TV changes to Alpari World Match Racing Tour

Simon Shaw gets in front of the camera

The Alpari World Match Racing Tour has announced exciting changes to TV output for the 2012 season including the addition of a two-hour live broadcast from the final stages of each event and a new presenting team who will front the coverage, reporting on and analysing all of the action.

As a step up from previous years, the series will feature a live broadcast to television for two hours a day on the last two days of each event. After each final, a 47-minute highlight show will be produced and featured by more than 25 international television broadcasters in over 175 countries whilst the presenters will also host an evening highlight edit, featuring the best action from each of the final three days.

Lynsey Hooper will front the season’s output and has worked with Sky Sports (Sky Sports News Reports), ITV (ITV Central News) and BBC (Final Score) on a number of projects and is well-versed throughout the world of sport. She will be joined by Simon Shaw for expert opinion, a specialist sailing pundit who will add his very recent experience of the Tour at selected events, having competed with Peter Gilmour’s Yanmar Racing in 2011 and previously with Ian Williams' World Championship winning GAC Team Pindar. Shaw’s sailing expertise will be invaluable in offering tactical and technical insight to viewers throughout the season.

Lynsey Hooper, said: “I’m really looking forward to getting involved with the Alpari World Match Racing Tour this season and working alongside Simon, I think we will complement each other very well. I’ve seen some of the fantastic on-water footage from last year and coupled with the terrific venues that we’ll be visiting before the Monsoon Cup finale in Malaysia, I’m expecting lots of excitement in the race for the 2012 crown.”

The Alpari World Match Racing Tour has an on-going objective to make the series the most spectator-friendly in world sailing with the broadcast output designed to bring enthusiasts closer than ever to the action. Through compelling coverage and an ever-widening distribution, the Tour will look to continue building its fan base in this way. Alpari World Match Racing Tour Event Director, Craig Mitchell, said: “The Tour has always strived to make its broadcast coverage as compelling as possible as we look to not only provide our existing fans with a great product but also to engage a whole new generation of followers. Lynsey brings with her a wealth of sports knowledge and whilst she isn’t a sailing specialist, we think she is the perfect host to convey the drama and excitement of the Tour to our growing mainstream audience."

The Tour will have a cutting-edge portable production system and satellite facility at each venue to enable the live broadcast and delivery of VNRs and daily on-demand content. The satellite link-up will also be used on the final day of racing to distribute a round-up package of news footage, directly from the event.

The online platform IPTV will return, linked through WMRT.com to stream two hours of live content from the final stages of each event free for fans to remain updated wherever they are in the world. Mitchell, added: “We have a fantastic dual-platform product for 2012 and with our new presenters as well as regular daily footage – which is available to fans and media on-demand - we strongly believe that we have one of the top aquatic products in the world.”