AsianYachting Team News
Asian Match Racing Championship 2009
Asian
Qualifiers key to World Match Racing Tour door
05:11:09
In preparation for the Asian Match Racing Championship 2009
next week, the F36 racing yachts, were launched at the Ri-Yaz Heritage
Marina Resort & Spa in Pulau Duyong, amid strong winds in excess of
20 knots at times. The first yacht was successfully launched into the
water at 10.50pm. Work to transfer the yachts from the storage area (hardstand)
into the water continued throughout the night to take advantage of the
high tide in Kuala Terengganu. 'It is a delicate operation for us at every
Monsoon
Cup. We want to ensure that the boats are lowered
safely because the team has worked so hard over the past few months to
prepare the boats for the Monsoon Cup,' said Yacht Manager David Mills.
The Malaysian Meteorological Department predictions for Friday, 06/11/2009
is for scattered rain the whole day with NE wind speed in excess of 50-60km/h.
As the wave height to seaward of the basin is expected to be in the 3.5
- 4.5m vicinity, we can safely say the NE Monsoon has arrived early and
with a vengeance. More details on the Monsoon
Cup Qualifiers can also be found on the MC
09 Facebook site.
The
2009
World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) overall leader
going into the final event of the nine regatta series, is 22 year old
Kiwi Adam Minoprio's BlackMatch Racing Team, made their debut onto the
International match racing scene after winning the inaugural Asian Qualifiers
back in 2006 and again in 2007. In 2008 they went on to compete in their
own right at more WMRT events and qualified second at the Monsoon Cup
quarter-finals last year. Peter Gilmour, the ultimate event winner, choose
Minoprio as his opponent because as Adam relates "We were the young
guys. We managed to take him to two-all, which was rather cool, but he
got us in the end so we ended up seventh." Minoprio, totally believes
'The Asian Qualifiers were our key to the door.'
One
of the twelve crew positions in this year's Monsoon Cup, will be decided
next week (Nov 9-12) at the Asian Match Racing Championships (Asian Qualifiers),
on the Pulau Duyong basin in Terengganu.
The event favourite is 22 year old Auckland sailor Phil Robertson, who joined the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Youth Training Program at the age of 17. PhiI is no stranger to match racing as he crewed for Adam Minoprio when they won the Warren Jones Regatta (Perth, WA) in 2006 and again in 2008, which enabled them to join the northern hemisphere Match Racing circuit. We were ranked 55th in the world when we went over there and we entered as many regattas as we could. We came back ranked 25th. We won the Chicago Match Cup and competed in three World Tour events: Portugal, the Danish Open and the Gold Cup. We've had some really good wins beating Ian Williams in our first race as well as a couple of other guys, who are top sailors. We beat Peter Gilmour in the Gold Cup. We also won against Adam Minoprio, Mathieu Richard and Sebastian Col during the year. But its very, very tough racing and we had plenty of losses too. However our Waka Racing Team has achieved its goals this year and chopped our ranking in half; the goal is to do that again next year and get into the top ten. Right now we are focused on the Asian Match Racing Championships, and if we are successful there, then it will be the Monsoon Cup" concluded the determined Kiwi.
One
of Robertson's biggest rivals will be Michael Dunstan,
the 27 year old Australian, who won four Australian Match Racing Championships
before taking a three year break from the Match Racing scene. Dunstan
says, 'The Nationals this year in September was the first event I've done
in three years. I re-ignited my passion for it. Mirsky and Minoprio are
doing very well dominating the circuit, which is good to see. It's great
to see other young guys get on the circuit - it's awesome. I've done a
fair few regattas in the Foundation 36s at three Australian Match Racing
Championships and at the Warren Jones Regattas. I've
also been involved in setting up the Women's Match Racing squad with Yachting
Australia and the Australian Sailing Team and I'm the Technical Coordinator
of the Australian Sailing Team and the Slam Match Race Team,' concluded
a busy Dunstan.
