Korean challenger in the 34th America's Cup?

So far, in the history of the world's most prestigious sailing event there have been four occasions when an Asian team mounted a challenge. The first Asians to contest in the Louis Vuitton Cup were Nippon Challenge in 1992, skippered by Chris Dickson. The Japanese built upon that campaign in order to return in 1995, skippered that time by a national, Makoto Namba, and helmed by John Cutler. The third challenge from the Japanese syndicate came in the 2000 edition with a team led by Peter Gilmour. That would be the last time, so far, Japan would challenge.

The fourth Asian challenger would come two editions later, in Valencia in 2007, in the form of the well known China Team. It now seems there is some probability the 34th America's Cup will see the first ever challenger coming from another Asian economic power, Korea. While I was in Kuala Terengganu for the Monsoon Cup, I had the opportunity to talk to Dong Young Kim, founder of the Korea Match Cup, about Korea and the America's Cup. Dong Young Kim was in the two meetings for existing and potential competitors, first in Paris and more recently in Dubai, wearing two hats.

His first hat was that of event promoter. He created from scratch Korea Match Cup and turned it into one of the most popular events of the World Match Racing Tour in a mere 3 years. So, it would only seem obvious that he would be interested in hosting one or more events of the America's Cup World Series. The current venue of Korea Match Cup, on the northwest coast of the country, is unsuitable, lacking the sufficient race area to accommodate the much bigger AC45's, let alone the AC72's, so his proposed venue is the southern city of Busan.

Dong Young Kim, founder of the Korea Match Cup and leader of the first ever potential America's Cup effort by South Korea. Gyeonggi, 8 June 2010. Photo copyright World Match Racing Tour

Still, I was more interested on his idea of trying to set up a team, not just organize an event. If projects from established nations have problems getting off the ground how can someone from an Asian country with no presence whatsoever in high-level international sailing pretend to mount a syndicate? Especially under terms that, for the likes of Keith Mills, make it practically impossible to win? Kim's reply was quite straightforward. Whatever the yacht might be, his argument is, he's absolutely aware the Korean Team has no chance at all to win in their very first try. If the yacht was, always according to Kim, a "big RC44" or similar monohull, then his chances of a decent performance, even among the challengers, would be practically nil. He sees the winged multihulls as the factor that puts all challengers practically on the same level and could prevent the team from becoming the equivalent of China Team in Valencia.

There are little details Kim could give me about the project other than it's still in a preliminary state. It goes without saying that the team, if it goes ahead, will mainly consist of non-Koreans as the country, precisely, lacks the knowhow and manpower. His main task right now is to raise the necessary funds for the campaign and has set a goal of approximately 40-45 million euros. He considers that amount enough for the goals of the team and his fundraising drive is limited to the major Korean corporation. Although he couldn't give a definite deadline after which a decision would need to be taken as to whether the project goes ahead or gets killed but he said he was optimistic. At least, money is not something the huge Korean groups are in lack of!

Patrick Lim talks to Valencia Sailing

During the round robin of the 2010 Korea Match Cup, Valencia Sailing had the chance to meet Malaysian businessman Patrick Lim, Executive Chairman of the World Match Racing Tour, and discuss his views and ambitions for the world's match racing championship as new owner of the circuit.

Valencia Sailing: Your initial foray in the sport of sailing was in 2005 when you started organizing the Monsoon Cup in Kuala Terengganu in Malaysia. What made you become the promoter of a sailing event?
Patrick Lim: I'm a real-estate developer and I have always enjoyed working with sports, I liked to use sports as a catalyst for many of my developments. In the early days, I built an equestrian academy and around it I built a real-estate development. We are using sports and other mass-participation events as a base for a number of developments and it's something that has brought many new opportunities. As a result, we were tasked by the government of Malaysia to assist them in finding a program to develop and uplift the area of Kuala Terengganu because at that time the area lacked recognition in the international tourism market. It's a beautiful coastal area and has many monsoons but instead of thinking negatively we wanted to capitalize on that.

I'm not a sailor myself but while we were investigating various possibilities we also considered the yachting sector. By chance, during that period I had the opportunity to meet Peter Gilmour who talked to me about a fantastic series of sailing events, called the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT), thinking that it would be something that would help us achieve the objectives we had set. I have friends related to the world of Formula 1 and as a result, I was able to study the way they work and how they are structured. After considering all those facts, we decided to bid in order to become a venue of the WMRT. Our model was based on the highest level of international sports competition but also as a catalyst for growth. We wanted to develop a program, an event that would be able to attract the participation of non-core fans to the sport of sailing. Our aim from the beginning was to achieve the highest level possible in all aspects and I think that we have been quite successful with the Monsoon Cup.

