SMMR - Newsletter #6 by MaxComm Communication

Monday 5, March | # 6

Dear supporters, partners and friends,

elcome to St. Moritz Match Race’s Newsletter. This summer, we will celebrate the tenth edition of St. Moritz Match Race. Ten years of intense duals and rivalry; ten years of a spectacular show enjoyed by a passionate public; ten years of screams, shouts, triumphs, defeats and tears…

Mitchell and we welcome Alpari, the World Match Racing Tour’s new main partner.

In this edition, we look back at the history of the event and give you an insight on this summer’s activities. We share America’s Cup winner Ed Baird’s memories from St. Moritz Match Race; we discover last year’s highlights according to World Match Race Tour Director Craig

We hope you enjoy reading this Newsletter and wish you a pleasant winter.

And finally, we find out about the ice on Lake St. Moritz and let you know why it took longer than expected to freeze…

28 August - 2 September

St. Moritz Match Race 2012

St. Moritz Match Race Newsletter #6

St. Moritz Match Race 2012 : a big celebration for a big birthday! 2012 will mark the tenth anniversary of St. Moritz Match Race – needless to say that we are very proud of this achievement. Back in 2000, Switzerland was just a small alpine country lost in the middle of the Alps… And then came Alinghi, winning the America’s Cup in 2003 and turning Switzerland into a major international sailing nation! St. Moritz Match Race was born on the wake of Alinghi. The America’s Cup team and its main partner UBS wanted to host an event in Switzerland in order to involve the Swiss yacht racing community and the public. They created the UBS Alinghi Swiss Tour in 2001. “In 2003, I was approached by Roni Pieper, one of the club’s members, in order to help them organize a match racing event, independent from Alinghi”, remembers Christian Scherrer, who was a crewmember onboard Alinghi and the organiser of the UBS Alinghi Swiss Tour. “As a result, we worked together and in the summer of 2003 we created St. Moritz Match Race, initially a grade 3 event. From that starting point, the event grew each year and steadily built up, becoming a grade 1 event in 2005 and joining the Swedish Match Tour in 2006.” Jochen Schuemann who had been racing successfully with the late Roni Pieper in the 5,5 m JI Class, was also one of the driving forces behind St. Moritz Match Race thanks to his vision, and he also competed in the event.

In 2008, the organisers decided to change the boats and swap the Steamline with the Blu 26, conceived by Christian Scherrer; a boat that was especially designed for match racing and switzerland. Beryl Pieper, who took over many responsibilities when her father tragically disappeared in 2007, remembers that “whilst St. Moritz Match Race has always been popular amongst sailors, our goal from the onset was to make it a big public and corporate event. That’s why we created the grand stand, as well as a big hospitality tent since the beginning of the event. Thanks to this, St. Moritz Match race has clearly established itself as Switzerland’s most important professional sailing regatta.” In its ten years history, the event has been won by some of the worlds’ best match racers: Mark Mendelblatt (2003 and 2004), Ed Baird (2005), Paolo Cian (2006), Ian Williams (2007), Mathieu Richard (2008 and 2010), Adam Minoprio (2009) and Torvar Mirski (2011). Only two of them managed to win it twice: American Mark Mendelblatt and Frenchman Mathieu Richard. For all the top sailors who competed in St. Moritz Match Race, this event meant something very special, much more than just a sailing regatta. We have collected the memories of some past winners and will share them with you through this Newsletter, starting today with 2007 America’s Cup winner Ed Baird.

St. Moritz Match Race Newsletter #6

Testimony: Ed Baird remembers SMMR: What were you expecting when you got invited to St. Moritz for the first time? Ed Baird: I had never been to St. Moritz so I had no idea what to expect. For me, it looked like the boats would be interesting (trapezes and very fast) and the racing would be close to shore.

