Dean Barker leads in Auckland

source by: Isabel Carlyon

Defending champion Dean BARKER (NZL) and his Emirates Team New Zealand crew topped the leaderboard of the ISAF Grade 1 Auckland Match Racing Cup after the second day of racing was completed on the Waitemata Harbour. Behind BARKER the race for the three other semi-final slots is wide open.

'We are happy with the day’s results,' said BARKER, who notched up five victories in six matches today. 'We managed to win a couple of close ones and we felt we were sailing well.'

The Race Committee completed six flights of racing today, finishing the first round robin and three flights of the second round robin. Ten teams from seven nations are competing in the Auckland Match Racing Cup. The regatta format features two round robins, followed by a semi-final and final on the weekend. Racing in the second round robins continues on the Waitemata Harbour tomorrow.

Round Robin Standings

1. Dean BARKER (NZL), 9-3
2. Mathieu RICHARD (FRA), 8-4
3. Adam MINOPRIO (NZL), 8-4
4. Ian WILLIAMS (GBR), 7-5
5. James SPITHILL (AUS), 7-5
6. Takumi NAKAMURA (JPN), 5-7
7. Simon DICKEY (NZL), 5-7
8. Eugeny NEUGODNIKOV (RUS), 4-8
9. Simon MINOPRIO (NZL), 4-8
10. Brian ANGEL (USA), 3-9

Final countdown to Auckland MR Cup

source by: Isabel Carlyon

The world’s top skippers have begun to arrive in New Zealand as the countdown to the Auckland Match Racing Cup begins, with less than two days to go until racing starts.
The event, which is being hosted by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, will start on the Waitemata Harbour this Wednesday, 24 January and run until Sunday, 28 January.
Commodore of the Squadron, John Crawford, said he was looking forward to a great week of racing.
“Skippers have come from as far as Russia, Japan and the United Kingdom to compete. It is a great competition for spectators with the racing just outside the Squadron at Westhaven,” he said.
At 3pm on Sunday, 28 January, the public will have the opportunity to see the world-class skippers including favourite America’s Cup contenders - New Zealand’s Dean Barker and Australia’s James Spithill, world number two Ian Williams and world number three Matthieu Richard, up-close at the cup presentation outside Soul Bar in the Viaduct Harbour.
Auckland City Mayor, Dick Hubbard, said the Auckland Match Racing Cup is not only a significant event on the international yachting calendar, but events like this are important to Auckland for their ability to reinforce the positive reputation generated by previous international regattas such as the America's Cup and our world-class marine sector.
“In addition to providing Aucklanders with the opportunity to view the world's best yachtsmen in action for the last time before the America's Cup, I am confident that the Auckland Match Racing Cup will attract considerable direct and indirect expenditure from a variety of sources including racing teams, sponsors, spectators, international media and visitors," he said.
Racing starts at 10am each day and features twenty-minute round-robin races and approximately twenty-five races a day.
The semi-finals for the cup will be on Saturday, January 27 and finals will take place on Sunday, January 28.
The public is invited to watch the racing at a purpose-built grandstand at the Harbour Bridge-end of Westhaven Marina. There is free car parking and food and drink stalls available here.

Dominican Repubilc to host match race event

source: Sean McNeill

The Casa de Campo Yacht Club and Marina, one of the Caribbean’s most luxurious resorts located in the Dominican Republic, will host the inaugural Casa de Campo Regatta 2007 Presidente Cup, Feb. 6-10, 2007.
Regatta organizers plan to have four divisions. Division A will consist of one-design classes. Division B will consist of racing sailboats longer than 24 feet in length. Division C will feature performance cruisers, cruisers, bareboats and multihulls. Division D will consist of classic sailboats.
Already 17 entries have been received, ranging from J/24s to a 64-footer. There are also bareboat charters available for those wishing to race but unable to get their boat to the venue.
Racing will be held off Casa de Campo, on the south side of the eastern end of the Dominican Republic. The racecourse will be situated between Isla Catalina to the west and Isla Saona to the east.
“We feel we have one of the most beautiful locations in the Caribbean for racing,” said Tony Torres, manager of the Casa de Campo Yacht Club. “The marina is first class and offers all amenities. The resort is beautiful and we’re sure the racing will be outstanding.”
Casa de Campo is located on 7,000 acres on the southeastern end of the Dominican Republic. The marina has 400 slips and a 120-ton Travelift. Entrants in the regatta will be provided free dockage between Jan. 15 and Feb. 15.
During the event there’ll be daily musical entertainment and a golf tournament at the Casa de Campo Country Club Golf Course, designed by legendary golf course designer Pete Dye. There are also plans for a gala dinner at the Casa de Campo Golf Country Club.
The five-star resort also has three polo fields, lighted tennis courts, and the only private airport that is serviced by a commercial airline. American Airlines has daily non-stop flights from Miami and San Juan.
“We look forward introducing the world’s top sailors to the Caribbean’s most complete resort,” Torres said. “We expect the regatta to become a regular feature on the racing calendar.”
The regatta is being partly organized by Force10 Marketing, an integrated sports and event marketing company based in Lymington, England, providing marketing, communications and management services for international events and sponsors worldwide.

Lugano Match Cup 2007 and IU Seminar Lugano

After the inaugural edition of last year the Circolo Velico Lago di Lugano is organizing also in the second edition of the Lugano match cup.
This year the event will be over two weekends with a Gr. 4 match Race for Swiss match racing Teams and a Grade 3 event open also for teams from other nationalities. During the Gr. 3 event ISAF in collaboration with Swiss Sailing will also organize a IU Seminar open to umpires who intent to participate in an IU seminar.

Program
-10 – 11 March 2007 Act I
8 Team with 4 Streamline, top 4 team will qualify for the Gr. 3

-16 – 18 March 2007 Act II
10 Team with 6 Streamline

-14 – 18 March ISAF International Umpire Seminar

Registration

Act I and Act II, please send an email to: peter.schmidle@matchrace.ch

IU Seminar, please send an email to: juergkaufmann@matchrace.ch

Read more from the 2006 Lugano Match Cup

Download Notice of Race Act I

Download Notice of Race Act II

Download Application for IU Seminar