Patrick Lim, Executive Chairman of the World Match Racing Tour, speaks during the Korea Match Cup opening ceremony. Gyoenggi, 9 June 2010. Photo copyright Gareth Cooke / SubZero Images

Valencia Sailing: After four years of organizing an event of the World Match Racing Tour you decided to buy into its organization. What was your goal and motivation behind that move?
Patrick Lim: Being a promoter of an event allowed us to thoroughly study the Tour. I'm a businessman and I consider it's important to set yourself challenges, to see whether you can apply your skills to enhance a product line or create new and better product lines. I'm always thinking about reaching new boundaries, about achieving new targets. It was natural for me then to start looking at the possibility of entering into the Tour and I'm a firm believer that if you have a clear objective of excellence and you are disciplined you will be able to meet your objectives and fulfill something you are proud of.

Valencia Sailing: Is the Monsoon Cup the model of event you would want to see throughout the WMRT?
Patrick Lim: Dong Young Kim, the promoter of Korea Match Cup, approached us, asking to copy our model of event and we were obviously happy to assist him in any way we could in order to implement it. He has had tremendous success here in Korea with our model and formula and that gave us the assurance that, after some modifications to the local necessities and conditions, it was something that could applied worldwide. That also gave us the confidence to embark on a conversation with Scott Macleod, the previous Tour owner, and convince him that we were worthy of becoming the new custodians of this wonderful structure. The World Match Racing Tour is a unique series, don't forget that after an agreement with the ISAF in 2006, it was granted "Special Event" status, sharing the same status with only two other professional sailing series, the America’s Cup and the Volvo Ocean Race. We were confident we had the ability to go forward and reach new targets and new goals.

Valencia Sailing: What are the targets and goals you have for the WMRT?
Patrick Lim: We took over the Tour just six months ago and our first target is to assist and enhance all the existing events that constitute the WMRT, so that with our assistance and collaboration they improve and reach new targets. They are already very good events in their own respective fields, each one being very unique, with its own characteristics but within all those events there are generic and common components. They all run their events in their own way, there is a lot of depth and that is good for the sailors, the spectators.

Korea is different from Malaysia, Sweden or Switzerland but they all have common key components and our aim is to achieve a high level of consistency in those areas. We believe the events should be attractive, racing should take place very close to the spectators, they should have good TV production and coverage but also provide excellent facilities for corporate hospitality, for the general public and the press. In essence you have different events within a common framework and I think this is one of the strengths of the Tour, to be able to deliver the same end product but very much localized and customized with the highest possible level of competition. At the end of the day, this is the world's match racing championship and there is only one.

Valencia Sailing: You said you had experience working with other sports. Do you think it will be difficult to achieve your targets, especially in a sport that is certainly not mainstream? For example, right here in Korea dozens of million of people are watching their national soccer team play in the world cup while hardly anyone of them has seen a sailing yacht.
Patrick Lim: On the contrary, what you consider to be a problem I see it as precisely the potential sailing has. Obviously, the biggest sports in the world are the ones everybody does. Everybody drives a car, every child can kick a ball, so these sports are popular. However, don't forget that in the 1960's there was a man called Mark McCormack who saw all those golf courses and all those amateur players and developed it into a great product line. If you now take a look there are marinas next to big cities all around the world I believe it is a potential waiting to be tapped and match racing is particularly applicable within this sporting niche.

It might be a sport that not everyone will do but it is a niche and our goal is to develop, grow and excel within this niche. The World Match Racing Tour will be the foremost platform in which sailors will strive. Don't forget there is a rich and strong tradition of match racing all around the world and you could say that almost every major yacht club holds a match race event. Within this structured hierarchy the Tour is the foremost event, similar to what exists in all other sports. You have events going from the grassroots level up to the world championship. So, I believe that our task is to realize that enormous potential there is. It will certainly be a challenge to work with all the organizations but we see huge potential in this.

Valencia Sailing: Louis Vuitton has a long history of involvement with the America's Cup, having sponsored the Challenger Selection Series for 25 years. Do you see the creation of the LV regattas as a threat to the World Match Racing Tour?
Patrick Lim: There is a vast difference. This is the world match racing championship, sanctioned by ISAF. It's the only world championship while theirs is an exhibition event. Without any doubt, we are very pleased to see the creation of new sailing events because they will lead to more participation. We encourage all the exhibition and one-off events because they are good for the sport but there's just one world match racing championship, this is it.

We respect the tradition and heritage of the sport but, as professionals, we also respect rights. As a result, I have to say I'm surprised that a group such as as Louis Vuitton with so much heritage and tradition but also very well known to protect their own rights, went in that direction.

Valencia Sailing: You have also been criticized for focusing excessively on the business and commercial side of the Tour to the detriment of the sports side. After all, the Tour is a sports competition.
Patrick Lim: The business side will ensure that in the long term the sports side will have the world's best sailors competing in better venues with better boats. You have to look at it from that perspective. If funding is insufficient then you won't have the adequate sports level. My job is exactly that. We have a very good team put in place now and our job is to listen to event promoters and work with them. They know the sport of sailing inside out.

