World Match Racing Tour Announces 2024 Championship Season

LONDON, UK (February 14, 2024) – The World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) today announces the 2024 Championship season with a schedule of 15 events across 10 countries, to be held in Shenzhen Bao’an, China in December Ends with WMRT Finals.This year marks the 24th year^th It’s a series of special events from WMRT, the world’s longest-running professional sailing series, and World Sailing, the sport’s global governing body.

The 2024 World Tour begins in April with back-to-back races at the Ficker Cup and the 59th edition in Long Beach, California.^th edition of the Congressional Cup, WMRT’s inaugural event, hosted by the Long Beach Yacht Club. The Congressional Cup is the world’s oldest continuously held sailing match racing regatta.

WMRT’s other two founding events will return in 2024 with 30 editions.^th GKSS Match Cup (July 1-6) and 72nd Tournament held in Marstrand, Sweden^n.d. Bermuda Gold Cup Edition (October 29th – November 3rd). The King Edward VII Gold Cup, awarded at the Bermuda Games, is one of the most coveted match racing trophies in the world and has been won by many, including Chris Dixon (New Zealand), Peter Gilmour (Australia) and Russell Coutts (New Zealand). has been won by some of the biggest names in the sailing world. Eddie Warden-Owen (Great Britain), James Spithill (Australia), Ben Ainslie (Great Britain), Ian Williams (Great Britain), Taylor Canfield (USA), Jonny Berntson (Sweden), Francesco Bruni (Italy) ).

The WMRT season consists of ‘World Tour’ and ‘World Championship’ events, with each event organized as an open match racing event under the official World Sailing Rules and open to male and female skippers and mixed teams. “World Championship” level events will award higher points on the annual WMRT leaderboard.

“We are delighted to announce that the 2024 WMRT season will feature another exciting world-class event this year,” commented WMRT Executive Director James Pleasance. “Last year, 72 teams and over 280 sailors competed across the Tour, demonstrating the popularity and growth of match racing as one of the most approachable disciplines in the sport. I am.”

The 2024 schedule will see the team participate in events in Porto Montenegro and Helsinki in May, Lake Ledro in Italy in June, and Sweden and France in July. In August, four consecutive World Tour events in America will once again make up the U.S. Grand Slam, with teams traveling between New York’s Oyster Bay (Oak Cliff International and Thompson Cup) to the Chicago Grand Slam and International Match Races. You are invited to For the Detroit Cup.

Singapore’s DBS Marina Bay Cup will also rejoin the tour this year, holding a Match 40 in the heart of Marina Bay in central Singapore from September 20 to 22. The event will be held on the same weekend as the F1 Singapore Grand Prix.

Following its debut in 2023, the WMRT season finale will return to Bao’an District, Shenzhen, China as part of a multi-year hosting agreement. In the 2023 final in December, Great Britain’s Ian Williams (China One Ningbo) overcame difficult venue conditions to win the seventh race in a thrilling final against New Zealand’s Gavin Brady (True Blue Racing USA). Won the Match Race World Championship title. New Zealand’s Megan Thomson and her 2.0 Racing team finished third, making her the first female skipper to finish on the podium in a WMRT final.

2024 World Match Racing Tour Schedule ((Publish race day)

1. Ficker Cup, Long Beach, California, USA, April 13-16
2. *Congress Cup, Long Beach, California, April 24-28
3. Porto Montenegro Match Race, May 10-12
4. NJK Open Spring Cup, Finland, May 24-26
5. OM International LEDRO Match Race, Italy, June 21-23
6. *GKSS Match Cup Marstrand, Sweden July 1-6
7. International French Match Race, Pornichet, France, July 19-21
8. Oak Cliff International, Oyster Bay, New York, USA, August 3-6
9. Thompson Cup, Oyster Bay, New York, USA, August 8-11
10. Chicago Grand Slam, USA, August 16-18
11. Detroit Cup, USA, August 22nd-25th
12. DBS Marina Bay Cup, Singapore 20-22 September
13. Szczecin Match Race, Poland, October 18-20
14. *Bermuda Gold Cup, October 29th to November 3rd
15. WMRT Finals Shenzhen Bao’an, China, December 10-15

*World Championship Event

For the latest news about WMRT, follow wmrt.com and on Facebook (@worldmatchracingtour) and Instagram (@worldmatchracingtour). twitter (@World Match Tour)

About the 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 has been granted ‘special event’ status by the sport’s global governing body, World Sailing, and each year the winner of the WMRT is crowned World Sailing Match Racing World Champion. Previous champions include Sir Ben Ainslie (UK), Taylor Canfield (USA), Peter Gilmour (Australia), Magnus Holmberg (Sweden), Peter Holmberg (ISV) and Adam Minoprio. (New Zealand), Tolver Mirsky (Australia), Bertrand Pace (France)), Jesper Radic (DEN), Phil Robertson (NZL) and Ian Williams (GBR).

Since 2000, the World Match Racing Tour and its events have awarded more than $24 million in prize money to sailors and contributed to the career paths of many of today’s professional sailors. www.wmrt.com