SMMR - Newsletter #8

Monday 16, July | # 8

Dear supporters, partners and friends,

W

elcome to St. Moritz Match Race’s Newsletter. In this edition we give you the names of the first nine teams selected for this year’s edition; we share Mathieu Richard’s best memories of the event and we discover some of the organising committee’s new faces. Last but not least, we find out what Match Racing fans will do in the morning, before the wind kicks in.

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

Here are today’s topics • • • • •

St. Moritz Match Race 2012: A great line-up!

Testimony: Mathieu Richard remembers Some new faces in the organisation Water sports in Engadin: not just match racing Check our new website

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World Match Racing Tour 2012

May 23-28

Match Race Germany - Langenargen

May 29 - June 3

Korea Match Cup - Gyeonggi-do

July 2-7

Match Cup Sweden - Marstrand

July 10-15

Chicago Match Cup - Chicago

August 28 - September 2

St. Moritz Match Race - St. Moritz

September 24-29

Match Race France

October 1-7

Argo Group Gold Cup - Hamilton

December 4-9

Monsoon Cup - Kuala Terengganu

© Loris von Siebenthal/MyImage/St.Moritz Match Race

Four stages of the World Match Racing Tour have already taken place this year, including Chicago Match Cup last week.

Björn Hansen currently leads the yearly ranking, ahead of Ian Williams and Pierre-Antoine Morvan.

St. Moritz Match Race Newsletter #8

Ian Williams and his team will surely once again be the team to beat in St. Moritz this summer.

St. Moritz Match Race 2012: A great line-up!

Southern Hemisphere against Europe: this is the summary of what St. Moritz Match Race 2012 will be.

Twelve world class teams will once again compete on our beautiful lake, for the coveted title of King of the Mountain: four Kiwis and an Aussie team, against seven Europeans entries (two Swedish teams, one British and one French, as well as those who will receive a wild card or qualify through the Volvo Match Race Cup.

Ian Williams Johnie Berntsson Peter Gilmour Björn Hansen Pierre-Antoine Morvan Phil Robertson Laurie Jury Keith Swinton Josh Junior

Team GAC Pindar GBR Berntsson Sailing Team SWE YANMAR Racing AUS Mekonomen Sailing Team SWE Vannes Agglo Sailing Team FRA Waka Racing Team NZL Kiwi Match Sailing NZL Black Swan Racing NZL Wellington Spirit Match Racing NZL

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St. Moritz Match Race Newsletter #8

Testimony: Mathieu Richard remembers Did you find what you were expecting?

Mathieu Richard: “I wasn’t expecting the venue to be so mountainous, and I was really impressed to sail at such an altitude, in the middle of the Alps. It was a great feeling!

Mathieu Richard, from France, is currently on St. Moritz Match Race’s waiting list, hoping to get a wild card.

One of the event’s most familiar faces, he has won the event in 2008 and 2010, and competed six times for the title of “King of the Mountain”, achieving great results over the years.

What is your worse memory of this event?

Mathieu Richard: “My worse memory was during the first year : the event took place in August so my crew members and I came with summer clothes. But the last day, we sailed under the snow!!! We were wearing only shorts and we were freezing on the water, waiting for the wind during 2 hours…”

© Loris von Siebenthal / St. Moritz Match Race

As all the sailors we interviewed, Mathieu has a very special relationship with St. Moritz Match Race, and fond memories:

Mathieu, what were you expecting when you got invited to St. Moritz for the first time?

Mathieu Richard: “I had heard that it was a very atypical event, for the venue but also because the boats had trapezes at the time, so I was very excited to come !

And what is your best memory?

Mathieu Richard: “Definitely our two victories at St. Moritz Match Race, and the celebration in the outdoor Jacuzzi of Badrutts Palace Hotel… You don’t find this anywhere else in the world.”

What makes St. Moritz Match Race special and different from other events?

Mathieu Richard: “The venue is really unique, and we feel the mountain atmosphere during the entire event; it’s something very different from all the events we usually compete in.”

Do you have any specific memory, or anecdote to share with us?

Mathieu Richard: “We’ve initiated a ritual with my team since the first time we competed in St. Moritz Match Race: We eat va cheese fondue as soon as we arrive in St. Moritz. Those are the only fondues I have ever eaten in my life!”

Enrico De Maria and Christian Gartmann join the management team of St. Moritz Match Race.

Enrico is already a familiar face of the event, having helped on numerous occasions, laying the marks and doing whatever was needed by the organisation. Enrico will be slightly busy before St. Moritz Match Race, competing in… the Olympic

Games, in the Star Class, alongside Flavio Marazzi.

Already 4th in the Olympic Games in Athens and 5th in Beijing, he is one of Switzerland’s greatest hopes for a medal. We wish him the best!

Christian Gartman was born in 1965, in Engadin.

Heavily involved in the snowboarding scene in the eighties and nineties, he also worked as a jour-

Enrico De Maria © St. Moritz Match Race

Some new faces in the organisation

Christian Gartmann © St. Moritz Match Race

www.facebook.com/stmoritzmatchrace

nalist, contributing with all sorts of media and publications, print, electronic and online, developing a strong network in the German speaking media scene.

Independent since 2010, Christian created a com-

pany called gartmann. biz that focuses on strategic advice, media relations and sponsorship activation. He will help St. Moritz Match Race in the fields of sponsoring as well as with the Swiss German speaking media.

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St. Moritz Match Race Newsletter #8

Water sports in Engadin: not just match racing Do you know stand up paddle? Well, it is an emerging global sport with a Hawaiian heritage; originally an ancient form of surfing that came back into fashion recently, originally as a way for surfing instructors to manage their large groups of students, as standing on the board gave them a higher viewpoint.

Stand up paddle has since become a sport, and leisure; it allows people to go for a stroll on the water and enjoy the scenery.

The event will take place on Saturday morning; it will be a team race, with four participants per team. Each race will be a sprint, approximately 200 meters long with a 180° turn in front of the grand stand, which should be fun…

The Naish boards and wetsuits will be provided by Windsurf Centre Silvaplana; there won’t be an entry fee and the contest will be open to anyone older than 16 years old.

© Stand Paddle Engadin

There is usually no wind in St. Moritz in the morning; stand up paddle is therefore a perfect morning activity before racing begins. The event’s organisers have the-

refore decided to organise, with the help of Windsurf Center Silvaplana, a fun and friendly contest between sailors, spectators and whoever wants to have a go.

Registration on site; more information on the event’s website and on Facebook as we near the event.

Check our new website St. Moritz Match Race’s new website is now online. The address is unchanged: www.stmoritz-matchrace.ch

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

twitter.com/stmmr

www.stmoritz-matchrace.ch