SMMR: Worse memory? Ed Baird: When it was time to leave, my family didn’t want to go with me! SMMR: Best memory? Ed Baird: We made many friends during the week, and saw a part of the world we would never have believed. It was beautiful and fun. We will always remember our time there

SMMR: What makes St. Moritz Match Race special and different from other events? Ed Baird: The altitude is challenging, as is the lake-racing aspect of the venue. You never know what to expect so you have to adapt quickly to what the lake and the mountains give you. On shore, the crowd is always paying attention and there are many friendly faces to welcome you, no matter how the racing goes. SMMR: Did you find what you were expecting? Ed Baird: The race organization was friendly and did a great job running races whenever there was wind. The crowd was very excited to see the action right next to shore. There was snow (first for me) and breeze from every direction, but the racing was really close and fun.

SMMR: Any specific history, anecdote? Ed Baird: This is the only venue I have experienced where dad can be racing in the snow while the family is swimming in the pool while watching the racing. The Palace is an amazing place and we hope to come back sometime.

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“With a total of USD1.89 million in prize money awarded, 38 skippers competing in at least one Tour event and around 800 matches across the year it was a thrilling season from start to finish which makes pinpointing the most memorable match so tricky. Every event has its share of outstanding matches, some because of how close the match is and others because of the tension and drama of the

moment. The easy one to pick for a joyous moment is the World Championship winning match in the Monsoon Cup quarter final between Bruni and Williams, especially this year as Williams’s team won their third world title. Torvar Mirsky and a few others skippers didn’t perform as planned this season, failing to reach the goals they set themselves at the start of the year. Mirsky won the two events preceding Malay-

A look back at 2011 with Tour Director Craig Mitchell

sia, including St. Moritz Match Race, and looked like he was on a roll for at least a podium place if not the top step. Mirsky will really be hurting as this season was as good an opportunity to win as he’ll ever get. Mathieu Richard has also seen a huge slump in form, from 2nd in 2010 to 10th in 2011. Richard has been

the very model of consistency in recent years and will be wondering where it all went wrong. With the 2011 season all wrapped up the World Match Racing Tour is now looking towards 2012 in what is set to be even bigger and better year of racing.

St. Moritz Match Race Newsletter #6

St. Moritz Match Race welcomes the new Alpari World Match Racing Tour! Alpari, a global association of companies providing online foreign exchange («Forex», «FX»), precious metals and CFD trading services, announced on Monday a five-year title partnership with the World Match Racing Tour. The agreement sees the world’s leading professional sailing series become the Alpari World Match Racing Tour from February 2012.

The deal will benefit both parties and is a timely boost to global professional sailing where other properties have struggled commercially against a backdrop of tough economic conditions. As a global sports series with events in North America, Asia and Europe, the multimillion-dollar partnership creating the Alpari World Match Racing Tour will help Alpari reach out to even more people across

the continents and promote online trading to an even wider audience. The world’s best match racers will compete for the ISAF Match Racing World Championship and the largest prize purse in the world of sailing (US$1.75 million). Selected by the Tour, the list of Tour Card Holders includes a mix of current and former World Champions, Olympic and America’s Cup campaigners

as well as an exciting breed of promising younger sailors from around the world.

Strange winter The winter is as beautiful as ever in the Engadin. However, the cold came in quite late and for the first time in twenty-eight years, the traditional polo on snow – who takes place on the same spot as St. Moritz Match Race – had to be postponed due to the lack of ice.

And it will de-freeze before St. Moritz Match Race 2012!

The regulations on the use of the ice are strict: the ice across the whole lake must be no thinner than 20 centimetres. Each square metre must be able to bear up to 350 kilograms. If these requirements are not met, no structures can be erected on the lake.

The lake is now totally frozen, but it took some time: a lot of snow has been falling and it had an unwanted effect in keeping the temperature of the lake warmer than usual. Nevertheless, people can now walk on the lake, they can do cross country skiing, ice surfing and kiting and much more.

Contacts Media & Communication MaxComm Communication Tel: +41 22 735 55 30 www.maxcomm.ch

Bernard SCHOPFER bernard.schopfer@maxcomm.ch M: +41 79 332 11 76

St. Moritz Match Race Match Race Schweiz AG Bergstrasse 23 8953 Dietikon

T: +41 44 745 72 00 info@stmoritz-matchrace.ch

www.youtube.com/stmoritzmatchrace

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