World Match Racing Tour. ALPARI

St. Moritz Match Race 2012 Teams: Mekonomen Sailing Team Skipper : Björn Hansen Crew : Magnus Woxén, Phillip Kai Guhle, Mathias Bredin Team GAC Pindar Skipper : Ian Williams Crew : Bill Hardesty, Gerry Mitchell, Matt Cassidy Vannes Agglo Sailing Team Skipper : Pierre-Antoine Morvan Crew : Steven Liorzou, Mathieu Renault, Cédric Chateau Waka Racing Team Skipper : Phil Robertson Crew : James Williamson, Garth Ellingham, Adam Martin YANMAR Racing Skipper : Peter Gilmour Crew : Yasuhiro Yaji, Thierry Douillard, Fred Guilmin Black Swan Racing Skipper : Keith Swinton Crew : Olof Lundgren, Jakob Gustafsson, Ricky McGarvie Kiwi Match Sailing Skipper : Laurie Jury Crew : Brad Farrand, Logan Fraser, Michael Fraser Berntsson Sailing Team Skipper : Johnie Berntsson Crew : Johan Bame, Oscar Angervall, Anders Dahlsjö Team Okalys-Corum Skipper : Eric Monnin Crew : Marc Monnin, Julien Falxa, Simon Brügger Loire Atlantique Sailing Team 
Skipper : Mathieu Richard Crew : Greg Evrard, Olivier Herledant, François Verdier
 Wellington Spirit Skipper : Josh Junior Crew : Matthew Steven, Chris Jones, James Sandall Centre d’Entraînement à la Régate Skipper : Jérôme Clerc Crew : Bryan Mettraux, Denis Girardet

London, UK – 23 August, 2012: Pierre-Antoine Morvan signalled his arrival at the top table of match racing in 2011, taking an impressive second place finish at the St. Moritz Match Race at the first time of asking. The young Frenchman is looking to go one better next week, having since risen to number three in the ISAF World Match Race Rankings. Morvan (FRA) Vannes Agglo Sailing Team sits third on the Alpari World Match Racing Tour leaderboard and going into one of his favoured Tour events, at his highest ever ranking, it is a last opportunity for him to make the jump into contention for the 2012 ISAF Match Racing World Championship title. Morvan, said: “We finished second in St. Moritz last year after losing the Final to Torvar Mirsky on a countback. We were confident going into that one and with the extra experience we now have as a team, we’re in a great position to go on and win our first Tour event. “We’re better in the small boats like the BLU26 and do well in the shifty winds that we had last year. I also have exactly the same team for St. Moritz that started the season so I think that consistency will really help us, not only for this event but going into the rest of the season and as we look to challenge for the Tour title in future years. Holding a Tour Card for the first year, Morvan is wasting no time as he looks to put together a team capable of challenging for the Tour title, and feels he knows what he needs to learn in pursuit of this goal: “I think that Tour experience is a vital factor and this season, with Bjorn Hansen and Ian Williams at the top of the leaderboard, that is quite clear. It’s not only being familiar with the boats, venues and conditions on the water, but also working out the best way to train and arrange our schedules to give the best chance of success on the Tour.” As the top-ranked French skipper in the world and the only French Tour Card Holder in 2012 after a large contingent in previous years, Morvan welcomes the return 2008 and 2010 St. Moritz Match Race winner and compatriot, Mathieu Richard, saying: “It will be good to have Mathieu [Richard] in St. Moritz, we know him very well. Last year there were two other French teams and it is good to have that representation. We know what Mathieu is capable of and he has the ability to win the event so on the water, we’ll certainly keep that in mind.” Morvan will take winning form into the St. Moritz Match Race, the fifth stage of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour, after victory against fellow Tour Card Holder Laurie Jury (NZL) Kiwi Match Sailing in the Final of the recent ISAF Grade 1 Sopot Match Race in Poland last week. Amongst the rest of the field, reigning Tour Champion, Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar will line up against current Tour leader, Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team as he looks to minimise the Swede’s advantage going into the second half of the season. Two wins and a third place have made Hansen the man to beat and Williams knows he can’t afford to lose any more ground if he is to add a record fourth Tour title this year. The world’s top match racers will travel to Switzerland to begin preparations for the St. Moritz Match Race (28 August – 2 September), where eight of the nine Tour Card Holders will compete alongside wildcard entries Eric Monin (SUI) Okalys Corum and Mathieu Richard (FRA) Loire Atlantique Sailing Team, as well as qualifiers, Josh Junior (NZL) Wellington Spirit and Jerome Clerc (SUI) Team CER.   St. Moritz Match Race – Competing Teams: Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team Jerome Clerc (SUI) Team CER Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team Josh Junior (NZL) Wellington Spirit Laurie Jury (NZ) Kiwi Match Eric Monnin (SUI) Okalys Corum Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA) Vannes Agglo Sailing Team Mathieu Richard (FRA) Loire Atlantique Sailing Team Phil Robertson (NZ) WAKA Racing Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar   For a taster of the upcoming action, visit: http://www.youtube.com/worldmrt Follow the St. Moritz Match Race action online at http://www.wmrt.com/live.html. Tour regular Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/wmrt Live event Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/wmrt_liverace   Overall Championship Standings – after 4 stages: Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team – 81pts Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar – 77pts Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA) Vannes Agglo Sailing Team – 57pts Phil Robertson (NZ) WAKA Racing – 56pts Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing – 54pts Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing – 33pts Laurie Jury (NZ) Kiwi Match – 29pts Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team – 28pts Jordan Reece (AUS) Estate Master Sailing Team  – 22pts Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Miss Sophie – 20pts Simone Ferrarese (ITA) Ferrarese Racing Team – 19pts Taylor Canfield (USA) Canfield Racing – 16pts

