Match Racing World Tour: M32s Debut Taking Over Australia
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| GAC Pindar taking the First Stop of the World Match Racing World Tour speeding the new M32 |
The World Match Racing World Tour is onto a smooth start as the first stop of the World Tour ends in Australia with the instalment of the new match racing boats -the high performance M32s. The Australian Ocean waters, winds and weather delivered up to the expectations raising the M32s from start to finish to an outstanding performance.
World Champions, International Ranked Sailing Athletes and Olympians are part of the Teams which inaugurated the New Era of the M32. Making what some call a daring gamble the World Match Racing Tour WMRT -with history drawing back to 1999 made a switch from monohull match racing to multihull catamaran high speed racing.
Holding a “Special Event” Status granted by the International Sailing Federation ISAF the World Tour has scheduled stops for most of 2016. Last year the World Tour was boosted after being acquired by the Swedish Company Aston Harald AB and introduced the one-of-a-kind-design M32. But it is not all about the boat…
On March 7 International Sailing Press reported that the reigning Match Racing World Champion Ian Williams took over the Australian Stop after dominating the course day after day.
“There’s always a lot of focus on the skipper, but this really is a team sport,” Williams said.
“It’s pretty obvious which way to point, a fast boat like an M32...so my job is relatively easy, it’s what the guys do in front of me that really counts,” the leading skipper added.
While the test phase of the M32 is over and real points are on the line Teams are just familiarizing themselves with the new boat and tuning it up to see just how much it can give in. The limits, what can and can't be done with a M32 will be revealed this year.
M32s are so fast that they can be dangerous. Last year after the changes were made effective organizers released new security and new training measures to ensure safety of all crew members was guaranteed. High speed sailing injuries are not to be underestimated. Risks and jeopardies are in play but the glory of the baptism of a new era and new boat and new World Tour and a New World Champion is on the water line for the taking.
“Huge congratulations to the winners of WMRT Fremantle 2016 - Team GAC Pindar with skipper Ian Williams and crew Garth Ellingham, Mark Bulkeley and Brad Farrand. Many congrats to the team and runners up Wallén Racing and Spindrift racing - very well deserved!” Organizers ended the event with overall results and probably a sigh of relief after witnessing first hand how the boats flew over water and event unfolded.
Weather at the event was perfect. Flawless clear blue skies, mid and high winds conditions with gusts of up to 25 knots guaranteed an ocean show. Flying inches above the water, foiling the course boats moved at times over the line taking the wrong turn.
World Match Racing Tour signaled in March 2 that Fremantle Australia would once again be at the center of World Class Match Racing.
“Back in 1987, the eyes of the sailing world were on Fremantle in Western Australia for the America’s Cup. Now almost 30 years on, Fremantle once again hosts some of the greatest match racers of the Modern Era,” organizers stated.
World Match Racing presented the M32 in a very familiar frame, the course, the stadium style racing design, the World Tour and the high profile international broadcasting aims to take the World Tour to dimensions it has never reached before in its history.
The race course design with downwind and upwind legs took to the lines of the course used for the America's Cup. The finish line was strategically set as close to the onshore spectator zone as possible.
After the six days of intensive racing was over the ranking settled leaving GAC Pindar on Top, Wallen Racing Second led by Hans Wallen, Spindrift Racing Third skippered by Yann Guichard and Trefor Match Racing Fourth on the hands of Nicolai Sehested.
The schedule of races throughout the days included included Fleet Qualifying Series, 16 Top Knockout Series, Quarterfinals and Semifinals and Finals.
“The strong breezes of the Fremantle Doctor delivered a fast start to the opening day of the 2016 World Match Racing Tour season today in Fremantle, WA. The idyllic Western Australian coastal town of Fremantle saw 20 international crews begin their fast and furious battle for supremacy in the M32 catamarans, a giant leap from the more sedate keelboats traditionally associated with world-class match racing,” Sailing World reported.
“Reigning World Champion Ian Williams swept aside Hans Wallén 3-0 to win the final of the World Match Racing Tour Fremantle, the opening event of the 2016 World Match Racing Tour season,” WMRT reported.
Skipper of the GAC Pindar has already six World Titles on the Tour but his mastery was put to the test at Australia under the new boat Era.
“The level of his domination in high-speed M32 catamarans took even the British skipper by surprise,” organizers assured.
Williams praised the work of his three crewmates “the engine room of GAC Pindar” -Mark Bulkeley, Garth Ellingham and Brad Farrand.
ISAF described the event as an “unpredictable and unstoppable high speed match race” but recognized that sailors still need to work harder to get to know the boat.
"Day 3 of the World Match Racing Tour Fremantle, and every day the sailors are gaining more confidence competing in the strong Western Australian breeze," ISAF echoed.
The discussion on whether the evolution of shifting from monohull to multihull in the historical World Match Racing World Tour once again installed after the event was over.
The Match Racing Tour makes history this year by staying hard on the edge of new tendencies and switching from monohull sailing to raw down hard multihull racing. Some say that the switch is offensive and risky, others are just loving it and cant get enough of it. Some add that only monohull can maneuver as they do while the other side assures that it is only a matter of time until Teams figure how far multihull maneuvering can actually go. Multihulls hold more than one card under their sleeve, they sure can do what monohulls do and do many things that monohulls can't do.
When Williams was questioned on why he had been so dominant throughout the first Stop in Australia of the World Match Tour he responded, “If there’s one thing that I think I’ve always been good at throughout my career, something I’ve been very focused on, is looking at ways of improving different parts of what we do, always trying to learn and move things on.”
The World will sure see much more from the Teams riding out the new 9.68 carbon fiber racing catamaran of Aston Harald Composite AB. World Match Racing Tour teamed with IMG Media -World’s largest distributor of Sports and Entertainment programs.
Coming up for the World Tour Match Racing 2016 Long Beach set for April, Copenhagen set for May, Newport set for May and June and Marstrand Sweden set for July.
The winner of the World Match Racing at the end of World Tour will receive the highest price in Match Racing History -a tour bonus of 1 million USD. But we all know that they are not in it for the money…
Top 20 ranked teams on the Tour leaderboard are on the next stop training hard.