Frankly, more money will bring better sailors. Talk to any sailor taking part in the Tour and he will tell you that funding is one of their primary, if not the most important, worries. If they can have more income through more prize money then they can be much more focused on sailing. I'm not going to bastardize the Tour and make sailors wear monkey suits in order to make more money. Our focus is the Tour and we want to achieve the highest level of competition and the highest level of sailors.

Talk to the event promoters. What do they need most? More funding. I can assure you that if they get more money they will reinvest it back to their events. They will have the best umpires, the best race officers and the best organization. Someone has to take care of the business side and that's my job. Answering your question, I don't think there's anything wrong with having a strong business focus on that. Having said that, I want to make it clear again that sailing is our top priority. I don't claim I'm a sailing expert but our team has excellent sailing experts and we will always strive to achieve the best.

Mathieu Richard wins the 2010 Korea Match Cup

Going from strength to strength Mathieu Richard, the current leader of the ISAF World Match Racing Championship, prevailed over Britain's Ian Williams 3-1 and claimed the 2010 Korea Match Cup. "Third time lucky" didn't apply to Williams today as he found an opponent that mastered the light and shifty conditions off Jeongok Marina, and in particular the timing of the starts.

Mathieu Richard has now extended his lead in the World Match Racing Tour standings with 65 points, followed by Adam Minoprio on 39 points and Ian Williams on 30 points.

In the petit final, Sweden's Bjorn Hansen had no problem taking on Torvar Mirsky 2-0 and grabbing third place overall in the 2010 Korea Match Cup.

Race 1: It was a painstakingly slow race with a breeze that probably never passed the 4-knot barrier. First blood went to Ian Williams but it wasn't without pain. He got off the starting line with a clearly faster pace a couple of boatlengths ahead of Richard but the French found that slight puff on the right during the first beat and rounded the top mark ahead. Yet, the very light breeze played out in favor of Williams who regained the lead in the first run and held it until the finish line.

Mathieu Richard, the 2010 Korea Match Cup winner. Jeogonk Marina, 13 June 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Race 2: Mathieu Richard started the second race on a better foot as he managed to force a penalty on Williams just 30 seconds after the entry for a port-starboard incident. In addition, the French hit the starting line on much better pace, ahead of Williams that stayed very close, yet unable to close the gap with the French, let alone force a penalty on him or offload his and get ahead.

Race 3: Richard went from strength to strength and took the third race. Although the prestart was absolutely eventless, Richard had his timing on the spot while Williams gybed and stalled half a minute before the start in order to avoid being early. Richard was ahead by a boatlength on the pin end of the starting line and head all the way to the left, getting as close as possible to the exclusion zone. With just one tack in the first beat, Richard rounded the first weather mark half a minute ahead of Williams. The breeze had gotten a bit stronger and steadier and as a result, Williams couldn't count on its whims to find a passing opportunity. Richard kept his half-minute lead almost through the entire race.

Race 4: In the fourth race it seemed we were in the middle of the "Groundhog Day", reliving the action that took place 20 minutes ago. Once again, Richard was perfect in his timing and, once again, Williams missed his. Richard crossed the starting line on the pin end, two boatlengths ahead of Williams and again head to the left, rounding the top mark ahead. Not only did Mathieu held on to its lead in the 1st run, he saw the right shift coming in the 2nd beat, took advantage of it and stretched his lead.

Williams, Richard, Hansen and Mirsky advance to the Korea Match Cup semis

To say that the 4th day of the 2010 Korea Match Cup was tough and testing would certainly be an understatement. Not only did the 8 quarter finalists had to face the usual shifty and puffy wind conditions off the Jeongok Marina, the 8 crews got soaked by the pouring rain for the best part of the day. Yet, there was close action aplenty, drama, comebacks and many flags flying.

Ian Williams was the first to advance to the semis, beating Pacé 3-0, Björn Hansen climbed from being down zero to beat Gilmour 3-2, Richard beat Bruni 3-2 after 5 intense races full of penalties while in the battle between the two young guns, Mirsky prevailed over Minoprio, sending the world's top-ranked match racer back home.

The semifinals and finals will take place on Sunday, closing day of the 2010 Korea Match Cup. Ian Williams picked Björn Hansen as his opponent, meaning that Mathieu Richard will have to face Torvar Mirsky.

My apologies for not having taken any pictures but it was really pouring, non-stop during the entire day!!

