Williams wins Match Racing World title

The 2024 World Match Racing Tour Shenzhen Bao’an Final concluded, where Britain’s Ian Williams team of Jon Gundersen, Richard Sydenham, and Gerry Mitchell claimed their record-breaking eighth Match Racing World Championship title. Using Fareast 28R keelboats, 12 teams competed December 10-15 in Shenzhen, China.

After needing the Repechage round to advance to the knockout stages, Williams then dispatched Chris Poole (USA) in the quarterfinals and Aurélien Pierroz (FRA) in the semifinals before facing New Zealand’s Nick Egnot-Johnson in the finals.

The final series was a first-to-three format, and Egnot-Johnson took an early lead, securing the first race against Williams. However, the British sailor responded with back-to-back victories, putting himself one race away from the title. Egnot-Johnson kept his hopes alive by winning the fourth race, setting the stage for a decisive fifth race.

In the fifth race, a dramatic windward mark rounding led to contact between the two boats. Williams was penalized but cleared it during the downwind leg, as Egnot-Johnson also incurred a penalty. Williams crossed the finish line first, appearing to secure his third win and the title, but the celebration was premature.

A post-race hearing penalized Williams 0.75 points for damage caused at the windward mark, leaving him at 2.25 points and requiring a sixth race. Williams dominated the final race, crossing the finish line ahead of Egnot-Johnson to secure his historic eighth Match Racing World Championship.

“Nick Egnot-Johnson and his team are really tough competitors, we had to up our game at the end to beat them,” said Williams. “Crossing the line and thinking you’ve won, then trying to get yourself back up for another race is actually a huge challenge. Maybe that’s where the experience counts. We knew we could do it, and I think that was the best race we had in the final.”

Egnot-Johnson reflected, “Sailing against Ian is always an honor. Growing up and learning how to match race, we would watch him on YouTube. So, to push him in a final to six races in a world championship … we’re all very happy with that.”

The petit-final was an all-French affair, with Aurélien Pierroz’s and Ian Garreta battling for the final podium position, both competing in their first World Match Racing Tour Final.

Garreta, who had won the round robin stage, faced Pierroz, who won the repechage stage. Pierroz claimed victory in the first race, while Garreta appeared poised to take the second. However, Garreta was unable to clear a penalty at the finish, allowing Pierroz to cross the line first and secure third place overall.

“It was really close racing. In the second prestart, we were able to give him a penalty,” Pierroz explained. “So, we just stayed close behind him the whole race. When he went to do his penalty at the finish line, he didn’t do it properly, so we were able to pass him and finish third at the World Match Racing Tour Final…we are pretty happy about that!”

The World Match Racing Tour wraps up its 24th season with crowning the 2024 champion and providing a USD 200,000 prize purse.

The 2025 season begins with a new event in China on January 8-12. Located 62 km from Hong Kong, the MACAO Match Cup will have teams compete in Fareast 28R match racing edition boats for a total prize purse of USD100,000.

Tour information – Event details and results – Facebook

Final Results
1. GBR Ian Williams, Jon Gundersen, Richard Sydenham, Gerry Mitchell
2. NZL Nick Egnot-Johnson, Jack Frewin, Zak Merton, Chris Main
3. FRA Aurélien Pierroz, Sébastien Riot, Aurélien Barthelemy, Clément Michel, Lola Billy
4. FRA Ian Garreta, Vicenc Girodeau, Thibaut Demai, Calixte Benoit, Alice Chiaporri
5. SUI Eric Monnin, Hugo Feydit, Maxime Mesnil, Simon Brügger, Ute Monnin-Wagner
6. SWE Johnie Berntsson, Herman Andersson, Emil Wolfgang, Filip Karlsson
7. USA Chris Poole, Kai Coleman, Can Seagreen, Sam Gilmour
8. AUS Cole Tapper, Jordan Reece, Max Brennan, Hamish Vass
9. AUS Zac West, James Hayhoe, James Hopkins, Tom Picot
10. ITA Rocco Attili, Ludovico Mori, Gianluca Perasole, Giulio Tamburini, Camilla Cordero di Montezemolo
11. FRA Timothée Rossi, Theo Masse, Aymeric Arthaud, Tom Marsan, Gaultier Tallieu
12. CHN Sheng Shen, Yongdong Zhang, Yi Huang, Changlong Liu, Liguo Zhang, Hainan Chen

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 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 inception, 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.

Source: WMRT