Tour heads for Korea

Big budget match race to be held in June

The World Match Racing Tour have announced the inaugural Korea Match Cup to be held over 11-15 June this year in Jeongok, Hwasung City in the Gyeonggi Province of Korea, approximately 45km southwest of Seoul.

The event will be staged in conjunction with a boat show, part of a US$232m government initiative to expand and promote the leisure boating industry in Korea including the construction of four large scale marinas. The British Marine Federation, organisers of the successful London and Southampton Boat Shows in the UK, are assisting with the planning of the show in Jeongok.

The event will offer a minimum prize purse of US$320,000 and the organisers are building a brand new fleet of Bakewell White 36ft match racing yachts for the event. The boats are being built at a facility close to the event venue.

"Korea is a totally new venue for the World Tour and I am delighted that the Gyeonggi Province has selected the Korea Match Cup to headline their considerable investment of leisure boating in the region," commented Tour President, Scott Macleod. "The Korea Match Cup prize purse of US$320,000 is also the highest on the Tour for 2008 which takes the total Tour prize purse to over US$1.9million which is exceptional."

Northeast Asia is rapidly emerging as a new focal point of the global economy, and Gyeonggi Province is at the heart of it all.

The West Coast of Gyeonggi province, in particular, offers vast development potential. With a coastline that stretches over 350 kilometres and tidal flat areas that encompass more than 150 square kilometres, the West Coast is an ecological treasure trove. It provides an ideal foundation for the marine recreation and tourism industry that is developing rapidly in Korea.

Recently designated as a Free Economic Zone and boasting one of the closest ports to China, Gyeonggi’s West Coast is a leader in the development of Northeast Asia.