MINOPRIO And KOO Gain Entry To Monsoon Cup

Adam MINOPRIO (NZL) and Tiffany KOO (MAS) gained entry to the ISAF Grade WC Monsoon Cup, stage five of the 2006-2007 World Match Racing Tour, by winning qualifying regattas last week in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia.

The Heritage Bay Club in Kuala Terengganu, the home of the Monsoon Cup, hosted the inaugural ISAF Grade 4 Asian Match Racing Championship and ISAF Grade 3 Malaysian Match Racing Championship, which were sailed on the Pulau Duyong basin.

Four teams contested the Malaysian Championship. KOO and Team Gapurna 1 from the Royal Selangor Yacht Club beat Lt. Commander Malik SULAIMAN of the Navy team in the final series.

KOO won the first race but received a red flag penalty at the start of race two when she barged between the committee boat and SULAIMAN. KOO convincingly won the start of the third and deciding race and was never threatened around the racecourse.

Breaking New Ground

KOO‘s victory means that she will be the first Malaysian sailor to represent her country in an ISAF Grade WC match racing regatta.

‘I am very impressed with Tiffany’s skills and poise throughout the event,’ said Peter GILMOUR (AUS), Monsoon Cup technical advisor and Chief Umpire for the Malaysian Championship. ‘She is without doubt a worthy contender as the first official entry for the Monsoon Cup.’

After the conclusion of the Malaysian Championship the Asian Championship was held and MINOPRIO defeated Singapore’s Wearn Haw TAN 5-0 to win the championship and gain entry to the Monsoon Cup.

Going into the final day on Saturday 16 September, MINOPRIO led TAN 1-0 and never let his opponent into the match with some aggressive starting manoeuvres.

‘We knew what we had to do and we have a pretty good feel for both these Foundation 36 yachts and where we wanted to be on the racecourse, so we felt pretty comfortable out there today,’ said MINOPRIO.

TAN commented, ‘We had a pretty steep learning curve early on in this regatta as we haven’t sailed the Foundation 36 yachts before, but Adam and his crew did a nice job and gave a lesson in boat handling and match racing.’

The second annual Monsoon Cup is scheduled for 29 November-3 December. GILMOUR is the reigning champion.

Match Racing Packed Schedule In Malaysia

The two regattas were the culmination of ten days of sailing activity at the Heritage Bay Club.

First there was a Competent Crew Sailing Clinic held from 6-8 September that covered 21 hours of instruction in essential boating information, on water safe boat handling, and planning and preparing for a safe boating trip and safe operation.

Some 40 participants from the Ministry of Sports, the Malaysian Yachting Association, State Economic Planning Unit and secondary school teachers took part in the clinic. All came off pleased with the course and declared it a great learning experience. Some twelve instructors from the Western Australian Yachting Foundation came from Perth, Western Australia, to provide instruction.

On 9-10 September the Terengganu Cup corporate races were held. Teams from ASTRO, the foremost cable TV provider in the country, Equine Capital Berhad, the Royal Selangor Yacht Club and the Ministry of Sport participated. The corporate races were friendly match racing events which allowed teams to network and socialize between races.

World Match Racing Tour Leaderboard
(After Stage Three)

Pos	Skipper	Nation	ISAF World Match Race Ranking	Team	Pts
1	Sébastien COL	FRA	1	Areva Challenge	29
2	Jes GRAM-HANSEN	DEN	30	Mascalzone Latino – Capitalia	27
3	Paolo CIAN	ITA	3	Team Viano Mercedes Benz	25
3	Chris DICKSON	NZL	8	BMW ORACLE Racing	25
5	Ed BAIRD	USA	10	Alinghi	20
5	Jesper BANK	DEN	63	United Internet Team Germany	20
5	Magnus HOLMBERG	SWE	45	Victory Challenge	20
8	Staffan LINDBERG	FIN	12	Alandia Sailing Team	16

World Match Racing Tour Schedule
(2006-2007 Season)

Stage	Event	Venue	Date
Stage 1	Portugal Match Cup	Cascais, Portugal	18-23 July 2006
Stage 2	Danish Open	Copenhagen, Denmark	9-13 August 2006
Stage 3	St. Moritz Match Race	St. Moritz, Switzerland	15-20 August 2006
Stage 4	Bermuda Gold Cup	Hamilton, Bermuda	10-15 October 2006
Stage 5	Allianz Cup	San Francisco, USA	24-29 October
Stage 6	Monsoon Cup	Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia	28 November-3 December 2006
Stage 7	Match Race Germany	Langenargen, Germany	23-28 May 2007
Stage 8	Portugal Match Cup	Cascais, Portugal	01/07/2007
Stage 9	Danish Open	Copenhagen, Denmark	01/08/2007
Stage 10	St. Moritz Match Race	St. Moritz, Switzerland	01/08/2007
Stage 11	ACI Adris Match Race Cup	Rovinj, Croatia	01/09/2007
Stage 12	Locman Cup – Elba Island	Porto Azzurro, Elba Island, Italy	01/09/2007
Stage 13	Brasil Sailing Cup	Angra dos Reis, Brazil	01/10/2007
Stage 14	Bermuda Gold Cup	Hamilton, Bermuda	01/10/2007
Stage 15	Monsoon Cup	Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia	20 November-2 December 2007

The World Match Racing Tour is an ISAF Special Event. Skippers earn points towards the World Championship at the nine events of the World Tour and the highest scoring skipper at the end of the season is the ISAF Match Racing World Champion.

The World Tour Partner and Official Car is BMW AG (Munich, Germany). World Tour sponsors include Sebago (Rockford, USA), the Official Footwear Supplier, Travel Places (West Sussex, Great Britain), the Official Travel Partner and Wedgwood (Cheshire, Great Britain) the Official Trophy Supplier.

For more information on the World Match Racing Tour, its competitors and events, visit the official World Tour website – www.WorldMatchRacingTour.com. World Match Racing Tour television programmes may be viewed on demand by clicking on the television icon on the home page of the website.

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