Ian Williams (Team GAC Pindar) is back in action on the World Match Racing Tour next week, where he will be bidding to take the ‘King of the Mountains’ title at the St Moritz Match Race in Switzerland.

Set at over 5,000 feet above sea level on Lake St Moritz, against the spectacular backdrop of the Swiss Alps, the St Moritz Match Race is the sixth of nine events on this year’s Tour. Twelve skippers, representing seven different nations, will battle it out on identical BLU26 boats, for a share of the CHF 150,000 prize money.

Twice previous World Match Racing Champion, Williams, who won in Switzerland in 2007, is currently lying fourth in the Tour standings on 52 points. He will be looking to close the 25 point gap between himself and tour leader Mathieu Richard (French Match Racing Team) and the 2 points that separate him from Adam Minoprio (ETNZ/BlackMatch) in third place.

Speaking ahead of the event, Williams said, ‘The St Moritz Match Race is always a highlight on the tour and with such a competitive field it promises to be another exciting week. So far this season we’ve performed consistently well in the round robin stages, but we need to improve in the quarters and beyond to stand a chance of closing the gap on Mathieu.’

Competing alongside Williams next week will be current tour leader Mathieu Richard, last year’s St Moritz Match Race winner and defending World Match Racing Champion Adam Minoprio (ENTZ/Black Match), plus fellow British skipper and three-time Olympic gold medalist, Ben Ainslie (TEAMORIGIN).

Next week marks the eighth edition of the St Moritz Match Race. Racing gets underway with the round robin stages on Wednesday, September 1 and concludes on Sunday, September 5, where the winning skipper will be crowned ‘King of the Mountain’.

Team GAC Pindar crew: Ian Williams (Skipper), Mark Williams, Richard Sydenham and Gerry Mitchell.

To follow the action online, please visit : www.wmrt.com / www.stmoritz-matchrace.ch