Ian Williams vs Bertrand Pacé: Williams showed he was in top form already in the first race. After a close prestart, Pacé crashed on Williams' yacht and got a penalty right on the start line for tacking too close. Although the French match racer rounded the weather mark ahead, Williams rolled over him in the first run and led until the finish line. In the second race, Williams had a great start on the pin end, going on the favored left side. He managed to maintain the lead, Pacé had some opportunities but was unable to close the gap.

If anyone had any doubts about Williams, he made sure they were dissipated in the third race. Pacé got off the start line in a stronger position and led the race until halfway down the final run, with Williams close behind. While the French had chosen to cross the finish line at the pin end, Williams had seen the committee boat bias and opted for the right, got ahead of Pacé and beat him by a second.

Ian Williams had no problems eliminating Bertrand Pacé. Jeongok Marina, 13 June 2010. Photo copyright Ian Roman / SubZero Images

Peter Gilmour vs Bjorn Hansen: The first race proved to be very tough for Hansen. He was handed a red flag at the start, so he had to immediately offload it but when executing it he got another one. From there it was an easy victory for Gilmour who stayed on top form in the second race, with a great start while Hansen blew his chances by being early over the line. There was little the Swede could do, Gilmour sailed smoothly, didn't make any dumb mistakes and kept the lead until the finish line.

While it seemed as an easy walk for Gilmour, Hansen was about to stage a formidable comeback, despite the penalties he received. In the third race, Hansen had a good start, stayed ahead but got a penalty in the run downwind for gybing too close to Gilmour. Still, Hansen stretched his lead and scored his first comeback point after offloading the penalty and crossing the line ahead of Gilmour. The fourth race was again about penalties but this time on Gilmour. The Australian got another one in the prestart on a port-starboard incident, handing the race over to Hansen. Gilmour got another penalty in the prestart of the final race but got the upper hand off the starting line. Still, both sailors were handed another penalty each, in yet another close incident in the final run but the balance didn't change. Hansen finished ahead of Gilmour and moved to the semifinals.

Amazing comeback performance by Bjorn Hansen. Jeongok Marina, 13 June 2010. Photo copyright Ian Roman / SubZero Images

Mathieu Richard vs Francesco Bruni: The first of the five titanic clashes between the French and the Italian was won by Bruni after Richard completely missed one of the yellow fixed buoys in the course, driving directly into it and completely tearing his spinnaker. Richard had to retire and hand the first point to Bruni. The roles reversed in the second race and the French match racing champion had a comfortable victory over Bruni. The Italian, on port side, got a penalty in the prestart when his stern collided with the stern of the French yacht. There was nothing Bruni could do and the point went to Richard.

Richard had an average start in the third race and gave Bruni the chance to get ahead. He tried to attack but the Italian sailed flawlessly, winning the race. Bruni started the fourth match strong off the line and was leading at the weather mark but a great comeback by Richard on the run gave him the opportunity to sneak inside Bruni at the bottom mark and force a penalty on him for not giving room. Richard got ahead and managed to keep his lead until the end. The fifth and decisive race was a nail-biting match racing exhibition but despite all the tricks Bruni tried to throw at Richard, the French stayed ahead until the finish line.

Torvar Mirsky was on fire in his races against Adam Minoprio. Jeongok Marina, 13 June 2010. Photo copyright Ian Roman / SubZero Images

Torvar Mirsky vs Adam Minoprio: The battle between the two young guns was a one-sided story. Mirsky prevailed in both races, from start to finish, comfortably winning two points against the world's top-ranked match racer that seemed to be completely out of form. Minoprio finishes a disappointing 6th in the Korea Match Cup.

Tour Card Holders Command Korea Match Cup

[Source: World Match Racing Tour] As the sailors waited in anticipation for the mega wind turbines on the race course horizon to start up they finally jumped into action by 4pm. With wind building to a steady 9 knots on Day 3 of Korea Match Cup’s Round Robin perfect match racing conditions were enjoyed by the 12 teams.

Five out of the overall nine selected 2010 World Match Racing Tour card holders are so far commanding Korea Match Cup. Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing is jointly leading with Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar who has now been dedicated to pro-racing for 5 years. Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing pulled back considerably today in the welcomed stronger airs, he sits 3rd overall having moved up from 9th position yesterday along with Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team and Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team. Mirsky is rapidly getting back to top form after yesterday expressing his concerns at travelling to Korea so closely after completing Chicago Match Race and arriving in Gyeonggi the morning the WMRT event started, “I didn’t recover and won’t do it again”.

Highlights from day 2 of the Korea Match Cup. Jeongok Marina, 10 June 2010. Video copyright World Match Racing Tour

Williams looked back at Match Race Germany where during this stage of the regatta he was consistently putting in good results however, his form changed when reaching the quarter finals. When asked if he had a different strategy for Korea Match Cup to retain his team’s strength into the quarters he replied, “I think we will just carry on in the same relaxed fashion for Korea Match Cup, the way we are this year without the consistent team and dedication to training we will make mistakes, but if we remain relaxed we should win more than we lose and continue progressing, then we hope that when we go into the quarters it will go our way”.

Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra upped his match race considerably today after a disappointing day yesterday which saw him defeated in all matches. The charming Italian helm who is new to the Tour this year, is now ranked 8th after one win today and could still be in play for a slot in the quarters as this skipper is termed a ‘light wind specialist’.

Further down the score board in 9th position sits another Tour card holder, Bertrand Pacé (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team, who has won only 4 out of 10 matches at this event. The 2010 Tour has not yet gone in Pacé’s favour as he was also knocked out in the Round Robin at Match Race France. Pacé commented on his current position, “We are not doing well with the wind or with our match racing”. Continuing at the post race press conference he also related that he didn’t agree with the umpire call in his match against local hero Park GunWoo (KOR) Busan Match.

During the morning’s postponement the Tour card holders were asked about their thoughts on the innovations to the Tour since this global sports brand was taken over by Regal Faith Ltd in September 2009. Consensus was given on the introduction of LIVE communications such as, streaming, blog, facebook, twitter and upgraded website.

The final two days of Korea Match Cup (12/13 June) will be televised LIVE to a global audience. With 11 combined TV cameras on-shore and water covering all of the action. The onboard audio and commentary broadcasters, will be distributing a variety of live, delayed live and highlight shows.

A number of different trans-global broadcasters are taking footage from Korea Match Cup including; Orbit Showtime in the Middle East and Africa, Untamed Sports and America One in the USA, national broadcaster KBS in Korea, ESPN/Star Asia, TVNZ and Sky NZ in New Zealand as well as CNBC Asia Pacific and Setanta Africa. In territories without access to the live television shows, fans can instead pick up the programme live via internet streaming on the WMRT website.

As cultural Korean celebrations run into the night at the mammoth expo style event, the skippers will be heading home to rest up for the final day of the Round Robin tomorrow. The remaining matches will be fought out toughly to guarantee progression through to the next stage of the event. Competition is fierce at Korea Match Cup as the skippers race in anticipation of winning the top prize money of 75,000,000 KRW, which is the second largest prize money packet of the 2010 Tour.
here is no live stream, footage can be viewed at http://sportzzone.tv

Day 3: Current Round Robin Standings
Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 6-2
Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar 6-2
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 5-3
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 5-3
Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 5-3
Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team 5-5
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Gill Global Team 5-5
Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra 4-4
Bertrand Pacé (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team 4-6
Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing Team 4-6
Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Italia 3-7
Park GunWoo (KOR) Busan Match 2-8

Video: Onboard Francesco Bruni's yacht in the Korea Match Cup

Onboard Francesco Bruni's yacht in the race against Johnie Berntsson in the Korea Match Cup round robin. Jeongok Marina, 11 June 2010. Video copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

TV Umpire call in sailing

The World Match Racing Tour had a world first in sailing on Thursday, during the second day of the Korea Match Cup, when the two umpires following the "Italian derby" between Paolo Cian and Francesco Bruni raised the TV flag and asked the opinion of a third umpire sitting in the TV control room, in front of a number of screens. The event being televised live with more than 10 cameras, the TV umpire might be in a position to have a much better view of the incident.

The "TV umpire" has 3 available calls: black out (where the incident has not been caught on camera), pending (meaning the TV umpire is in the process of replay for the incident) and lastly their decision on a penalty call where the incident is recorded in good visibility. Unlike other sports such as cricket or rugby, the "TV umpire" has a consultative role and his review is initiated by the on-the-water umpires. His call is not final and can be used in order to make the final decision. He can be compared to the wing umpires, the only difference being the fact he is sitting in the TV control room.

According to Harold Bennet, PRO of the Korea Match Cup, the addition of a TV Umpire is a "good and innovative idea" while he "applauds" the World Match Racing Tour for taking the initiative. For him, every step the sport is taking in order to make sure that the first boat to cross the line is the winner, avoiding lengthy protests afterwards, is always "good and positive".

The idea is still in its infant stages and might suffer from some teething problems but it is just in its first testing period and the philosophy behind its use in the Korea Match Cup is to see whether it works and to what extent it might help make the umpire calls even more accurate.

First call of a TV Umpire during actual racing. Jeogonk Marina, 10 June 2010. Video copyright World Match Racing Tour

Video: Onboard Adam Minoprio's yacht in the Korea Match Cup

Onboard Adam Minoprio's yacht in the race against Johnie Berntsson in the Korea Match Cup round robin. Jeongok Marina, 10 June 2010. Video copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Mathieu Richard leads Korea Match Cup; World First for TV Umpire

[Source: World Match Racing Tour] Day 2 of Korea Match Cup displayed the world’s first global sailing and international TV umpiring. The ISAF World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) has introduced a new innovation as the TV umpire to match racing - ‘The TV umpire’ for decisions on race incidents. The ‘TV flag’ proved to be very useful today during the race between the two Italians skippers; Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Italia and Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra.