St. Moritz Match Race 2012 Teams: Mekonomen Sailing Team Skipper : Björn Hansen Crew : Magnus Woxén, Phillip Kai Guhle, Mathias Bredin Team GAC Pindar Skipper : Ian Williams Crew : Bill Hardesty, Gerry Mitchell, Matt Cassidy Vannes Agglo Sailing Team Skipper : Pierre-Antoine Morvan Crew : Steven Liorzou, Mathieu Renault, Cédric Chateau Waka Racing Team Skipper : Phil Robertson Crew : James Williamson, Garth Ellingham, Adam Martin YANMAR Racing Skipper : Peter Gilmour Crew : Yasuhiro Yaji, Thierry Douillard, Fred Guilmin Black Swan Racing Skipper : Keith Swinton Crew : Olof Lundgren, Jakob Gustafsson, Ricky McGarvie Kiwi Match Sailing Skipper : Laurie Jury Crew : Brad Farrand, Logan Fraser, Michael Fraser Berntsson Sailing Team Skipper : Johnie Berntsson Crew : Johan Bame, Oscar Angervall, Anders Dahlsjö Team Okalys-Corum Skipper : Eric Monnin Crew : Marc Monnin, Julien Falxa, Simon Brügger Loire Atlantique Sailing Team 
Skipper : Mathieu Richard Crew : Greg Evrard, Olivier Herledant, François Verdier
 Wellington Spirit Skipper : Josh Junior Crew : Matthew Steven, Chris Jones, James Sandall Centre d’Entraînement à la Régate Skipper : Jérôme Clerc Crew : Bryan Mettraux, Denis Girardet

