In an intense fortnight on the World Match Racing Tour, double World Match Racing Champion Ian Williams and his Bahrain Team Pindar crew are competing in the third event of the year, the Korea Match Cup, held at Jeongok Marina from June 3-7. The event takes place immediately after Match Race Germany, where Williams and crew finished in fifth position, after narrowly missing out on a semi-final place to fellow Briton and eventual winner, Ben Ainslie (Team Origin).

Williams and his Bahrain Team Pindar crew are currently in an unfamiliar seventh position in the 2009 tour standings and will be looking to go one better than their second place finish at the inaugural 2008 Korea Match Cup, in a bid to climb the leader board.

Speaking from Korea, Williams commented, “We are still in the early stages of the 2009 tour, racing under the Sail Bahrain banner. After Korea we return to Europe for four events, before heading to Brazil and Bermuda ahead of the season finale in Malaysia, so there are plenty of opportunities to climb the rankings and reach the top of the leader board.’

Williams will compete alongside an impressive lineup of the World’s top sailors, including last year’s winner of the Korea Match Cup, Sebastian Col (French Team / K Challenge) who will return to defend his title, winner of Match Race Germany, Ben Ainslie (Team Origin) and French skippers Damien Lehl and Mathieu Richard, both leading the 2009 standings with 32 points.

The Korea Match Cup is one of the most impressive events on tour, taking place at a shoreside location in Jeongok Marina in Hwaseong City. The 12 participating teams will compete for a prize purse of $240,000 in a fleet of Bakewell-White-designed KM 36’s. Over 400,000 spectators are expected to attend the event, run in conjunction with the Korea International Boat Show, to watch the action from a 200m pier overlooking the racing area.
Half hour TV highlight shows will be available everyday with 2 hours of live coverage on Saturday and Sunday.  Internet coverage will include Live streaming along with the daily highlights and key matches.

Further information can be found at http://www.wmrt.org and http://www.koreamatchcup.com