Currently on the water umpires have two sources of information, the wing boat and on board observers who ride with them. ‘The TV umpire’ offers an additional source of information in order for them to make an overall decision. If an umpire is not certain of the outcome after an incident they have the option of raising a ‘TV flag’. This roles straight over to the ‘TV umpire’ who sits on-shore at World Match Racing Tour Head Quarters for clarification on the incident.

Mathieu Richard leads the Korea Match Cup on its second day. Jeongok Marina, 10 June 2010. Photo copyright Ian Roman / SubZero Images

This is a natural progression for the sport of match racing following in the footsteps of mass participation sporting events such as football, rugby, cricket and baseball. The Tour is using LIVE TV operations now extensively available on this 10 event world series in order to enhance the quality of umpire decisions on issuing penalties.

Unlike rugby and football where the video umpire can have the ultimate decision, the final outcome will rest with the umpire on the water. The footage display is a back up to the decision making process and is an additional judging eye for umpires to run through. For match racing the ‘TV umpire’ has 3 available calls; black out – where the incident has not been caught on camera, pending – meaning the TV umpire is in the process of replay for the incident and lastly their decision on a penalty call where the incident is recorded in good visibility.

WMRT are pushing through new boundaries by transforming the TV Umpire into a match racing context. It is part of a strategic approach in continuing the quality of umpiring throughout the Tour series and maintaining their status as an industry authority on premium match racing.

Ian Williams rounds the mark too close and hooks the anchor rope around his rudder. Jeongok Marina, 10 June 2010. Photo copyright Ian Roman / SubZero Images

Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team has remained the leader in the light winds and will start day 3 with a win of 5-2. “We are happy with the way we have sailed since yesterday - it will be a new start on the quarter finals so for the moment we are going step by step”.

As the tide ebbed, the race course became ever smaller and the sun set, Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team put in solid results. The Swedes beat Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing, current ISAF Match Racing World Champion and Richard, currently ranked top of the World Match Racing Tour standings. Berntsson back on the Tour scene with a wild card entry to Korea Match Cup showed his true colours today having won the Argo Group Gold Cup back in 2008. Berntsson shared his goals for 2010, “our main goal is to do as many stages of the WMRT as possible this year”.

Eyes will be on the Scandinavian helms throughout Stage 3 to see if Berntsson can secure a lead over Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Gill Global Team who is one of only nine Tour card holders for the 2010 circuit. To date Berntsson leads Hansen by one win.

The Tour has also celebrated the achievements of Korea Match Cup in presentation of the ISAF World Match Racing Tour Best Event Award acknowledged in 2008. Dong Young Kim, Korea Match Cup Event Promoter was presented with the plaque for total commitment to professionalism. Young commented, “It’s an acknowledgement from the World Match Racing Tour to Korea Match Cup’s commitment in producing a world class event that meets the sailors, sponsors, media and public expectations – all requirements to sustain and produce a successful international sport event”.

Great day for Johnie Berntsson. Jeongok Marina, 10 June 2010. Photo copyright Ian Roman / SubZero Images

Day 2: Current Round Robin Standings

Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 5-2
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 4-3
Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team 4-3
Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 4-1
Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar 4-1
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Gill Global Team 3-2
Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra 3-4
Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Italia 3-4
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 2-3
Bertrand Pacé (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team 2-3
Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing Team 1-4
Park GunWoo (KOR) Busan Match 1-6

Video: Highlights from Day 1 of the Korea Match Cup

Highlights from Day 1 of the Korea Match Cup. Jeongok Marina, 9 June 2010. Video copyright World Match Racing Tour

Richard, Minoprio and Williams Lead on opening day of Korea Match Cup

[Source: World Match Racing Tour] The world was welcomed today to South Korea’s Province of Gyeonggi, host to the ISAF World Match Racing Tour’s 3rd Stage of 2010. The global sailing series is bringing the world to Gyeonggi and Gyeonggi to the world by profiling this ambitious venue as an elite match race destination.

During a visually stimulating opening ceremony, which included; a black belt taekwondo demonstration, naval gun salute, rendition of Abba, World Match Racing Tour teams parade and group singing of the Korean national anthem in a colossal open air stadium which saw Korea Match Cup commence.

The Governor of Gyeonggi Province, Republic of Korea addressed the 3000 strong crowd gathered to celebrate the opening of Korea Match Cup and the Korea International Boat Show, after a note of thanks to the Tour his speech confirmed the power of South Korea’s maritime leisure industry, “The ISAF World Match Racing Tour has inspired the people of Gyeonggi, it is one of Korea’s largest annual sporting events and is a powerful event for this region. It is rewarding to host such a high calibre set of sailors and will continue to create young talent for South Korea’s next generation of sailing sport enthusiasts”.

