The World Match Racing Tour has announced its schedule of events for 2008 including a new Tour stage in Korea with over $320,000 in prize money. The total prize purse for the 2008 Tour season now stands at $1,720.000, the largest in the sport. The prize purse has increased by over 20% from 2007. . The overall winner of the Tour will be crowned 2008 ISAF Match Racing World Champion. The schedule of events is as follows:

Stage Date             Event                                             Location     Boats

1     March 19-23     Brasil Sailing Cup Vitoria                 Brazil        SM40

2     May 8-12         Match Race Germany Langenargen   Germany   Bavaria 36

3     May 21-25       Latium Match Cup Rome                  Italy          Solaris 36

4     June 10-15      Korea Match Cup Gyeonggi              Korea        BW36

5     June 18-22      Portugal Match Cup Troia                 Portugal     SM40
6     June 30-July 6 Match Cup Sweden Marstrand           Sweden     DS37

7     August 28-31   Danish Open Frederikshavn             Denmark   DS37

8     Sept 2 - 7        St Moritz Match Race St Moritz         Switzerland TBD

9     Oct 7-12          Bermuda Gold Cup Hamilton            Bermuda  IOD

10   Dec 9-14         Monsoon Cup Terengganu                Malaysia   F36 

100 points will be awarded to the top 8 positions at each World Tour stage with 25 points to the stage winner. Teams will count their best five events plus the final stage, the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia worth 150 points. In 2007, no less than five teams had a shot at winning the World Championship going into the final event creating an exciting finish.

The World Championship will again receive worldwide television coverage with 10 shows broadcast to over 15 international networks reaching over 600 million homes in 55 countries. The Monsoon Cup in Malaysia is also expected to be broadcast again LIVE following the success of 2007 where the event generated over six hours of live coverage on Eurosport and ESPN. Plans are also in place for the new Korean Match Cup to be broadcast live as well. In addition, broadband viewers will be able to follow highlights of the World Championship via the website (www.worldmatchracingtour.com) and at www.Sail.tv

2008 will be a very exciting series for the World Championship9, commented Tour President, Scott MacLeod.2 With the addition of a new event in Korea, we are truly the only global sailing series at this level of competition. At the end of this year the World Champion will have had to master 8 different types of yacht in 10 different venues against the best skippers in the world2 Returning to defend his 2007 title is current Match Racing World Champion Ian Williams and his Team Pindar. However, competition will be stiff from a world class line up including America2s Cup talent James Spithill and Phillipe Presti from Luna Rosa Challenge, Ed Baird and Peter Gilmour from Alinghi, Magnus Holmberg from Victory Challenge, Paolo Cian and Ian Ainslie from Shosholoza, and Seb Col from Areva Challenge. But it2s not enough to deter Williams9s winning drive, 2We look forward to defending our title and the increased competition from the Cup teams that will utilise the Tour as they wait for the fate of the 33rd America9s Cup to be decided9.
Following the 32nd edition of the America3s Cup in Valencia last year, the date and venue for the 33rd America2s Cup are yet to be set pending a court case between the Cup Defender, Alinghi and BMW Oracle Racing. While many of the teams and skippers await the outcome of the Cup decisions, the World Match Racing Tour provides an ideal platform to hone their skills as Scott Macleod points out;

Despite the current uncertainty with the America9s Cup, we are seeing strong participation in this years Tour from last year2s Americass Cup teams. This highlights the strength and credibility of the Tour and the training ground it provides for skippers and their crews. The Tour also offers a great economical platform for the teams and excellent sponsor exposure in new markets. It9s still the place where Cup dreams can be made9 Other changes to the Tour include a new location for the Danish Open which moves from Copenhagen to the mainland city of Frederikshavn in North East Denmark, also with an increase in the events prize fund. The Tour will also visit China with an exhibition match race event featuring some of the top names in the sport. Celebration China will be held in the city of Qingdao, May 1- 4, 2008. The multi-event celebration will include the sailing event, along with a Fashion show, Business Conference, Extreme Sports Event and International Art Exhibit.

In addition to the ten events that make up the World Championship, the tour will also be announcing the schedule for 20 new tour qualifying events. Each Tour stage will have two qualifying events from which the winning teams will earn an entry into the main Tour event. . 2This is a great opportunity for us to use the Tour to seed the next wave of match-race skippers and potential America9s cup skippers. We have a whole crop of up and coming sailors looking for an opportunity to compete against the best9 said Tour Director, Craig Mitchell.