Ten teams for 2022 Match Racing Worlds

Ten teams representing seven nations will be pursuing the 2022 Open Match Racing World Championship title when they compete at the finale of the World Match Racing Tour, hosted by Cruising Yacht Club of Australia on December 14-18 in Sydney, Australia.

After the 2020 title was won by Taylor Canfield (USA) in Bermuda, travel restrictions due to the pandemic prevented the 2021 event from being held as planned in Shenzhen, China. After the Asian venue was again unable to host the 2022 title, the event was shifted to Sydney.

Denmark, Estonia, France and Italy each have one entry, whilst hosts Australia, New Zealand, and the USA will each field two teams for the event. Defending world champion Canfield and six-time world champion Ian William (GBR) were unable to attend the event.

Using Elliott 7m keelboats, it is the first time for the WMRT Final to be in Australia, with the race course situated just off one of the Harbours islands. The winner of the event will be crowned 2022 WMRT Champion and World Sailing Open Match Racing World Champion.

American Chris Poole heads into the world championship as one of the favorites. Poole currently leads the overall Tour Leader board, after finishing third at the Long Beach Yacht Club’s 57th Congressional Cup in April, followed by a regatta win at the Chicago Grand Slam WMRT Qualifier event in August.

Fellow Americans David Hood and his DH3 Racing team complete the USA line-up having had strong results at events in Los Angeles and Italy this year.

The strongest challengers to Poole will likely come from the home Club by Cole Tapper and Harry Price, with Price’s Down Under Racing as a regular on the World Match Racing Tour for the past three seasons and he was the 2017 Youth Match Racing World Champion.

Nick Egnot-Johnson and Megan Thompson from New Zealand will also feel right at home in the Elliott 7s with their home Club, the RNZYS (Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron) also owning a fleet. For Egnot-Johnson this will be his first Open World Championship, having represented New Zealand at the 2019 & 2020 Youth World Championships.

Megan Thompson and her 2.0 Women’s Racing Team will be the only female skipper in the event qualifying through her results from five tour events this year in Italy and the US Grand Slam events in Chicago, New York, and Detroit. Thompson recently secured a bronze medal at the 2022 Women’s Match Racing World Championship last month in Auckland, New Zealand.

Estonian Mati Sepp, Denmark’s Jeppe Borch, and recently crowned French Sailor of the Year Jean Baptise-Bernaz complete the line-up. All skippers are new to the World Match Racing Tour in 2022, having qualified for the WMRT Congressional Cup as well as strong performances in WMRT qualifiers throughout the year.

The event format will include a qualifying round robin where the top two finishers will gain automatic entry to the Quarter Finals. The remaining eight teams will then sail a repechage round for the final six Quarter Final positions.

The event will then see the knockout stages begin, crowning the 2022 Open Match Racing World Champion on December 18.

Event details – Crew lists – Results

2022 World Match Racing Tour Schedule
April 14-16 – Ficker Cup – Long Beach, CA, USA
April 18-23 – Congressional Cup – Long Beach, CA, USA*
April 28-May 1 – Szczecin Match Race – Szczecin, Poland
May 6-8 – Porto Montenegro Match Race – Tivat, Montenegro
May 20-22 – NJK Open Spring Cup – Helsinki, Finland
May 24-29 – Island Match Cup – Puerto Rico (cancelled)
June 4-5 – GKSS Spring Cup – Gothenburg, Sweden
June 16-19 – OM International Ledro Match Race – Ledro, Italy
July 4-9 – GKSS Match Cup Marstrand – Marstrand, Sweden* (cancelled)
August 12-14 – Chicago Grand Slam – Chicago, IL, USA
August 18-21 – International Match Race for the Detroit Cup – Detroit, MI, USA
August 25-29 – Oakcliff International – Oyster Bay, NY, USA
August 30-September 3 – Thompson Cup – Oyster Bay, NY, USA
September 7-11 – Baltic Match Race – Tallin, Estonia
September 29-October 3 – Match Race Germany – Langenargen, Germany (cancelled)
September 30-October 3 – DBS Marina Bay Cup – Marina Bay, Singapore
October 7-9 – Polish Open – Szczecin, Poland
October 17-22 – Bermuda Gold Cup – Hamilton, Bermuda* (cancelled)
December 13-18- WMRT Finals – Sydney, Australia*
*World Championship (WC) Events

WORLD MATCH RACING TOUR
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 WMRT is awarded ‘Special Event’ status by the sport’s world governing body – World Sailing – and the winner of the WMRT each year is crowned World Sailing Match Racing World Champion.

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

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