New format for Match Racing World Championship

London, UK (August 7, 2020) – Organizers of the World Match Racing Tour have announced there will not be a World Tour leaderboard for 2020 due to current travel restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic preventing many competitors from attending events.

The World Tour, which holds the responsibility to award the annual Match Racing World Championship, will provide an updated format for the 2020 title after August 31.

The change to the 2020 format amends the previously published format with skippers accumulating points from events to the WMRT leaderboard, and the Match Racing World Championship being awarded to the skipper with the highest points at the end of the season, counting their best three results plus the final event.

One of the main reasons for the amendment to the format is to ensure the world championship remains fair and open for skippers and teams.

“As well as our primary concern for the safety of competitors and event organisers on the Tour during this pandemic, events also need to be accessible by teams, particularly when points count towards the world championship,” notes WMRT Executive Director James Pleasance.

“We certainly want to award a meaningful and credible world championship for 2020. We are considering the option to host a single event championship, as well as ensuring a safe organization of the event itself. We plan to update competitors by the beginning of September.”

In the meantime, scheduling for the 2021 World Match Racing Tour is well underway including new event announcements and separate plans for a World Match Racing Tour Academy aimed at introducing sailors to the discipline of match racing and opportunities to compete at local and international events.

Tour information – Event details – Facebook

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, the top twelve teams from which compete in the WMRT Championship Finals at the end of the season.

2020 World Match Racing Tour Schedule: click here

The WMRT takes place in identically supplied racing yachts which change for each event and has been awarded ‘Special Event’ status by the sport’s world governing body – World Sailing. The winner of the WMRT each year is crowned World Sailing Match Racing World Champion.

Previous Champions include Bertrand Pace (FRA), Sir Ben Ainslie (GBR), Jesper Radich (DEN), Magnus Holmberg (SWE), Peter Holmberg (ISV), Peter Gilmour (AUS), Ian Williams (GBR), Adam Minoprio (NZL), Taylor Canfield (ISV), Phil Robertson (NZL), and Torvar Mirsky (AUS).

Since 2000, the World Match Racing Tour and its events have awarded over USD23million in prize money to sailors which has helped to contribute to the career pathway of many of today’s professional sailors. www.wmrt.com

Source: WMRT