Line-up for 2018-19 Match Racing Worlds

London, UK (April 17, 2019) – The World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) has confirmed the skippers for the 2018-2019 WMRT Championship Final to be held July 3-7 in Marstrand, Sweden.

The 2018-2019 WMRT Championship Final will conclude the extended 2018 WMRT season, with the winner of the event will be crowned 2018-2019 Match Racing World Champion as sanctioned by World Sailing. The decision to extend the season followed an ownership change of the WMRT from Aston Harald in December 2018.

The five-day WMRT Championship Final, held in conjunction with the GKSS Match Cup Sweden, will be raced in M32 carbon fibre multihulls on the Marstrand racecourse notable for the iconic rocks that flank either side of the venue.

Eleven of the top twelve teams from the WMRT leaderboard have accepted invitations to the Championship Final. Due to his 49er Olympic commitments, Danish sailor Jonas Warrer, currently ranked #9 on the WMRT leaderboard, is unable to make the event and the invitation will be passed to a replacement skipper and team to be announced in the coming weeks.

The line-up features three former match racing world champions including defending champion Torvar Mirsky (AUS), six-time world champion Ian Williams (GBR), and 2016 world champion Phil Robertson (NZL).

Confirmed skippers with World Sailing Ranking*
• Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar – #2
• Harry Price (AUS) Down Under Racing – #3
• Nicklas Dackhammer (SWE) Essiq Racing Team – #7
• Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team – #10
• Yann Guichard (FRA) Spindrift Racing – #18
• Mans Holmberg (SWE) Holmberg Match Racing Team – #21
• Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team – #24
• Phil Robertson (NZL) China One Ningbo – #31
• Pieter-Jan Postma (NED) Sailing Team NL – #125
• Markus Edegran (USA) Team Torrent – #169
• Daniel Björnholt (DEN) Youth Vikings Denmark – #251
• To be announced
* Ranking as of April 10, 2019

For more information on WMRT, visit www.wmrt.com
For more information on GKSS Match Cup Sweden, visit www.gkssmatchcupsweden.se

Background: Founded in 2000, the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) promotes the sport of match racing around the world and is the longest running global professional series in the sport of sailing. The World Tour represents a series of independently organized and officially sanctioned match racing events. Teams accumulate points from each of the events towards an overall WMRT global ranking, with the top twelve teams competing in the WMRT Championship Finals at the end of the season.

As the WMRT has been under new ownership since January 1, the schedule going forward has been influx. The initial decision was made to extend the 2018 season in order to complete the World Championship on July 3-7 in Marstrand, Sweden. The Tour has yet to announce a 2019-2020 season schedule other than to say it will start in the latter part of this year.

Source: World Match Racing Tour