Uncertainty for World Match Racing Tour 2017

(November 25, 2016) – Since the World Match Racing Tour’s first season in M32 catamarans concluded in July, there has been no public statement on the future of the tour. Now, after four months of silence, the tour has announced the 2017 season will begin on March 20-25 in in Perth, Australia.

The event will actually consist of two regattas over a ten-day period. The first three days, March 16-18, will be the WMRT Perth Match Cup, a World Tour level event. From this event the top two contenders will qualify in to the World Championship level event starting just one day later, the WMRT Match Cup Australia.

Ten WMRT Tour Card teams are already qualified in to the event. These teams, who have won their Tour Cards due to their match racing ranking, prior results or via wild cards, are yet to be announced at this date.

Four additional teams have also qualified to the WMRT Match Cup Australia after finishing at the top of the WMRT World Tour level events in Poland and Sweden earlier this year. Three Scandinavian teams with the two Swedes of Nicklas Dackhammar, Essiq Racing and young Måns Holmberg, Typhoon X Racing together with the Danish Olympic medalist Allan Nørregaard will push for the top at the season opener in Perth.

Australian Torvar Mirsky, who finished second in the World Match Racing Tour 2010, losing the world title in the final match of the season to New Zealander Adam Minoprio, finished second to Dackhammar in Poland and hence won the qualification to WMRT Match Cup Australia. Mirsky who last season tested the waters as crew for Steven Thomas after several years on the kite sailing scene has in the background built a new squad and is now ready to challenge for a permanent place on the World Match Racing Tour.

WMRT Match Cup Australia will be held March 20-25, 2017.
WMRT Perth Match Cup will be held March 16-18, 2017.

WMRT Match Cup Australia is the only event of the 2017 schedule that has been announced at this date.

For further information; www.wmrt.com

Background: The 2016 World Match Racing Tour is the leading professional match racing series sanctioned by World Sailing. Prize money and points are earned at each Tour event, with the top 20 teams after the penultimate event advancing to the World Finals in July to compete for the Match Racing World Championship title and a Tour bonus of $1,000,000.

Source: World Match Racing Tour