Practise complete

Grade 1 match racing starts in Marseille today

The practice session yesterday took place under the sun.  There was wind too: almost 10 knots of thermals which broke off at the end of the afternoon.  Because of the weather conditions, the times of the practice slots were brought forward.

During the practice session, you could feel the pressure rising.  Boats touched twice, but there was no material damage.  There was some great manoeuvring, as the teams quickly got used to the boats provided by the organisers.  The boats used in the regata are J80s, and they are all identical.  The boats are allotted randomly every day to ensure total fairness.

Today, Thursday, the serious stuff begins when the first matches of the round robin satrt and where each team will race against each of the others.

The MIMR is a qualified international match race circuit regatta. It is a Grade 1 event - the highest grade in international match racing.

The Regatta uses the International J/80 class keelboat. This 8.5m monotype usually has a crew of four: helm, trimmer/tactician, trimmer and foredeck.

The YCPR is organising the MIMR for the third year in a row, and hopes to make this the Mediterranean meeting for match racing. So far so good, as the best in the world will be in Marseille this year. The general public is invited to take to the waves - iInstigated last year, this opportunity for the general public is to be widened for this year’s racing.

For the week of the regatta a specially chartered boat will carry spectators close to the action. A Match Racing expert will be on hand to describe the events as they unfold and to add some background to the brilliant visual display :

- Thursday and Friday are reserved for the schoolchildren of the region
- Tickets for everybody will be on sale for Saturday and Sunday

Skippers:
Ed Baird - USA (Team Alinghi)
Mathieu Richard - FRA
Iain Percy - GBR (Team +39)
Philippe Presti - FRA (Le Défi)
Ian Williams - GBR
Paolo Cian - ITA
Staffan Lindberg - FIN
Chris Dickson - NZ (BMW ORACLE Racing)
Sébastien Col - FRA (K-Challenge)
Dimitri Deruelle - FRA