The World Match Racing Tour announces Annual Awards programme

by World Match Racing Tour on 31 Mar 2010 The World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) has grown significantly in stature and is now seen as a recognised global sporting brand – it is the leading professional match racing series with the industry authority on premium match racing. Fitting with this elevated status, the World Match Racing Tour has introduced a new long term awards programme to recognise those high achieving individuals, teams and organisations involved with the Tour.

The 'WMRT Awards' comprise eight different categories for Best Overall Event, Best Team, Best Spectator Experience, Best Hospitality, Best Still Image, Best Innovation, Best Branding and Best Race Officer.

This is the first time that the Tour has introduced an annual awards programme that not only recognises the elite level of teams in the competition but also the full infrastructure required to run high quality global match racing events. The sport has developed substantially over the last 20 years into an extremely competitive and high profile discipline which now deserves dedicated awards.

The 2009 Award Winners have been released; each of the winners will receive a certificate acknowledging their achievement:
Best Overall Event Monsoon Cup 2009
Best Team BlackMatch Racing
Best Spectator Experience Hot Seat – Monsoon Cup 2009
Best Hospitality St Moritz Match Race 2009
Best Still Image Loris von Siebenthal
Best Innovation Monsoon Cup / RedHanded TV
Best Branding Match Cup Sweden 2009
Best Race Officer David Tallis – Korea Match Cup and Monsoon Cup

All of the award winners are happy with their experience of the 2009 Tour and are looking forward to the 2010 Tour starting in only 7 days with Match Race France in Marseille.

Shafique Iqbal commented on behalf of the Monsoon Cup, 'The WMRT has a high profile in Malaysia and is seen as the F1 of sailing, our history is based very much on our seafaring roots so the sport of sailing fits well with our culture. The introduction of the awards programme is positive, just as the Tour provides a healthy competition in the world of sailing, the awards will now instil a competitive spirit amongst the event venues and teams for the benefit of the entire Tour. We are proud to have won a number of the 2009 award categories and are looking forward to the future awards that we feel carry with them international recognition for excellence in sport and will provide a greater range of local venues, companies, organisations and teams with global credibility'.

Christian Scherrer, who won Best Hospitality for St Moritz Match Race 2009, finds it a real pleasure to work with the WMRT, 'the awards encourage everybody to improve and innovate; it is a great reward for the whole team which includes Badrutt’s Palace Hotel and Aermo AG. The long-term nature of the awards will encourage events to work even harder towards excellence and provide positive competition between venues'.

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Winner of the Best Still Image ‘really capturing the mood of the Tour’, Loris von Siebenthal, added, 'the WMRT is a unique event, the matches are always spectacular, in amazing venues and close to public viewing. Year on year everyone is trying to improve the Tour. The awards not only recognise the sailors but also give recognition to the work that everyone working on the Tour puts into the events. I try to convey the strong feeling of competition through my images and make the sport more appealing to the public. The award is a real validation of my work and makes my job more exciting'.

BlackMatch Racing from New Zealand, who are also the 2009 ISAF Match Racing World Champions, picked up the WMRT Award for Best Team. Skipper Adam Minoprio shared his thoughts on the introduction of an awards programme saying that, 'the WMRT is the closest and toughest sailing tour, all of the tour card holders provide intense competition. The new awards programme is a good idea as it will show the world the benchmark in all aspects of the Tour from sailors to events and behind the scenes. It will help everyone move towards making the WMRT a more competitive tour on and off the water'.

By introducing the awards, WMRT aims to further motivate the international match racing community and let everyone, including teams and event venue organisers, experience the competitive spirit that the Tour embodies around the world. Through this process the overall public awareness, involvement and sustained following into the sport of match racing will expand.

The Awards Programme is an annual project and will continue into 2010 with the winners being announced during an awards ceremony at the end of the year at a destination to be confirmed.

Peter Gilmour, Acting President of World Match Racing Tour commented, 'We are pleased to announce the introduction of the ‘World Match Racing Tour Awards Programme’. The annual awards will be a valuable addition to the Tour as we aim to inspire all those involved in the sport of match racing and congratulate all of the community who have developed the WMRT into an industry authority in match racing excellence. The awards will motivate even further the commitment to innovate annually through improved management of the Tour'.

http://wmrt.com