Monsoon Cup at Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia - Preview

First day’s racing schedule includes national and regional showdowns

The Monsoon Cup, Stage 6 of the 2006-’07 World Match Racing Tour, kicked off today with an opening ceremony in the middle of the afternoon.

In the evening the participants, organizers and officials were scheduled to take part in a dinner hosted by the Chief Minister of Terengganu at Wisma Darul Iman, the Terengganu state house.

In its second year, the Monsoon Cup has already become the world’s richest sailing event. Featuring a prize purse of MYR 1 million (approximately $275,000), it will award MYR 250,000 (approximately $70,000) to the champion.

A total of 12 teams are entered, three of which competed last year. The returning sailors and newcomers have marveled at the construction completed in a short amount of time at the Terengganu Heritage Bay Club.

Two massive buildings totaling more than 300,000 square feet, one an entertainment and food and beverage hall, the other an operations center, have mostly been erected in four months. More than 700 workers have been toiling in three shifts, 24 hours a day making the venue ready for the regatta.

“With the way they work here, next year we might see a skyscraper,” said Paolo Cian, of Team Shosholoza.

The construction was all planned, but scheduled to be completed in one year. Datuk Patrick Lim, a director of event organizer T-Best Events and founding father of the Monsoon Cup, felt compelled to push the schedule forward.

“You look at the impact this event and resort have had in the past 18 months and it gives you an idea of how broad the economic impact can be,” said Lim, who is also a director of event organizer T-Best Events. “Waiting another year means the loss of opportunity. It’s another year longer towards achieving our goals.”

The Monsoon Cup was launched last year to help promote the Terengganu Heritage Bay Club and to boost tourism to the eastern state of Malaysia, which typically suffers this time of year due to the monsoon season.

Last year the event generated MYR 73 million (more than $20 million) in gross media value, and this year the hotels are booked when they might otherwise be empty.

Racing for the lucrative purse begins in earnest tomorrow with a number of matches pitting national and regional rivals against each other, as well as leaders in the Match Racing World Championship standings.

Flight 1, Match 1 will see Ian Williams of Team Pindar squaring off against Paolo Cian and Team Shosholoza. Williams leads the standings with 47 points, and Cian is tied for third with 30 points. Both have scored wins in the first five stages. Williams won the Bermuda Gold Cup last month and Cian was victorious at St. Moritz Match Race in August.

Match 2 has Sébastien Col of France’s Areva Challenge for the America’s scheduled to race compatriot Mathieu Richard of the Saba Sailing Team. Col lies seventh in the standings with 29 points after winning Stage 3, the Danish Open, in August, and Richard is sixth in the standings with 30 points after having finished second in Bermuda.

In Flight 3, Match 1, Peter Gilmour, the reigning Monsoon Cup and World Match Racing Champion, races against Peter Holmberg, of America’s Cup defense syndicate Alinghi. The two are spirited competitors who have a deft touch on the helm and use the rules to their advantage.

Match 4 in the flight pits a pair of Asians against each other in what is believed to be the first such meeting in an ISAF Grade WC match-race regatta. Malaysia’s Tiffany Koo, winner of the first Malaysian Match Race Championship, will race Singapore’s Wearn Haw Tan, a member of the China Team. Tan placed 13th in his World Tour debut at St. Moritz Match Race in August, while Koo is making her debut.

“I’m very excited,” said Koo, who’s celebrating her 22nd birthday today. “I feel lucky to be entered and representing Malaysia. I feel luck because it’s so hard to get the invites.”

Racing in the semifinal and final rounds, Dec. 2 and 3, is scheduled to be broadcast live on the Internet at www.sail.tv. It will also be broadcast live on ESPN/Star Sports, Eurosport, The Sailing Channel, Fox Australia, Sky New Zealand and Showtime Middle East (check local listings for times).

The events of the World Tour serve to determine the ISAF Match Racing World Champion. Next year the Monsoon Cup will be the final event of the 2006-’07 season, and will crown the 2007 World Champion.

The World Tour is sanctioned by ISAF, sailing’s world governing body. The World Tour Partner and Official Car is BMW (Munich, Germany). World Tour sponsors include Sebago (Rockford, Mich.), the Official Footwear Supplier, Travel Places (West Sussex, England), the Official Travel Partner, and Wedgwood (Stoke-on-Trent, England), the Official Trophy Sponsor.

For more information on the World Match Racing Tour, its competitors and events, please visit the official World Tour Web site, www.WorldMatchRacingTour.com. World Match Racing Tour television programs may be viewed on demand by clicking on the television icon on the home page of the Web site.

Team Pindar ready for battle at the Monsoon Cup (by Kate Fairclough)

Ian Williams of ‘Team Pindar’ will this week compete in the sixth stage of the current World Match Racing Tour, the Monsoon Cup. The five day event which begins today takes place in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia, and will be contested by the world’s top match racing talent.

Ian, Britain’s most promising match racing helm, is currently leading the World Match Racing Tour. He recently won the illustrious King Edward VII Gold Cup in Bermuda and posted a solid fourth place at the Allianz Cup Presented by Oracle in San Francisco last month. Ian and his team of brother Mark, Bill Hardesty, Simon Shaw and Mark Nichols are sponsored by Pindar, the leading print and electronic media company. ‘Team Pindar’ will be fighting for a podium finish in the tricky waters of the Pulau Duyong Basin as they aim to maintain their command of the World Match Racing Tour ladder.

The Monsoon Cup in Malaysia, which begins today, will be sailed in Foundation 36 keelboats. Having become one of the biggest sporting events in Malaysia, the Monsoon Cup is expected to attract thousands of spectators to enjoy the thrillingly close racing from its towering grandstands. The venue will prove testing for the twelve skippers as it is characterised by typically light winds and strong currents. The Monsoon Cup has a prize purse of MYR 1 million, around $275,000, the largest of any event on the Tour, thereby attracting the crème de la crème of the world's best skippers.

Ian commented: “The field here in Malaysia is particularly tough and it’s a tricky venue to sail at. You have to plot the tide very carefully as the sailing area is positioned where two rivers meet - we have the advantage of having sailed here once before, at last year’s Monsoon Cup. The aim for ‘Team Pindar’ is to make the semi-finals here, as we intend to come out still leading the World Match Racing Tour. I’m looking to put in some strong performances against Gilly [Peter Gilmour], James Spithill, Peter Holmberg and Jesper Bank. Cian and Col like us have won their first Tour events this year so they will also be ones to watch – it’s lining up to be a great regatta! The team will also be keeping in mind the fact that next year’s edition of this event will be the final stage of the current Tour, and counts for double points, so long-term it is good to get as much practice in here as we can.”

Andrew Pindar, Chairman of the Pindar Group commented: “I’d like to wish Ian and the team the best of luck in Malaysia from all of us here at Pindar. As we get further and further into the World Match Racing Tour calendar the rewards that Ian reaps for performing consistently well at each event become greater as he strives to maintain his lead on the World Match Racing Tour ladder. I know that Ian will put in 100% and we look forward to following the action online in each of our businesses around the world, as I hope everyone at home will do also.”