Opening day of the Korea Match Cup. Jeongok Marina, 9 June 2010. Photo copyright World Match Racing Tour

Gyeonggi has a vast international pull and has secured over 2,900 overseas companies to trade in this province, it is noted as ‘the foundation to Korea’s national economy’. Korea Match Cup annually inspires pro-racers from Europe, Asia and Australasia to travel to the race destination. The Northeast Asian hub is focusing on marine leisure and the tourist industry for its future growth, having recently attracted the world’s largest ‘Universal Studio Theme Park’ to take up residence.

The Tour takes in 10 international destinations around the world and allows the global recognition of each venue to grow through this unique sports platform. The WMRT venues have the ability to build an extensive profile and ‘communicate with the world’ through the professional sailing series.

Patrick Lim, Executive Chairman, ISAF World Match Racing Tour, accepted thanks from the Governor of Gyeonggi and highlighted Korea Match Cup as the biggest event on the 2010 Tour programme, “Stage 3 is a high profile event in the Tour annually attracting 300,000 spectators to watch some of the world’s top America’s Cup teams in action. Global fans will also be able to experience the action via live television coverage reaching 600 million households and live internet newsfeeds going to over 183 countries”.

Impressive opening ceremony of the Korea Match Cup. Jeongok Marina, 9 June 2010. Photo copyright World Match Racing Tour

Racing started after the formalities with a light breeze which saw slow tactical boat manoeuvres by the top helms. It was definitely a day for demonstrating the power of the local hero after Park GunWoo (KOR) Busan Match Team, noted as an ‘unknown quantity’ previous to Korea Match Cup, stole the limelight from esteemed match racer Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing. GunWoo, wildcard entry to Korea Match Cup, has racing experience in dinghy fleets but only started the match racing discipline in November 2009. This 28 year old helm has a fantastic potential and is a face that the seasoned skippers will need to take note of.

When asked how he felt after beating a legend today, an excited GunWoo responded, “I just can’t believe it, all the guys racing here are world famous skippers and we are just happy to have an entry and sail against these pro-racers. We sailed well and are very happy”. Gilmour was on hand to offer his congratulations to the new Asian racing star adding, “GunWoo sailed a very good race and provided no openings”.

The big names that have dominated the first two Stages of the 2010 Tour; Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team, Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/Black Match Racing and Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar have continued their consistency into Korea Match Cup all winning 3 out of 3 races on the first day’s racing.

Day 1: Current Round Robin Standings
Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 3-0
Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 3-0
Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar 3-0
Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra 2-1
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Gill Global Team 2-1
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 1-2
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 1-2
Bertrand Pacé (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team 1-2
Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team 1-2
Park GunWoo (KOR) Busan Match 1-2
Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Italia 0-3
Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing Team 0-3

Video: Onboard Torvar Mirsky's yacht in the Korea Match Cup

Onboard Torvar Mirsky's yacht in the race against Bertrand Pacé in the Korea Match Cup round robin. Jeongok Marina, 9 June 2010. Video copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Valencia Sailing talks to Dong Young Kim, founder of the Korea Match Cup

Driving from Seoul's Incheon airport to Jeongok Marina, 70 km south of Korea's capital and on the country's west coast, one would never expect to find the world's top match racers battling off the coast of the industrial heartland and economic center of this Asian dragon. The cities of Seoul, Incheon and the Gyeonggi province that surrounds them concentrate half the population and GDP of Korea and are the world's largest producers of memory chips and LCD displays, among other top positions. Due to the efforts of Dong Young Kim, founder of the Korea Match Cup, and Moon-Soo Kim, governor of the Gyeonggi Province, in just 3 years it also went from a complete unknown in the sport of sailing to holding a top tier event.

Dong Young Kim was a Laser sailor during his university years and after graduating he sensed the need to further study and acquire sailing knowhow. What better place to do that than New Zealand? Kim spent four years in Auckland working as a boatbuilder in the superyacht industry, not only getting acquainted with the world's highest technologies in the country with the most extensive sailing tradition in the world, he also had the "luck and unique opportunity", as he stated, to live from very close, two editions of the America's Cup, in 2000 and 2003. During those four years he also got to meet some of New Zealand's top sailors, something that would prove very useful a few years later.

However, the most important lesson from the four years Kim spent in Auckland was that he realized there was no reason at all why his home country couldn't organize top-notch sailing events. Not only would it develop the sport of sailing, it could also help develop a local sailing industry and be used as a tourist attraction. In 2007, Kim went to Valencia for the 32nd America's where he was introduced to Craig Mitchell, director of the World Match Sailing Tour, and started the preliminary discussions on the possibility of organizing a Tour event in Korea.

