Anticipation builds for 2023 WMRT Final in Shenzhen
by WMRT 12 Dec 2023 09:04 PST
12-17 December 2023
Practice day - 2023 WMRT Final in Shenzhen © Ian Roman / WMRT
With teams taking to the water for their official practice day, the stage is set for the 2023 World Match Racing Tour Final in Shenzhen, China.
The stakes are high as the winner of this event will be crowned 2023 Match Racing World Champion and be awarded a portion of the USD 200,000 purse. Racing will begin tomorrow morning at 1000 local time and run from December 13th to 17th. Overseen by Principal Race Officer Randy Smith from the USA and Chief Umpire Craig Mitchell from GBR and his team of ten World Sailing International Umpires, the event will see top-tier competition.
The regatta line-up is full of veteran match racers and previous world champions. New Zealand's Nick Egnot-Johnson's KNOTS Racing is defending their 2022 WMRT championship title, while USA's Chris Poole and his Riptide Racing, who is currently ranked number one in the world and on top of the WMRT leaderboard, aims for the prize with a sense of redemption after finishing second in last year's WMRT Final in Sydney, Australia.
Six-time match racing world champion Ian Williams / Chinaone.Ningbo (GBR) will eagerly look to take home his seventh world championship title at the end of this week.
Being the second time the WMRT Final has been hosted in China, and the first time at this venue, it will be crucial for crews to learn the venue's characteristics as quickly as possible.
"Sailing is one of those cool sports that takes you all over the world; none of us have raced in Shenzhen before, so we are looking forward to racing in a new venue and experiencing the Shenzhen culture," commented Nick Egnot-Johnson.
Tomorrow's forecast will ease the teams into the week of racing with an easterly breeze from 6-12 knots.