World Match Racing Tour brings high-octane sailing to Newport

by Barby MacGowan on 19 May 2016 2016 World Match Racing Tour - The world’s top match racing sailors from the U.S. and nine additional countries will travel to Sail Newport to participate in a high-speed stadium racing event within yards of the shoreline of Fort Adams State Park. Sail Newport is the host for the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) Newport, scheduled for May 30-June 4.

The WMRT at Sail Newport will showcase dramatic sailboat racing on Newport Harbor for spectators, race fans and visitors to Fort Adams State Park. The event will also include live play-by-play and commentary broadcast throughout the shore-side venue as well as food, family lawn games, a hospitality tent, and an M32 for kids to experience what it’s like onboard one of the catamarans used for the event. The event is open to the public, with no admission fee and free parking.

Prior to the Newport event, the World Match Racing Tour held events in Fremantle, Australia, Long Beach, Calif., and Copenhagen, Denmark. The fleet of eight high-speed M32 catamarans have arrived at Sail Newport and will be raced by 20 four-person teams of professional sailors.

Spectators will enjoy watching the sheer power of the M32s as they skip over the water with their helmeted crews hiking out on “racks” mounted outboard of the hulls. The racks allow the skipper and crew to sit high above the water and use their weight to contribute to the boat’s performance. Built of ultra-light carbon fiber, the M32s weigh only 1124 pounds; the low weight helps contribute to the boat’s immediate acceleration and “flying” of a hull in only five knots of wind.

An international press corps will cover the event along with a television team that will live-stream action at event website, each day of the event between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

How the racing works:

Eighteen teams with sailors from the U.S., Great Britain, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, France, Denmark and Spain have already qualified for the Newport series. There are two team slots still open and sailors hoping to qualify for the event, which starts on Memorial Day, will arrive early in Newport to earn a berth. The qualifying series before the event will take place on Friday and Saturday (May 27-28) on Narragansett Bay.

WMRT Newport officially starts on Monday, May 30 with fleet racing (all of the boats across the starting line at once) and continues on Tuesday, May 31 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. each day (weather dependent). Sixteen race are scheduled for each of those days and up to 80 races are scheduled for the entire series overall.

On Wednesday the match racing begins with a 'sail-off,” which will eliminate four teams and leave 16 teams in the running for the 'Super 16” racing. Super 16 racing will continue on Thursday. Also on Thursday, Pro-Am Racing is on the schedule.

In match racing, two identical boats vie for the best start and then battle each other in very close and aggressive competition around a two-lap on-the-water race course. In Newport, the course will be set up on the harbor side of Fort Adams, offering spectators front-row seats to the action. Match racing is thrilling to watch because the catamarans play an elaborate game of 'cat and mouse' on the race course, each trying to outmaneuver the other to gain an edge. Winning (and losing) is often measured in inches, and collisions and capsizing are not rare in higher breeze.

WMRT Newport Quarter-Finals are scheduled for Friday (between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.), with Semi-Finals scheduled for Saturday, June 4, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

The top two remaining teams will sail in the finals on Saturday, June 4, between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. An Awards Ceremony will immediately follow the conclusion of racing at Fort Adams.

Opportunity for all ages to experience sailing

Sail Newport is a non-profit educational organization with the mission of making the sport of sailing accessible to all ages, regardless of economic station. “Sailing Access for Everyone!” is its slogan and has been the core of its mission since the organization incorporated in 1983 after the loss of the America’s Cup, which rocked the sailing community.

As Rhode Island's Public Sailing Center, Sail Newport aims to provide the experience of sailing to the public and to that point will offer free Try Sailing! opportunities to visitors from Memorial Day through Friday of the World Match Racing Tour (May 30-June 3). (Sessions are from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on all days but Saturday, June 4, when they are scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to Noon.

The Try Sailing! program is an introduction to sailing with a certified instructor onboard. All ages are invited, the sailing experience is free of charge, and Sail Newport provides life jackets.

Guests who are inspired during Try Sailing will have the opportunity to sign up for lessons at Sail Newport or one of the community sailing center in New England.

Though its main mission is supported by sailing programs, lessons and rentals, Sail Newport knows a thing or two about hosting world-class sailing events. In addition to its own regattas each season it also hosts many local, national and world championship regattas. Past successful large-scale sailing events include the 2007 Olympic and Paralympic Trials, the 2012 America’s Cup World Series and the 2015 Volvo Ocean Race Newport staged at Fort Adams. Judging from those experiences, when thousands of fans – both sailors and non-sailors alike – turned out, it’s safe to say the World Match Racing Tour Newport is a must-see, starting with Memorial Day and continuing through to the following Saturday, when the Finals are sure to deliver high-energy on-the-water action.

For more information, visit website.