WORLD CLASS

The successful conclusion of World Match Racing Tour finals in Marstrand, Sweden, this summer, marked the end of a tumultuous year for the event.

Put up for sale in 2018 by Swedish businessman Håkan Svensson, who estimates he pumped around $20 million into the tour over his three-year ownership, things were looking bleak for a moment before the rights were acquired in December 2018 by a new group of investors.

The new owners put on a 2018 series final, which had not happened due to the bureacratic comings and goings, and the world’s top sailors responded by entering en masse – among them former match racing world champion and co-founder of the Stars & Stripes America’s Cup team Taylor Canfield, defending world champion Torvar Mirsky of Australia and six-time world champion Ian Williams of Britain in Team GAC Pindar. As before, the pros were racing identical M32 carbon fibre multihulls and in front