Moon-Soo Kim, governor of the Gyeonggi Province, helms Paolo Cian's boat during the Korea Match Cup ProAm regatta. Gyeonggi, 8 June 2010. Photo copyright World Match Racing Tour

If sailing in general is considered a niche sport in the crushing majority of countries worldwide, in Korea in particular, Kim had to fight an uphill battle. If in most countries people still confuse the bow and the stern of a yacht or get mixed up with port and starboard, in Korea, as Kim jokingly pointed out, in his initial talks with potential sponsors and authorities he had to explain what a sailing yacht was. Korean sports are dominated by soccer and baseball while sailing is still at an embryonic stage.

Yet, Dong Young Kim found a strong ally in Moon-Soo Kim, governor of the Gyeonggi Province, who had also visited Valencia in 2007 to watch the America's Cup and saw in the World Match Racing events the perfect tool to showcase his provinces efforts to diversify its economy and portray itself as a sailing and tourist destination. With a coastline of more than 250km, the Gyeonggi province aims to becomes Asia's top marine leisure destination by 2020.

As a result, in less than a year after their meetings in Valencia, Dong Young Kim's vision became reality and the inaugural edition of the Korea Match Cup took place in 2008 in the purpose-built Jeongok Marina. The Korea Match Cup has also invested in a fleet of new 36-foot Bakewell-White-designed KM 36s built locally in Hwaseong City by Advanced Marine Tech. The boats are the first racing yacht to be built and sailed in Korea.

Dong Young Kim, founder of the Korea Match Cup, onboard Paolo Cian's boat during the Korea Match Cup ProAm regatta. Gyeonggi, 8 June 2010. Photo copyright World Match Racing Tour

According to Dong Young Kim, a total of 300,000 spectators visited the brand new race village during the 5-day event in 2008, a number that has been more or less constant in 2009 and 2010, despite the unrelated circumstances such as the prohibition to promote the event last month during the local pre-election period. With a pool of 22 million people, of which 11 million just in Seoul, 50 kilometers away, the event has the potential to become a major sports attraction.

As Korea becomes more of a leisure society, for example through the implementation of the 5-day working week a few years ago, sailing gained popularity. This was clearly reflected in this year's qualifying event, a month ago. Out of a total of 12 teams, the organization had set a limit of 6 from Korea and for the first time they had to face the "problem" of dropping 3 of the 9 local applicants. Although we are still in the very early stages, there is no reason why the future of sailing in Asia in general and in Korea in particular can't be bright.

Valencia Sailing goes to Korea Match Cup

Greetings from sunny Valencia. Valencia Sailing will become Korea Sailing for a week as we go to the Jeonggok Marina in the region of Gyeonggi in South Korea in order to cover the Korea Match Cup, 3rd event of the 2010 ISAF World Match Racing Championship. Unless there is something absolutely extraordinary, there will probably be no updates until Tuesday afternoon (Valencia time).

No wind, no race at the Korea Match Cup qualifier. Unfortunately, there was no breeze whatsoever on Sunday which meant the 4 finalist crews spent the entire day bobbing
around on the glassy harbour. The race committee tried to get races away but it was not possible. By consequence, the results were decided by the points counted from the round robin, giving Robertson the victory on count back with William Tiller.

Robertson secures now his entry in the Korea Match Cup and will try to get another World Match Racing Tour entry by competing in the Swedish Match Cup qualifier.

Phil Robertson reports on Day 4 of the Korea Match Cup qualifiers. Gyeonggi, 9 May 2010. Video copyright / Waka Racing

Phil Robertson reports from the Korea Match Cup qualifiers

Phil Robertson, the young up-and-coming kiwi match racer and his crew of Garth Ellingham (Mainsheet/Tactics), James Williamson (Trim), Sam Bell (pit) and Matt Randle (bow) are in Gyeonggi, Korea, taking part in the Korea Match Cup qualifier. As its name implies, the winner of the event will pocket an invite for the Korea Match Cup, one of the this year's ten World Match Racing Tour events.

They went through the round robin with 10 wins in 11 races, having succumbed only to Finland's Olli-Pekka Lumijärvi. As a result, they shared the top of the leaderboard with William Tiller, another very young and promising New Zealand match racer, but qualified first on the countback. Surprisingly, they picked Lumijärvi as their adversary for the best-of-five semifinal and they are now tied with one win each. The other semifinal is a purely kiwi affair with Tiller facing Laurie Jury. This match is tied as well, so Sunday will most probably see very close and tight races.

This endless stream of new and young New Zealand sailors never ceases to amaze me. It also the reason why I strongly doubt there will be any strict nationality rules in the America's Cup any time soon.

Phil Robertson reports on Day 3 of the Korea Match Cup qualifiers. Gyeonggi, 8 May 2010. Video copyright / Waka Racing