Hong Kong's Martin Kaye is another competitor hoping to win entry into the Monsoon Cup via the Asian Qualifiers. 'This is our fourth Asian Qualifiers. Each of the times we've done reasonably well against the other Asian competitors but we've been knocked out by young fellows like New Zealand's Adam Minoprio, who is now leading the World Tour. It would be fantastic to get a top spot, just to be sailing against some of the really big guns. That's the honour - It's the best match racing event in Asia, by a long way. It is a very challenging course; quite a twisted tide system on Pulau Duyong, with two rivers coming into a basin so there are times when the tides are rather confused. It's a little bit shifty with the wind, but I think that's what makes it quite exciting.' The 42 year old skipper continued, 'It's my favourite event of the year; also quite important as we are representing Hong Kong in the new Match Racing event in the Asian Sailing Championship in March 2010, which is a prelude to the Asian Games. The Monsoon Cup has really lifted the profile of sailing in Asia.'
Also
contesting is 24-year-old Nurual Ain who was the only
female skipper in the 2008 Monsoon Cup after wining the 2008 Malaysian
Match Racing Championship and a wildcard entry into the Monsoon Cup last
year.
Heading out for two bites at the cheery is the Malaysian
Armed Forces team MAF 1 skippered by Mohamad
Razali Mansor which should give the team an extra
boost before the MMRC in two weeks time. The Malaysian Match Racing Championships
are scheduled for Pulau Duyong, Kuala Terengganu from November 23 - 26.
The winner will also book a place in the Monsoon Cup.
Teams Entered in the
Asian Match Racing Championships.
1. Team Hong Kong
- (RHKYC) Skipper: Martin H. Kaye
2. Michaell Dunstan - (RSYC) Skipper: Michael Dunstan
3. Team India - (RBYC) Skipper: TBC**
4. Team J.F.P - (JYMA) Skipper: Kan Yamada
5. Team 'EM' - (RVYC) Skipper: Morten Jakobsen
6. Team New Zealand - (WAKA Racing) Skipper: Phil Robertson
7. MAF 1 - (Malaysian Navy) Skipper: Mohammad Razali Mansor
8. Taring Pelangi - (TESA) Skipper: Nurul Ain
About the Asian Match
Racing Championships.
The
Asian Match Racing Championship taking place on 9-12 November 2009 will
see the participation of teams from various Asian Yacht Clubs vying for
a spot in the Monsoon Cup. At its debut in 2006, the AMRC saw participation
from 5 regional teams, including from Singapore, Australia, New Zealand
and Hong Kong. This year has seen a massive increase in interest with
over 30 international teams applying for a chance to compete.
Past Asian Match Racing
Championship Winners:
2006 - Adam Minoprio (NZL) - BlackMatch Racing
2007 - Adam Minoprio (NZL) - BlackMatch Racing
2008 - Keith Swinton (AUS) - BlackSwan Racing
About The Monsoon Cup
The Monsoon
Cup 2005 celebrated its debut as the 50th official
event of the Swedish Match Tour (now known as the World Match Racing Tour),
and serves as the Malaysian leg for the prestigious international sailing
event. This professional sailing series was formed in 2000 to unite the
world's best match-race regattas under one banner. The ISAF - World
Match Racing Tour (WMRT) comprises nine events in
nine specially selected locations around the world. As the leading professional
sailing series in the world, the Tour events are recognized as must-attend
regattas on the match-race circuit.
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Check
out some AY
Photos
of the 2009 AY and RSYC
Teams training on Facebook
July
2010 - Reviving Learn
to SAIL with Asian Yachtmasters
Courses at the AY Center in PD
October 2009 - Malaysian Match Racing Championship 2009
- One chance in a million...
Sept
09 - AY Team
News launched
August 09 - Monsoon
Sailing School a resounding success
Sponsorship
Request by the AY Match Racing Team
Go to archived Malaysian Match Racing Championship Race Reports: 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009
Go to archived Asian Match Racing Championship Race Reports 2007 - 2008 - 2009
Go to archived AY Monsoon Cup Race Reports: 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009
Go direcly to ISAF - World Match Racing Tour and season-ending Monsoon Cup websites.
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