tour was founded in 2000, the series will award championship points to all events on the schedule divided into two categories – World Tour Events and World Championship Events. Skippers will count their highest five results towards the World Championship title.

As WMRT Executive Director James Pleasance explains, the new format provides a valuable pathway for up and coming match racing skippers to compete on the world stage;

"The Tour has always focused on growing sailing and match racing around the world. By increasing the number of events that award points to the championship leaderboard, more sailors will have the opportunity to participate on the Tour and work their way towards the World Championship."

To compliment the new event schedule and format, the Tour also revealed its new logo, which has been updated following the former title sponsor Alpari UK entering into administration in January.

New Season, New Skippers

Earning their place to compete on the World Match Racing Tour this season are 8 of the highest world ranked match racing skippers that have chosen to take their shot at winning the World Championship title.

Joining the defending five-time ISAF Match Racing World Champion Ian Williams (GBR), the 2015/2016 Tour Skipper list includes Tour veteran Bjorn Hansen (SWE) who finished 5th in last year's championship, Keith Swinton (AUS) finishing 6th last year, and Eric Monnin (SUI) who finished 7th.

Fellow Swedish match racer Johnie Berntsson also rejoins the World Match Racing Tour this year alongside new Tour skippers 20yr old Joachim Aschenbrenner (DEN), Reuben Corbett (NZL), and Nicolai Sehested (DEN). Sehested is currently competing in the Volvo Ocean Race as a member of Team Vestas Wind which suffered severe damage after running aground in the Indian Ocean in November last year.

Countdown to the Congressional Cup

The World Championship event curtain raiser for the 2015/16 Tour will be in Long Beach, California from 13-17 May at the 51st Congressional Cup.

Re-joining the World Match Racing Tour after more than 10 years, the Congressional Cup has been an innovator in the game of match racing since 1965, introducing the concept of on-water umpiring in 1988. Former winners of the event and recipients of the traditional winners 'Crimson Blazer' include Dennis Conner, Ted Turner, Ed Baird, Dean Barker, Gavin Brady, Ken Read, and the 2014 defending Champion Taylor Canfield.

After the opening event in Long Beach, the World Tour moves to Europe for events in Germany, Poland, Sweden and Holland before heading back across the Atlantic in October for the 68th edition of the Argo Group Gold Cup in Bermuda. The Monsoon Cup in Malaysia will play host to the World Championship Finals in late January 2016 in Johor Bahru on the Southern coast of Malaysia.

2015/16 World Match Racing Tour Calendar:

Ficker Cup, Long Beach, United States, 8 - 10 May 2015
Volvo Spring Cup, Langedrag, Sweden, 9 - 10 May 2015
Congressional Cup, Long Beach, United States, 13 - 17 May 2015
Match Race Germany, Langenargen, Germany, 21 - 25 May 2015
Szczecin Match Race, Szczecin, Poland, 29 - 31 May 2015
Stena Match Cup Sweden, Marstrand, Sweden, 29 June - 4 July 2015
Dziwnow Match Race, Dziwnow, Poland, 17 - 19 July 2015
Sopot Match Race, Sopot, Poland, 29 July - 1 August 2015
Knickerbocker Cup, New York, United States, 5 - 9 August 2015
Dutch Match Cup Qualifier, Lelystad, Netherlands, 21 - 23 August 2015
Bermuda National Match Racing Championship, Hamilton, Bermuda, 18 - 20 September 2015
Dutch Match Cup, Lelystad, Netherlands 23 - 27 September 2015
Argo Group Gold Cup, Hamilton, Bermuda 6 - 11 October 2015
Monsoon Cup Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia, 20 - 22 November 2015 (TBA)
Liga Layar Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia 18 - 20 December 2015
Monsoon Cup, Malaysia, 26 - 30 January 2016