London, UK – 23 August, 2012: Pierre-Antoine Morvan signalled his arrival at the top table of match racing in 2011, taking an impressive second place finish at the St. Moritz Match Race at the first time of asking. The young Frenchman is looking to go one better next week, having since risen to number three in the ISAF World Match Race Rankings. Morvan (FRA) Vannes Agglo Sailing Team sits third on the Alpari World Match Racing Tour leaderboard and going into one of his favoured Tour events, at his highest ever ranking, it is a last opportunity for him to make the jump into contention for the 2012 ISAF Match Racing World Championship title. Morvan, said: “We finished second in St. Moritz last year after losing the Final to Torvar Mirsky on a countback. We were confident going into that one and with the extra experience we now have as a team, we’re in a great position to go on and win our first Tour event. “We’re better in the small boats like the BLU26 and do well in the shifty winds that we had last year. I also have exactly the same team for St. Moritz that started the season so I think that consistency will really help us, not only for this event but going into the rest of the season and as we look to challenge for the Tour title in future years. Holding a Tour Card for the first year, Morvan is wasting no time as he looks to put together a team capable of challenging for the Tour title, and feels he knows what he needs to learn in pursuit of this goal: “I think that Tour experience is a vital factor and this season, with Bjorn Hansen and Ian Williams at the top of the leaderboard, that is quite clear. It’s not only being familiar with the boats, venues and conditions on the water, but also working out the best way to train and arrange our schedules to give the best chance of success on the Tour.” As the top-ranked French skipper in the world and the only French Tour Card Holder in 2012 after a large contingent in previous years, Morvan welcomes the return 2008 and 2010 St. Moritz Match Race winner and compatriot, Mathieu Richard, saying: “It will be good to have Mathieu [Richard] in St. Moritz, we know him very well. Last year there were two other French teams and it is good to have that representation. We know what Mathieu is capable of and he has the ability to win the event so on the water, we’ll certainly keep that in mind.” Morvan will take winning form into the St. Moritz Match Race, the fifth stage of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour, after victory against fellow Tour Card Holder Laurie Jury (NZL) Kiwi Match Sailing in the Final of the recent ISAF Grade 1 Sopot Match Race in Poland last week. Amongst the rest of the field, reigning Tour Champion, Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar will line up against current Tour leader, Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team as he looks to minimise the Swede’s advantage going into the second half of the season. Two wins and a third place have made Hansen the man to beat and Williams knows he can’t afford to lose any more ground if he is to add a record fourth Tour title this year. The world’s top match racers will travel to Switzerland to begin preparations for the St. Moritz Match Race (28 August – 2 September), where eight of the nine Tour Card Holders will compete alongside wildcard entries Eric Monin (SUI) Okalys Corum and Mathieu Richard (FRA) Loire Atlantique Sailing Team, as well as qualifiers, Josh Junior (NZL) Wellington Spirit and Jerome Clerc (SUI) Team CER.   St. Moritz Match Race – Competing Teams: Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team Jerome Clerc (SUI) Team CER Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team Josh Junior (NZL) Wellington Spirit Laurie Jury (NZ) Kiwi Match Eric Monnin (SUI) Okalys Corum Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA) Vannes Agglo Sailing Team Mathieu Richard (FRA) Loire Atlantique Sailing Team Phil Robertson (NZ) WAKA Racing Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar   For a taster of the upcoming action, visit: http://www.youtube.com/worldmrt Follow the St. Moritz Match Race action online at http://www.wmrt.com/live.html. Tour regular Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/wmrt Live event Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/wmrt_liverace   Overall Championship Standings – after 4 stages: Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team – 81pts Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar – 77pts Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA) Vannes Agglo Sailing Team – 57pts Phil Robertson (NZ) WAKA Racing – 56pts Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing – 54pts Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing – 33pts Laurie Jury (NZ) Kiwi Match – 29pts Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team – 28pts Jordan Reece (AUS) Estate Master Sailing Team  – 22pts Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Miss Sophie – 20pts Simone Ferrarese (ITA) Ferrarese Racing Team – 19pts Taylor Canfield (USA) Canfield Racing – 16pts

Calculating risk, spotting opportunities and changing direction at lightning speed are all skills exhibited on the Alpari World Match Racing Tour (AWMRT) by the world’s top sailors. At first glance match racing has a lot in common with currency trading, but how easily can you convert a match racing skipper into a profit-making Forex currency trader? Alpari offered the nine Tour Card Holders a chance to find out by setting the skippers a challenge – to navigate the Forex markets.

