Phil Robertson ready to defend his Asian Match Racing Champion title

Current ISAF World Match Racing Tour Champion (WMRT), Adam Minoprio (NZL ) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing has shown just what the Asian Match Racing Championships (AMRC) can do for a sailor’s career having first made a name for himself by winning the AMRC in 2006 and 2007. This year the AMRC starts today, October 25th and runs until the 28th at the Ri- Yaz Heritage Marina Resort & Spa in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia, the home venue of the Monsoon Cup.

Phil Robertson is the defending Asian champion and here's what he had to say right before the start of racing: "The venue is still very hot but the current is not as strong as in previous years. As the defending champions, the pressure is going to be on us but we are used to that. We have been training hard for the last three weeks to get ready to defend our title. The crew is almost the same, with the exception of our bowman as he could not make it this year. We have sailed here twice before and this will be an added advantage for us as this can be a tricky course. I think our inside knowledge will help us tremendously.

Winning this event last year has been good to us and raised our exposure massively. It has also helped us get into many other events and our skill level is now much higher as a result. We have taken part in two WMRT events this year - Korea and Bermuda but it's getting tougher as the skill level in the qualifiers is quite high."

Asian defending champion, Phil Robertson, trains on the eve of the Asian Match Racing Championship. Kuala Terengganu, 24 October 2010. Photo copyright SubZero Images / MonsoonCup