If Britain’s Ben Ainslie stood on the cusp of legendary status before the London 2012 Olympics, he has surely cemented it after capturing an historic 4th gold medal on Sunday which secured his place as the greatest Olympic sailor that has ever lived. Ainslie's silver medal from 1996 in the Laser class puts him ahead of Paul Elvestrom of Denmark in the all-time Olympic table, with both sailors having taken a total of four golds. In an unlikely twist, it was another Danish skipper trying to keep Elvestrom's record intact this week in Weymouth. Ainslie becomes the most decorated Olympic sailor of all time. He had to fight for it though. His arch rival in the Finn Class was unexpected. ‘The Great Dane’ Jonas Hogh-Christensen beat Ainslie in 6 straight races leaving the Brit on the back foot, some 10 points adrift. Ainslie had to go toe-to-toe with the Dane to rein him in and if ever he needed to call on the experience he gained match racing on the Alpari World Match Racing Tour and with ETNZ during the America’s Cup in 2007, this was it. From slowing down to give the Dane his dirty air to chasing Hogh-Christensen around the committee boat in the start sequence of the final medal race to try and force the Dane to mistime his start, fans were treated to scenes more typical of a match race contest. “My match racing experience will have helped,” said Ainslie. “After six races, I was in trouble and had to focus on disrupting Jonas as much as my own boat speed. It wasn’t quite the same as a clean match race but the match racing skills and mentality of going one-on-one with your opponent came into play.” For the match race purist, the women’s Olympic match racing continues out in Weymouth where the likes of Anna Tunnicliffe, Lucy Macgregor and Claire Leroy are battling it out. For Ainslie, it’s relief and a shift in focus to setting up Ben Ainslie Racing and the America’s Cup. It’s there where he will test his mettle against the likes of Spithill, Coutts, Barker and Hutchison, all figures who have succeeded on the Alpari World Match Racing Tour. 

London, UK - 14 May 2012: Several rule changes have been confirmed for the 2012 Alpari World Match Racing Tour, coming into effect at the first event of the season, Match Race Germany in Langenargen on May 23 – 28. The Racing Rules have been amended in order to continue the positioning of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour (AWMRT) as the most compelling, competitive and pioneering action on the water. Craig Mitchell, Alpari World Match Racing Tour, Tour Director, expects the alterations to have a positive effect on the Tour, as well as match racing in general: “Match racing has evolved to the point where we currently have a great set of rules, producing some fantastic sporting action, as we saw quite clearly in the 2011 series. “Nothing major has changed in the past few years and we are enthusiastic in our responsibility to keep developing the rules to challenge our world class athletes and create the best possible spectacle we can.”

Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia – 27 November, 2011: Borrowing from the motor sports world, where the driver is in constant contact with his crew via radio comms, real-time coaching has made its debut today in the Quarter-Finals of the Monsoon Cup. Rule 41 of the Racing Rules of Sailing which normally prohibits ‘outside assistance’ has been amended here, so that coaches have been allowed to give advice and insight to their team via radio. Positioned on the third-floor balcony of the Ri-Yaz Heritage pavilion adjacent to the race course area, the coaches have an elevated view of the current and the wind, and can provide, when prompted, their insight on which side of the course to favour in each match.  Having been out on the water themselves and felt the pressure of having to read the course while under fire, the natural choices of coaches were from among skippers and crew who did not make the cut to the Quarter-Final round. When these choices were revealed on the evening prior to racing, it provided great entertainment, as erstwhile enemies now became allies in the fight that lie ahead: having just won his last deciding match by mere centimetres, Francesco Bruni naturally chose his hapless opponent, Torvar Mirsky, to be his coach, and Matthieu Richard was tapped by rival skipper Peter Gilmour YANMAR Racing to help lead him through his next round.  Kidding aside, this shows the depth of respect and trust the teams have in each other’s abilities, even as they have been battling each other throughout the season.  “The concept of prohibiting outside assistance goes back to racing on the Thames in the 19th century,” says Gilmour, who proposed to try this at the Monsoon Cup. “Back then when the tide changed, a boat could hand off their anchor line to someone ashore, who could then tow them up the course. So the principal of being self-reliant became rooted in the game, and not until recently has this changed.”  And the change has been considerable: few yachts venture anywhere now without a GPS, most offshore races now allow weather routing help through downloads of grib files, and the advent of sophisticated electronic tools and modern telecommunications has brought offshore sailors to all new levels of accuracy and access. Most aspects of our lives can now be influenced and enhanced by having access to information made readily available – look at the explosion in apps for iPhones, iPads, and the like.  So it’s not a long stretch to accept real-time coaching help to increase the performance level of the teams, and help allow the game evolve in some new and interesting ways, especially if adopted at other match racing events. Coach positioning, for example, can play a huge role, and not every venue will have the bird’s eye view afforded here in Kuala Terengganu. Will coaches then be allowed.  out on other areas of the course, on the water or even in the air? And what about at the lower levels of the game where teams are still learning: would it be right for the coach to tell them how to execute a difficult manoeuvre and provide detailed tactical advice, rather then just observations of the race course? If so, who will police this?  And once coaches are accepted onto the competitor’s boats, what’s to keep them off the umpire boats as well? Most umpires agree that the integrity of most calls are made based on good positioning, and even the best umpires can find themselves out of position when a good call is needed. Can a coach possibly help them as well? An electronic variant of this concept devised by Stan Honey and his team is already in play at the America’s Cup World Series, where umpire calls are made based on highly-accurate telemetry brought to match umpires pouring over their screens. Honey says the debriefs are no longer arguments about the facts of positioning – the telemetry settles this to within centimetres – but about the tactical options and rules that apply.  But here at the Monsoon Cup the input provided by coaches was more factual than directive: where the wind shift was seen to be, what side of the course seemed to have better current, etc., and not direct advice on what side of the start line or upwind leg to favour.  One team that enjoyed the most success from the coaching was newly-crowned World Champion Ian Williams Team GAC Pindar, who had already signed up 49er Olympic Silver Medallist Ian Barker to help them read the course area. And while not a match racer per se, Barker does, however, have tremendous coaching experience for Olympic aspirants, and was already on his way to coach at the ISAF Sailing World Championships the following week in Perth. With Barker’s help, Williams won the overall World Championship title in the Quarter Final, sailing a course area strewn with tricky current eddies and wind shifts.  Perhaps ironically, the teams with skippers as coaches did not fair so well: Mirsky’s Bruni went down 1-3 to Williams, and Richard’s Gilmour lost 1-3 to Johnnie Berntsson.  But not having a coach had its perils as well: both Will Tiller and Phil Robertson eschewed their option to take on a coach, and both lost to their rivals by close scores of 2-3.  How much will coaching be used in future Tour events? Probably more, as the Tour seeks to embrace new ways to enhance the excitement level even more, both on and off the water. - Article provided by Dobbs Davis

Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing talks Tour history and boat spec ahead of the Quarter Finals of the Korea Match Cup.

Philip Kai Guhle is Bjorn Hansen's tactician at Mekonomen Sailing. He explains the importance of the weigh-in at Match Race Germany, the first event on the 2012 Alpari World Match Racing Tour

London, UK – 20 August, 2012: Jérôme Clerc Team CER (SUI) has captured the last remaining qualifying spot for the St. Moritz Match Race, stage five of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour, following his victory at the Volvo Match Race Cup in Switzerland last weekend. Clerc lined up against Alexa Bezel and her all-female crew for the final on Sunday in what proved to be a tense battle, which was eventually decided in the final race by just a couple of boat lengths. In the absence of fellow countryman Eric Monnin, Clerc came into the event as favourite however Bezel was always marked as a threat following a recent run of form including a 2nd place at the recent women’s Grade 1 Match Race in Lyseskil. Capturing the Swiss Match Racing Champion title is a welcome return to form for Clerc who has endured a mixed run of form this season. His win means that he will now line-up alongside eight of the nine Alpari World Match Racing Tour Card Holders in a fortnight’s time.       The Volvo Match Race Cup is an open championship designed to attract the best match racing talent and to also unearth the next generation of leading match racers. In addition to the six teams from Switzerland, teams from the neighboring countries of Austria and Germany also competed at the Finals. 

Chicago, USA - 05 June, 2012: Under sunny skies but extremely shifty conditions at Chicago's world-famous Navy Pier, the teams exhibiting the most patience and tenacity prevailed at the Chicago Match Race Center's June Grade 2 Invitational presented by Eurex. The best amongst them was 23-year old Taylor Canfield from the US Virgin Islands, and his team of Matt Clark, Dan Morris and Tommy Loughborough. Canfield had already received the principal prize in the event, an invitation to next month's Chicago Match Cup, through qualifying from last year's Chicago Match Cup. So the invitation for the only US stop on the Alpari World Match Racing Tour then extends to runner-up Jordan Reece from Australia. Dates for this Grade WC event are July 11-15th.